Verdict with Ted Cruz - Inside the Investigation into the Tragic DC Airline Crash, plus Trump Confirmations Accelerate

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.560 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.440 Welcome, it is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz.

00:00:07.900 Nice to have you with us on this Friday morning.

00:00:10.040 And Senator, we've got a lot to talk about,

00:00:12.580 including the tragedy that happened.

00:00:15.660 You were right there in Washington

00:00:16.960 when all this was unfolding with this helicopter

00:00:20.400 and airplane colliding at Reagan National Airport.

00:00:24.040 Well, it was truly a tragic and horrific accident.

00:00:26.740 And it cost the lives of 67 souls.

00:00:30.640 The commercial airliner from American Airlines

00:00:33.680 flying from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, D.C.,

00:00:36.380 Reagan Airport had 60 passengers on it

00:00:39.220 and four crew members.

00:00:41.360 And then an Army Blackhawk helicopter

00:00:44.000 had three soldiers on it,

00:00:46.180 bringing the total death toll to 67.

00:00:50.240 The two collided just before 9 p.m.

00:00:55.500 on Wednesday night.

00:00:59.100 They collided as the American Airlines airliner

00:01:03.460 was landing at D.C. Reagan Airport.

00:01:06.620 And I'll tell you today,

00:01:08.140 so you and I are recording this Thursday night,

00:01:10.820 today I spent a lot of the day

00:01:12.240 dealing with the aftermath of this.

00:01:14.280 So as you know, I'm the chairman

00:01:15.880 of the Senate Committee on Commerce,

00:01:17.180 Science, and Transportation.

00:01:18.560 It has jurisdiction over all of aviation.

00:01:20.760 And so today I hosted briefings

00:01:24.680 from the FAA and the NTSB,

00:01:28.200 the National Traffic Safety Board.

00:01:32.500 And we were heard from,

00:01:37.840 they were bipartisan briefings.

00:01:39.100 I had senators, both Republicans and Democrats,

00:01:42.600 that participated.

00:01:43.760 participated, and we got briefings.

00:01:49.360 The NTSB, which is, as I said,

00:01:51.660 the National Transportation Safety Board,

00:01:53.840 does investigations whenever there's

00:01:56.080 a serious accident,

00:01:57.020 whenever there's an accident,

00:01:58.500 an aviation accident,

00:01:59.680 whenever there's a rail accident.

00:02:01.900 They do investigations.

00:02:03.620 And so we heard from them.

00:02:06.180 Now, as of Thursday,

00:02:08.560 the NTSB had over a dozen investigators

00:02:11.600 on the ground.

00:02:13.040 And listen, in the wake of an accident,

00:02:15.980 you've got to actually see what happened.

00:02:18.180 You've got to investigate

00:02:18.940 and discover the facts,

00:02:20.380 discover the evidence.

00:02:21.720 In this instance,

00:02:22.920 we know that the American Airlines flight

00:02:25.280 was coming in.

00:02:27.340 It was initially on Runway 1

00:02:30.040 at Reagan Airport.

00:02:31.680 And then the air traffic controllers

00:02:33.180 moved it to Runway 33.

00:02:35.100 So they shifted the runway

00:02:36.120 right at the very end.

00:02:37.140 And the American Airlines pilots

00:02:39.120 changed their descent

00:02:41.580 to land on Runway 33.

00:02:44.100 Now, simultaneously,

00:02:44.980 there was an Army Blackhawk helicopter

00:02:47.260 that was traveling.

00:02:49.360 There are multiple helicopter routes

00:02:51.360 that go in and around Reagan Airport.

00:02:54.140 And that Army Blackhawk helicopter

00:02:56.180 was on Route 1,

00:02:57.500 and then it was shifting

00:02:58.400 from Route 1 to Route 4.

00:03:00.340 And the air traffic controllers

00:03:02.380 were in contact,

00:03:04.060 obviously, with the pilots

00:03:05.360 of the American Airlines flight.

00:03:07.140 And also the pilots

00:03:09.380 of the helicopter.

00:03:10.180 And after telling

00:03:12.440 the American Airlines jet

00:03:15.120 to land on Runway 33,

00:03:18.080 the air traffic controller

00:03:19.640 tells the Blackhawk pilots

00:03:21.380 to visually confirm

00:03:25.200 and have in line of sight

00:03:26.900 the incoming plane.

00:03:28.860 And the Blackhawk helicopter pilots

00:03:30.700 confirm that, yes,

00:03:31.740 they have the plane in sight.

00:03:33.100 And they also instruct

00:03:36.480 the Blackhawk pilots

00:03:38.460 to come behind the plane

00:03:41.300 that is landing.

00:03:42.640 What in fact happens,

00:03:44.620 or what appears to have happened,

00:03:46.080 is the Blackhawk helicopter

00:03:47.520 came in front of the plane

00:03:49.440 that was landing.

00:03:50.760 The two collided midair

00:03:52.160 and exploded midair.

00:03:53.840 Now, at this point,

00:03:55.700 it appears everyone involved died.

00:03:57.920 Both the plane

00:04:01.240 and the Blackhawk helicopter

00:04:02.740 sunk into the Potomac River.

00:04:05.380 They were both

00:04:07.020 in relatively shallow water,

00:04:09.000 about seven to eight feet

00:04:10.500 of water

00:04:12.000 where they had sunk.

00:04:14.400 And as of Thursday,

00:04:18.660 the black box,

00:04:20.000 the flight recorder,

00:04:20.960 had been recovered

00:04:22.120 from the airplane.

00:04:23.060 and they're in the process

00:04:25.060 of recovering the black box,

00:04:26.940 the audio transcript recorder

00:04:30.120 for the Blackhawk helicopter.

00:04:31.400 So both of those

00:04:32.100 will be recovered.

00:04:33.460 And they're trying

00:04:34.680 to piece together

00:04:35.340 what happened.

00:04:35.920 What do we know?

00:04:36.980 We know that somebody

00:04:39.160 or multiple somebodies

00:04:40.660 made a catastrophic mistake,

00:04:43.440 a catastrophic mistake

00:04:44.660 that led to

00:04:46.280 a massive loss of life.

00:04:48.340 At this point,

00:04:49.480 and look,

00:04:49.780 there are lots of people

00:04:50.600 who are giving

00:04:51.240 all sorts of theories,

00:04:52.200 who are jumping

00:04:52.800 on all sorts of possibilities.

00:04:54.760 In my view,

00:04:55.860 we shouldn't speculate.

00:04:57.100 We shouldn't get ahead

00:04:59.400 of the evidence.

00:05:00.160 We need to understand

00:05:01.160 exactly what caused

00:05:02.860 this accident,

00:05:04.240 whether it was an error

00:05:05.540 on the part

00:05:06.240 of the Army pilot,

00:05:07.880 whether it was conceivably

00:05:09.260 an error on the part

00:05:10.740 of the commercial airliner pilot,

00:05:13.480 whether it was an error

00:05:14.260 on the part

00:05:15.460 of the air traffic controller,

00:05:17.120 or some combination

00:05:18.820 of multiple errors

00:05:19.740 in that regard.

00:05:20.700 We don't know right now.

00:05:22.200 What we do know

00:05:23.480 is two aircraft

00:05:24.620 were in the same place

00:05:25.840 at the same time.

00:05:26.800 Now,

00:05:27.160 as we were having

00:05:29.160 the briefing

00:05:29.660 from the NTSB

00:05:31.640 and the FAA,

00:05:33.300 they told us

00:05:34.940 several things.

00:05:36.240 Number one,

00:05:38.000 that had the helicopter

00:05:40.820 stayed on Route 4,

00:05:43.260 it would have been

00:05:44.380 well out of the way

00:05:45.460 of the landing path

00:05:47.260 of the airline,

00:05:48.460 and it would have been

00:05:49.900 at a lower altitude

00:05:50.860 than where the helicopter

00:05:54.240 and the jet collided.

00:05:57.420 We don't know

00:05:58.240 what happened exactly.

00:05:59.340 One of the things

00:06:00.000 the NTSB is going to do

00:06:01.320 in this investigation

00:06:02.060 is they're going to listen

00:06:03.440 to the black box recordings

00:06:04.620 of both aircraft,

00:06:06.020 and they're going to retrace

00:06:07.980 the path,

00:06:08.780 the exact path

00:06:09.960 of both aircraft

00:06:10.800 to discover

00:06:11.400 was one of them

00:06:13.040 where it was not supposed

00:06:14.680 to be,

00:06:15.100 were both of them

00:06:15.900 where they were not

00:06:16.700 supposed to be.

00:06:17.220 At this point,

00:06:18.000 we don't have a clear

00:06:19.000 answer to that,

00:06:19.760 and it's easy.

00:06:20.700 I would say,

00:06:21.340 don't trust Twitter,

00:06:22.360 don't trust every theory.

00:06:24.800 Look,

00:06:25.040 they looked at one theory,

00:06:26.180 and actually something

00:06:26.780 I asked the NTSB.

00:06:28.420 I said,

00:06:29.140 when the air traffic controller

00:06:30.360 asked the Blackhawk pilots,

00:06:31.980 do you have visual confirmation

00:06:33.540 of the aircraft,

00:06:34.320 and the Blackhawk pilots

00:06:35.280 confirmed that.

00:06:36.860 Do we have evidence

00:06:38.000 that they were looking

00:06:38.720 at a different airplane?

00:06:39.840 You could certainly,

00:06:41.120 this strikes me

00:06:41.780 as a reasonable inference,

00:06:43.020 that the helicopter pilot

00:06:44.740 looks and says,

00:06:45.420 yes,

00:06:45.660 I see the plane,

00:06:46.700 and perhaps didn't realize

00:06:48.840 it was a different plane

00:06:50.000 that was landing

00:06:50.680 because presumably

00:06:52.160 if they saw the plane

00:06:53.380 that led to the collision,

00:06:55.120 they would not have stayed

00:06:56.160 in the path of the plane,

00:06:57.880 but they would have

00:06:58.460 piloted elsewhere.

00:07:00.360 So NTSB and FAA

00:07:02.620 told me right now

00:07:03.540 we don't know.

00:07:04.240 So that's not confirmed.

00:07:05.460 That's a theory

00:07:06.360 people are saying online.

00:07:09.060 It is a plausible theory,

00:07:11.300 but we don't have confirmation

00:07:12.840 of that right now.

00:07:13.660 There's also discussion

00:07:16.520 about the equipment.

00:07:19.180 So the Blackhawk helicopter

00:07:21.600 had a transponder,

00:07:22.840 so it was appearing on radar.

00:07:25.140 It did not have technology

00:07:27.600 called ADS-B,

00:07:30.540 which is technology

00:07:32.060 that pings the location

00:07:34.340 of an aircraft,

00:07:35.720 and it does so using GPS

00:07:37.920 rather than radar.

00:07:39.200 And ADS-B is more accurate

00:07:41.540 and more reliable

00:07:42.560 than simply a transponder

00:07:44.980 that is pinging on radar.

00:07:46.500 Now, under the FAA rules,

00:07:50.880 military aircraft

00:07:52.180 and federal law enforcement aircraft

00:07:54.340 are exempted

00:07:56.440 from the requirement

00:07:57.280 that they have ADS-B technology.

00:07:59.780 And I will tell you,

00:08:00.520 as we were talking

00:08:01.100 with the FAA,

00:08:02.380 as we were talking

00:08:03.400 with the NTSB,

00:08:05.420 what they told us,

00:08:09.760 at least initially,

00:08:11.340 is that had the Blackhawk

00:08:14.280 had ADS-B,

00:08:15.500 they said it would have not

00:08:16.520 have altered the ability

00:08:17.800 of air traffic control

00:08:19.480 and the American Airlines pilot

00:08:22.340 to see the helicopter.

00:08:24.920 I don't know.

00:08:25.840 I will confess,

00:08:27.440 I don't know the technical answers

00:08:28.820 to this precisely,

00:08:30.840 which is why

00:08:31.860 the investigation needs to proceed.

00:08:34.580 I expect to get an answer on that,

00:08:36.260 but we don't know

00:08:37.020 the answer to that exactly.

00:08:39.740 I will say also, Ben,

00:08:41.260 I think a very reasonable question

00:08:43.000 that a number of senators

00:08:44.400 were asking

00:08:45.060 is why exactly

00:08:47.700 are there so many

00:08:49.400 helicopter flight paths

00:08:51.040 immediately in the vicinity

00:08:53.480 of such a busy airport

00:08:54.940 as D.C. Reagan Airport?

00:08:56.800 Yeah.

00:08:57.560 Is that a sound policy decision

00:09:00.620 to have helicopters

00:09:02.780 traveling that close?

00:09:04.160 Now, I don't know

00:09:05.780 if that's the cause of it,

00:09:06.720 by the way.

00:09:07.320 What we do know

00:09:09.040 is the two should not have collided,

00:09:10.500 and so somebody screwed up,

00:09:11.760 and we'll figure out

00:09:13.080 who and how and why.

00:09:15.760 And look, Washington,

00:09:16.800 I talked to a pilot today,

00:09:18.020 and he said,

00:09:18.540 Washington's just different,

00:09:20.060 and Reagan's just different.

00:09:21.340 There's a lot more helicopters there.

00:09:23.040 There's a lot more airspace there

00:09:24.620 that's different than other parts.

00:09:26.000 It's a lot more intense.

00:09:27.580 There's a lot more rules,

00:09:29.140 especially after 9-11,

00:09:30.580 and so you've got to look

00:09:31.920 at all those things.

00:09:32.960 It goes back to what you're saying.

00:09:34.460 It's just different.

00:09:35.980 Private airplanes, for example,

00:09:37.520 aren't going into Reagan.

00:09:38.540 You go into DOLIS

00:09:39.440 for that exact reason

00:09:40.700 because you're protecting,

00:09:42.980 and so there are so many X factors.

00:09:45.760 As one pilot said to me today,

00:09:47.340 there's so many questions to ask.

00:09:49.120 This is not a simple yes or no

00:09:50.920 or point of finger

00:09:51.800 because there's so many X factors

00:09:53.860 when you fly into DCA.

00:09:55.380 Well, and I'll say,

00:09:56.200 the briefing that I hosted

00:09:57.240 with NTSB and the FAA,

00:09:58.860 so I was on it, obviously.

00:10:01.780 Maria Cantwell,

00:10:02.540 who is the ranking member,

00:10:03.560 the senior Democrat

00:10:04.280 on the Commerce Committee,

00:10:05.220 she was on it.

00:10:06.580 We also had both

00:10:08.200 of the Kansas Senators,

00:10:09.460 Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall.

00:10:11.400 They both participated,

00:10:12.580 and obviously the flight

00:10:13.360 came from Wichita,

00:10:14.480 so the Kansas Senators

00:10:15.500 are particularly engaged.

00:10:18.000 And then we had Tammy Duckworth, 1.00

00:10:19.540 and Jerry Moran

00:10:20.420 and Tammy Duckworth

00:10:21.620 are the chairman

00:10:23.240 and ranking member,

00:10:24.160 respectively,

00:10:24.780 of the Aviation Subcommittee

00:10:26.020 of the Commerce Committee,

00:10:26.820 so they're both particularly

00:10:28.320 engaged in aviation issues,

00:10:29.700 which is why I invited

00:10:30.660 both of them to participate.

00:10:32.600 So Tammy Duckworth 1.00

00:10:33.580 was in the military.

00:10:35.000 She was a helicopter pilot,

00:10:36.240 and she's in a wheelchair. 0.59

00:10:37.920 She was very badly wounded

00:10:40.220 in a combat injury,

00:10:42.880 but she is an experienced

00:10:44.660 helicopter pilot.

00:10:45.500 And I will tell you

00:10:46.080 in the briefing,

00:10:46.780 I commented,

00:10:48.040 I said,

00:10:48.320 Tammy,

00:10:48.540 it's really helpful

00:10:49.120 to have an experienced

00:10:51.000 helicopter pilot

00:10:51.940 as part of this discussion

00:10:53.740 because she was literally,

00:10:54.720 she had the maps

00:10:55.440 out of the flight paths,

00:10:56.820 and she's looking at,

00:10:58.240 okay,

00:10:58.500 where Runway 33 is

00:10:59.920 and where Helicopter Route 4 is.

00:11:02.120 And Tammy was saying

00:11:03.180 in the course of the discussion,

00:11:04.380 look,

00:11:04.640 if the helicopter stayed

00:11:06.280 on Helicopter Route 4,

00:11:08.160 it should not have been

00:11:09.520 anywhere close

00:11:10.560 to the landing pattern

00:11:12.400 for Runway 33.

00:11:14.140 So that was an insight.

00:11:15.840 Look,

00:11:16.020 I'm not a helicopter pilot.

00:11:17.380 I don't have the insight

00:11:18.200 to look at those maps

00:11:19.180 and determine that.

00:11:20.520 I thought that was

00:11:21.100 a very interesting insight

00:11:22.040 from her.

00:11:22.460 I'll tell you something else

00:11:23.260 she said that I didn't know

00:11:24.500 that was interesting.

00:11:26.040 It's been widely reported

00:11:27.180 the Army Black Helicopter

00:11:28.900 was on a training mission.

00:11:30.840 What she said

00:11:32.060 is the Army routinely codes

00:11:34.180 virtually every flight

00:11:35.620 as a training mission.

00:11:37.500 And she said

00:11:38.000 the reason they do that

00:11:38.980 is Army pilots

00:11:39.700 are required

00:11:40.300 to have a certain number

00:11:41.600 of hours

00:11:42.080 to keep their certification.

00:11:44.560 And so every flight

00:11:46.200 they do

00:11:46.600 is a training mission

00:11:47.380 to maintain those hours.

00:11:48.560 So what she said is

00:11:49.520 it doesn't necessarily convey

00:11:51.820 what the purpose

00:11:52.680 of that flight was

00:11:53.780 that it is being called

00:11:55.280 a training mission.

00:11:55.920 I have to admit

00:11:56.660 I would not have known that

00:11:58.480 had she not said that.

00:11:59.540 And I think all of us

00:12:00.440 we were like,

00:12:01.120 oh, that's interesting.

00:12:02.860 Yeah, because when you listen

00:12:04.160 especially if you're

00:12:05.140 just watching the news

00:12:06.060 and you're like,

00:12:06.540 why would you have

00:12:07.280 this training flight

00:12:08.120 this time of night

00:12:09.160 right there

00:12:10.240 in this airspace?

00:12:11.760 Surely there's somewhere else

00:12:12.680 you could go and train

00:12:13.560 that is a lot less congested

00:12:15.460 than DCA

00:12:16.220 and all the regulations

00:12:17.380 that you have

00:12:18.200 in this Bravo space

00:12:19.620 around Washington DC

00:12:21.840 at the highest level

00:12:23.440 go somewhere else

00:12:24.200 and be safer

00:12:24.880 but the way that you

00:12:25.860 just described it from her

00:12:27.080 well, this actually makes sense.

00:12:28.580 They could be doing real work

00:12:30.480 and they categorize it

00:12:31.880 as a training mission.

00:12:33.280 So look,

00:12:33.880 I think in the days

00:12:35.460 that go forward

00:12:36.180 we're going to find out

00:12:37.300 what the precise mission was.

00:12:40.500 My understanding is

00:12:41.880 the pilots

00:12:42.340 for the American Airlines flight

00:12:43.840 were quite experienced.

00:12:45.180 They had a very significant

00:12:46.800 number of hours of flight

00:12:48.160 so they were very experienced

00:12:49.200 at this point

00:12:50.160 I don't have a clear picture

00:12:51.280 of what the experience level was

00:12:53.120 for the Army pilots.

00:12:54.940 I'm confident

00:12:55.780 we will find out

00:12:56.560 more about that

00:12:57.520 and I'm confident

00:12:59.720 we will have discussions

00:13:00.740 on policy questions.

00:13:02.080 One discussion

00:13:02.960 I'm sure we will have

00:13:04.220 is whether the exemption

00:13:06.460 to the FAA rules

00:13:07.640 for military aircraft

00:13:08.700 and federal law enforcement aircraft

00:13:10.260 from having the ADS-B technology

00:13:12.280 whether that is a good decision

00:13:15.400 or not.

00:13:16.280 My understanding is

00:13:17.440 one of the reasons

00:13:18.420 for that exemption

00:13:19.140 is the military

00:13:19.800 and law enforcement

00:13:20.460 sometimes doesn't want

00:13:21.420 to be tracked.

00:13:22.040 They don't want

00:13:22.740 their location evident

00:13:24.420 and there may be reasons

00:13:25.940 for both military

00:13:27.640 and law enforcement context

00:13:28.880 why you want

00:13:30.020 the ability

00:13:31.240 not to be tracked

00:13:33.120 in real time.

00:13:34.780 I think that's a discussion

00:13:35.940 we're going to have to have

00:13:36.900 and as I sit here today

00:13:39.960 I don't know

00:13:41.140 whether that

00:13:41.840 if the Blackhawk

00:13:43.420 had that technology

00:13:44.360 whether it would have made

00:13:45.160 a material difference

00:13:46.180 preventing this accident

00:13:48.400 I think that's

00:13:48.960 a reasonable question

00:13:50.760 to ask.

00:13:52.140 Secondly

00:13:52.580 I think we're going to get

00:13:53.480 some real questions

00:13:54.320 about okay

00:13:54.960 how many helicopter flights

00:13:56.940 are there in and around

00:13:58.980 Reagan Airport?

00:14:00.820 Do we need all of those flights?

00:14:02.540 Is there an unnecessary

00:14:04.260 and unreasonable risk?

00:14:05.500 I don't know the answer to that

00:14:06.720 there may be some compelling reason

00:14:08.500 why you need to have that

00:14:10.140 I certainly think

00:14:10.860 you ought to give the military

00:14:11.740 a chance to explain it

00:14:12.920 but I think

00:14:13.440 given this horrific

00:14:15.720 collision

00:14:17.280 and the lives that are lost

00:14:20.220 we're going to have to have

00:14:21.120 a very serious conversation

00:14:22.460 about what caused this accident

00:14:25.600 and what steps can be taken

00:14:27.440 to prevent this

00:14:28.560 from happening in the future.

00:14:30.140 Well let's talk about

00:14:31.180 the government aspect

00:14:32.080 of this as well

00:14:32.840 because there's people

00:14:33.560 that have been asking

00:14:34.560 is there full staffing?

00:14:37.300 Are we understaffed?

00:14:38.460 Are there enough people

00:14:39.280 in the towers?

00:14:39.900 Are there enough qualified

00:14:41.520 people in the towers?

00:14:42.640 Has that even become

00:14:44.160 part of the conversation

00:14:45.100 yet on the Hill?

00:14:46.400 It's certainly part

00:14:47.520 of the conversation

00:14:48.300 I would say at this point

00:14:49.580 we don't know

00:14:50.280 so I've seen reports

00:14:51.460 that the air traffic controller

00:14:52.780 was assigned

00:14:53.900 to multiple responsibilities

00:14:55.100 it's not clear

00:14:56.480 what the facts are on that

00:14:57.700 and one of the dangers

00:14:58.860 coming out of

00:14:59.580 a catastrophic accident

00:15:01.420 is there's a fog of war

00:15:03.320 there's people hear

00:15:04.360 a snippet this and the other

00:15:05.540 and they repeat it

00:15:06.280 and I'm a big believer

00:15:08.180 I will say the NTSB

00:15:09.660 I've grown to really

00:15:11.380 respect the work they do

00:15:12.580 they investigate

00:15:14.120 when you have

00:15:15.260 a catastrophic accident

00:15:16.800 they investigate

00:15:17.540 based on the facts

00:15:18.640 based on evidence

00:15:19.480 and they do a good job

00:15:20.880 of not jumping

00:15:22.080 to conclusions

00:15:22.680 trying to figure out

00:15:23.540 okay exactly what happened

00:15:24.700 so Alaska Airlines

00:15:25.580 when you had the door

00:15:26.220 plug blow off

00:15:26.980 NTSB did a very

00:15:28.440 thorough investigation

00:15:29.400 there and presented

00:15:30.800 their conclusions

00:15:31.540 and so today

00:15:32.980 we heard from them

00:15:34.020 but it was

00:15:35.120 it was barely

00:15:36.700 12 hours

00:15:37.540 into the

00:15:38.140 the investigation

00:15:39.260 so they didn't know

00:15:40.540 a whole lot yet

00:15:41.480 and I do think

00:15:43.720 and they will reach

00:15:44.640 a conclusion

00:15:45.320 expeditiously

00:15:46.660 these guys are serious

00:15:47.800 and technical

00:15:48.480 and they try

00:15:50.120 to follow the facts

00:15:51.020 and that investigation

00:15:52.300 is important

00:15:53.420 once we know

00:15:54.480 the facts

00:15:55.180 of what caused

00:15:57.080 the accident

00:15:58.220 then we can say

00:15:59.200 all right

00:15:59.660 what steps

00:16:01.600 can be taken

00:16:02.440 to minimize

00:16:03.100 these risks

00:16:03.800 going forward

00:16:04.600 but I do think

00:16:07.780 one of the things

00:16:09.240 I'm urging my colleagues

00:16:10.420 both Republicans

00:16:11.140 and Democrats

00:16:11.720 is don't

00:16:13.200 don't get ahead

00:16:14.000 of ourselves

00:16:14.700 and by the way

00:16:15.460 I'll tell you

00:16:15.840 just a personal

00:16:17.340 aspect to this

00:16:18.240 so last night

00:16:20.160 Wednesday night

00:16:20.880 I was having dinner

00:16:22.360 in Washington D.C.

00:16:23.580 I was having dinner

00:16:24.220 with Mike Waltz

00:16:25.000 Mike Waltz is

00:16:25.940 President Trump's

00:16:27.200 National Security Advisor

00:16:28.240 and so most nights

00:16:30.080 when I'm in Washington D.C.

00:16:31.920 I have working dinners

00:16:33.260 I have dinners

00:16:33.940 with colleagues

00:16:35.420 with other senators

00:16:36.260 or house members

00:16:36.940 I have dinners

00:16:37.380 with cabinet members

00:16:38.220 sometimes I have dinners

00:16:40.240 with subject matter experts

00:16:41.480 so last night

00:16:42.180 I was having dinner

00:16:42.780 with Mike Waltz

00:16:43.460 Trump's National Security Advisor

00:16:45.260 and we were talking

00:16:46.480 foreign policy

00:16:47.300 we were talking

00:16:47.800 the Middle East

00:16:48.380 we were talking

00:16:48.920 Israel and Iran

00:16:50.020 and China

00:16:50.560 and all of the

00:16:51.360 foreign policy challenges

00:16:52.900 facing this country

00:16:53.800 and I will tell you

00:16:55.180 right at the end

00:16:55.980 of the dinner

00:16:56.380 we actually were just

00:16:57.560 wrapping up

00:16:58.500 when Mike got a call

00:17:00.280 and said

00:17:00.900 oh wow

00:17:01.540 okay there's been

00:17:02.140 a collision

00:17:02.620 between a jet

00:17:03.360 and a helicopter

00:17:03.900 at D.C.

00:17:04.420 Reagan Airport

00:17:04.880 so Mike left

00:17:06.280 to go back

00:17:06.660 to the White House

00:17:07.280 to deal with it

00:17:08.140 and as I was walking out

00:17:11.400 I'll tell you Ben

00:17:12.160 a particularly

00:17:12.880 personal aspect

00:17:13.780 so last night

00:17:16.060 Heidi was flying

00:17:16.980 into D.C.

00:17:18.740 and she was flying

00:17:19.840 into Reagan

00:17:20.400 wow

00:17:21.360 and she was due

00:17:22.540 to land

00:17:23.060 about 30 minutes

00:17:24.120 after this accident

00:17:25.040 happened

00:17:25.520 and so I'll say

00:17:28.200 my body man

00:17:29.580 who's a great kid

00:17:30.960 and is with me

00:17:31.840 frequently

00:17:32.320 he came up

00:17:32.820 I'll give him credit

00:17:33.840 what he said to me

00:17:34.840 walking up

00:17:35.520 is he said

00:17:36.080 Heidi's okay

00:17:37.260 but there's been

00:17:39.160 an accident

00:17:39.620 at D.C.

00:17:40.220 Reagan

00:17:40.460 and a commercial jet

00:17:42.340 has hit a helicopter

00:17:42.880 I was very glad

00:17:44.080 he started with

00:17:44.860 Heidi's okay

00:17:45.500 because I gotta say

00:17:47.240 and so what happened

00:17:48.000 her flight was diverted

00:17:49.020 from Reagan

00:17:49.660 and it landed in BWI

00:17:51.160 for people that don't know

00:17:52.720 BWI is Baltimore

00:17:53.700 Baltimore, Washington

00:17:55.160 and it's about

00:17:56.720 45 minutes away

00:17:57.800 there are three airports

00:17:58.700 that serve D.C.

00:18:00.160 Washington and Reagan

00:18:00.980 is the closest to D.C.

00:18:02.880 Washington and Dulles

00:18:03.740 is in northern Virginia

00:18:04.880 a little further out

00:18:05.920 and then BWI

00:18:06.940 Baltimore, Washington

00:18:07.800 is like I said

00:18:09.420 45 minutes to an hour out

00:18:10.900 so she was diverted

00:18:12.240 and so when she landed

00:18:14.080 it was interesting

00:18:14.660 I texted her immediately

00:18:15.780 said hey are you okay

00:18:16.720 I got no answer

00:18:17.520 because she was still

00:18:18.020 in the air

00:18:18.440 and then when she landed

00:18:20.380 I called her immediately

00:18:21.800 and as she was

00:18:22.940 getting off the plane

00:18:23.800 she said what happened

00:18:25.460 I don't understand

00:18:26.060 why did we get sent

00:18:26.800 to BWI

00:18:27.440 so they didn't tell

00:18:28.180 the passengers

00:18:28.740 why they were diverted

00:18:29.580 and so I told her

00:18:32.560 what had happened

00:18:33.220 and she was

00:18:34.000 and look I understand

00:18:35.200 you don't want to tell

00:18:35.900 passengers on an airplane

00:18:36.920 hey there was just

00:18:37.680 a plane crash

00:18:38.380 that freaks people out

00:18:39.700 but I told her

00:18:41.520 and then she came home

00:18:42.480 but I gotta admit

00:18:43.200 it freaked me out

00:18:45.720 a little bit

00:18:46.300 that my wife

00:18:47.240 was within 20-30 minutes

00:18:49.400 of where there was

00:18:50.460 a fatal plane crash

00:18:51.660 at that airport

00:18:52.460 and you and I

00:18:53.800 have both landed

00:18:54.920 at DCA

00:18:57.000 hundreds if not

00:18:58.060 thousands of times

00:18:59.380 and so it's

00:19:01.420 I gotta say

00:19:03.840 I did

00:19:04.720 I was

00:19:06.420 I said a long prayer

00:19:09.280 and was like

00:19:09.880 God thank you

00:19:10.560 for sparing Heidi

00:19:11.640 and when she got

00:19:12.720 to our apartment

00:19:14.020 I gave her

00:19:14.580 a very long hug

00:19:15.520 and I am grieving

00:19:17.620 for the 67 families

00:19:19.940 who are mourning

00:19:21.040 the loss

00:19:21.540 of their loved ones

00:19:22.360 it's horrific

00:19:24.020 and we're certainly

00:19:26.060 grieving them

00:19:26.840 and we're grateful

00:19:27.400 for all the first responders

00:19:28.580 and everyone

00:19:29.100 who's been really heroic

00:19:30.240 trying to deal

00:19:31.900 with this catastrophe

00:19:33.300 since it happened

00:19:34.160 well I also want

00:19:35.960 to just highlight

00:19:36.820 the response

00:19:38.040 was incredible

00:19:39.460 and I'm sure

00:19:40.180 you've got

00:19:40.800 some of that briefing

00:19:41.960 that came about this

00:19:43.200 you know

00:19:44.200 there's always criticism

00:19:45.420 of we could do things

00:19:46.360 better

00:19:46.680 but the on the ground

00:19:48.080 first responders response

00:19:49.860 truly seemed

00:19:51.180 unbelievable

00:19:52.420 how quick

00:19:53.820 they were responding

00:19:54.880 how fast

00:19:55.960 there were so many

00:19:56.880 people there to help

00:19:57.780 you were hoping

00:19:59.220 for good news

00:19:59.960 that there were going

00:20:00.460 to be survivors

00:20:01.280 we now know

00:20:02.100 the tragic loss

00:20:03.440 of life

00:20:03.900 and what the reality

00:20:05.520 was

00:20:05.960 but even in the recovery

00:20:07.840 it was all hands

00:20:09.340 on deck

00:20:09.820 and it made me proud

00:20:10.920 to be an American

00:20:11.940 I mean it was

00:20:12.480 truly incredible

00:20:13.500 to watch it

00:20:14.200 in real time

00:20:14.800 on TV

00:20:15.300 yeah I talked

00:20:16.700 early this morning

00:20:17.560 to Robert Isom

00:20:18.900 who's the CEO

00:20:19.620 of American Airlines

00:20:20.600 he flew to DC

00:20:22.060 he was on the ground

00:20:23.120 obviously they were

00:20:23.960 dealing with

00:20:24.580 60 passengers

00:20:26.420 and four crew members

00:20:27.540 who were killed

00:20:28.140 and they were dealing

00:20:28.920 with trying to provide

00:20:30.300 help and support

00:20:31.000 to the families

00:20:31.660 and I talked to him

00:20:33.840 I also talked to

00:20:34.440 Sean Duffy

00:20:34.980 who's the Secretary

00:20:35.580 of Transportation

00:20:36.320 you know Sean

00:20:37.700 was confirmed

00:20:38.420 the day earlier

00:20:39.800 like it literally

00:20:41.560 this was his first

00:20:42.660 day on the job

00:20:43.500 yeah

00:20:44.140 and Sean

00:20:45.880 is a good man

00:20:46.880 and a serious man

00:20:47.720 and he's been diving

00:20:48.580 in and trying to deal

00:20:49.440 with it

00:20:49.760 but this is a heck

00:20:50.560 of a welcome

00:20:51.580 to be Secretary

00:20:52.220 of Transportation

00:20:52.860 we've got a major

00:20:53.980 airplane accident

00:20:55.960 on day one

00:20:57.140 and he's

00:20:57.760 dealing with it

00:20:58.800 and look

00:20:59.160 the resources

00:21:01.120 to investigate

00:21:02.100 to try to determine

00:21:04.140 exactly what happened

00:21:05.260 the NTSB in particular

00:21:07.260 they're very good

00:21:08.060 at this

00:21:08.520 and we're trying

00:21:09.720 to track down

00:21:10.700 obviously

00:21:12.200 there was a massive

00:21:13.900 mistake somewhere

00:21:15.140 but we need to figure out

00:21:16.520 who made it

00:21:17.680 and why

00:21:18.560 and how could it

00:21:19.920 have been prevented

00:21:20.540 so that we can learn

00:21:21.320 lessons

00:21:21.720 and try to stop

00:21:23.260 this from happening

00:21:23.920 again

00:21:24.300 I will say this

00:21:25.500 though also

00:21:25.980 as just a comfort

00:21:27.000 to everyone

00:21:27.460 as horrific

00:21:29.160 as this is

00:21:30.140 it is worth

00:21:31.880 remembering

00:21:32.480 that air travel

00:21:33.580 is hands down

00:21:35.180 the safest mode

00:21:35.900 of transport

00:21:36.420 and your odds

00:21:37.880 of being killed

00:21:40.840 driving to the airport

00:21:42.220 are still higher

00:21:43.260 than they are

00:21:43.980 of being killed

00:21:44.860 flying on a commercial

00:21:46.320 airline

00:21:46.680 so they're not zero

00:21:48.140 and in some ways

00:21:50.040 it is amazing

00:21:51.720 given the flights

00:21:52.560 that occur

00:21:53.020 all over this country

00:21:54.080 in so many places

00:21:55.580 that it has been

00:21:57.620 a long time

00:21:59.240 since we've had

00:22:00.220 a mass fatality

00:22:01.240 accident

00:22:01.700 in the United States

00:22:02.600 given how complicated

00:22:04.140 flying is

00:22:04.900 and in some ways

00:22:05.720 that's remarkable

00:22:06.440 but nonetheless

00:22:08.260 this tragedy

00:22:09.300 we should do

00:22:10.760 everything we can

00:22:11.760 to press

00:22:13.220 for zero fatalities

00:22:15.160 and so we're going

00:22:15.960 to learn lessons

00:22:16.720 from this

00:22:17.200 and try to

00:22:17.800 prevent it

00:22:18.920 from happening again

00:22:19.660 you mentioned something

00:22:21.200 and just you talk

00:22:21.840 about perspective

00:22:22.580 it's amazing

00:22:24.340 just how fast

00:22:25.380 things can change

00:22:26.380 because Sean Duffy

00:22:28.620 who you know well

00:22:29.400 and his wife Rachel

00:22:30.520 they have a large family

00:22:33.180 and he was welcomed

00:22:35.280 just minutes before

00:22:37.880 at his office

00:22:40.180 and his family was there

00:22:41.520 and he walked up

00:22:42.420 to walk into the office

00:22:44.200 where he's going to serve

00:22:45.000 the American people

00:22:45.880 and he went into that office

00:22:47.540 and then I'm sure afterwards

00:22:48.980 was immediately rushed out

00:22:50.160 because of what happened

00:22:51.440 and I sent a note

00:22:53.300 to Rachel last night

00:22:54.780 and I just said

00:22:55.180 you know

00:22:55.720 I'm so proud

00:22:56.720 and I'm so sorry

00:22:57.460 that the first night

00:22:58.580 that this is what

00:22:59.540 you're having to deal

00:22:59.960 with the best

00:23:00.300 that I know God

00:23:00.960 has put y'all

00:23:01.700 there for times like this

00:23:03.200 to lead into comfort

00:23:04.180 and I do think

00:23:05.540 the American people

00:23:06.120 should understand

00:23:06.700 there are incredible leaders

00:23:08.060 that we have just gained

00:23:09.680 who are going to do

00:23:10.480 an amazing job

00:23:11.600 in times like these

00:23:12.980 Sean is one of those

00:23:14.220 yeah and look

00:23:15.360 I'm grateful

00:23:16.120 that he was on board

00:23:17.480 and confirmed

00:23:18.100 and was able

00:23:18.680 to be doing his job

00:23:20.160 on the day of this accident

00:23:21.040 also Pete Hegseth

00:23:22.320 who was just confirmed

00:23:23.340 as Secretary of Defense

00:23:24.400 listen this is a crisis

00:23:26.980 involving loss of life

00:23:28.540 for three soldiers as well

00:23:30.460 and the question

00:23:32.940 of who was at fault

00:23:34.260 there's at least

00:23:35.000 some real question

00:23:36.700 whether the military pilots

00:23:38.800 have committed

00:23:40.440 some serious error

00:23:41.540 we don't know for sure

00:23:43.000 but that

00:23:44.140 you look at Pete Hegseth

00:23:46.100 you're just confirmed

00:23:46.920 as Defense Secretary

00:23:47.800 this is a serious challenge

00:23:49.660 to deal with

00:23:50.280 in his first couple

00:23:51.380 of days as well

00:23:52.120 and I'm grateful

00:23:52.740 both of them

00:23:53.680 were confirmed

00:23:54.780 and on the job

00:23:55.600 because you need

00:23:56.220 strong leadership

00:23:56.920 to deal with

00:23:57.900 a crisis of this magnitude

00:23:59.460 I was going to ask you

00:24:00.600 my next question

00:24:01.320 quickly was going to be

00:24:02.260 the follow-up

00:24:03.100 on the military side

00:24:04.560 we talked so much

00:24:05.320 about you know

00:24:06.860 transportation

00:24:07.760 the airlines

00:24:08.680 and the CEO

00:24:09.420 and etc

00:24:10.040 but let's talk about

00:24:11.180 the military side

00:24:12.160 there was loss

00:24:13.280 of life there as well

00:24:14.180 what do we know

00:24:14.780 from that perspective

00:24:15.920 we know three soldiers

00:24:17.760 were aboard the Blackhawk

00:24:18.840 and they were all killed

00:24:19.960 we don't know

00:24:20.780 the details now

00:24:21.860 of who made the mistake

00:24:25.500 obviously somebody did

00:24:27.480 because this should not

00:24:28.260 have happened

00:24:28.720 but we don't know

00:24:30.360 where the mistake was

00:24:31.420 and it's where

00:24:32.080 the investigation

00:24:33.040 like NTSB

00:24:34.100 will retrace

00:24:35.840 the exact path

00:24:37.360 of each airline

00:24:38.240 each aircraft

00:24:39.620 and figure out

00:24:41.760 okay

00:24:42.080 who was

00:24:43.000 not where they were

00:24:45.100 supposed to be

00:24:45.720 who was in the wrong place

00:24:47.020 was there a miscommunication

00:24:48.920 look as you review

00:24:49.740 the transcripts

00:24:51.300 you know

00:24:52.200 FAA and NTSB

00:24:53.540 told us at least

00:24:54.380 initially reviewing

00:24:55.240 the transcript

00:24:55.840 it appeared

00:24:56.500 like when the air traffic

00:24:57.980 controller said

00:24:58.680 okay do you have

00:24:59.280 visual confirmation

00:25:00.160 of the airline

00:25:00.760 and the helicopter pilot

00:25:01.940 said yes

00:25:02.660 what we were told

00:25:04.100 in the briefing

00:25:04.580 is ordinarily

00:25:05.260 the air traffic controller

00:25:06.600 would move on

00:25:07.200 say okay

00:25:07.580 you guys are taken care of

00:25:08.820 onto the next flight

00:25:10.060 so that was their initial take

00:25:12.640 is that exchange

00:25:13.680 appeared to be

00:25:15.900 a fairly typical exchange

00:25:17.980 back and forth

00:25:18.740 of navigating

00:25:19.760 multiple aircraft

00:25:21.260 in close proximity

00:25:23.100 nevertheless

00:25:24.960 we'll find out

00:25:26.940 as we examine

00:25:27.860 was there just one individual

00:25:30.500 who made an error

00:25:31.760 were there multiple individuals

00:25:33.080 what was

00:25:33.960 what was the cause of this

00:25:36.100 and that

00:25:36.800 I'm confident

00:25:38.180 and I've told

00:25:39.080 the other members

00:25:39.780 of the commerce committee

00:25:40.620 as NTSB

00:25:42.400 reaches conclusions

00:25:43.720 I'll have another briefing

00:25:44.940 where we sit down

00:25:45.760 with them

00:25:46.120 and can ask them

00:25:46.900 ask them hard questions

00:25:48.740 and understand

00:25:49.320 okay

00:25:49.900 what really caused this

00:25:52.300 and how do we prevent it

00:25:53.120 from happening again

00:25:53.820 Canadian women

00:25:55.360 Canadian women are looking

00:25:55.820 for more

00:25:56.420 more out of themselves

00:25:57.500 their businesses

00:25:58.340 their elected leaders

00:25:59.460 and the world around them

00:26:00.680 and that's why we're thrilled

00:26:01.820 to introduce

00:26:02.480 the Honest Talk Podcast

00:26:03.980 I'm Jennifer Stewart

00:26:05.520 and I'm Catherine Clark

00:26:06.720 and in this podcast

00:26:07.960 we interview Canada's

00:26:09.120 most inspiring women

00:26:10.420 entrepreneurs

00:26:10.980 artists

00:26:11.880 athletes

00:26:12.540 politicians

00:26:13.160 and newsmakers

00:26:14.060 all at different stages

00:26:15.360 of their journey

00:26:16.200 so if you're looking

00:26:17.520 to connect

00:26:18.060 then we hope you'll join us

00:26:19.520 listen to the Honest Talk Podcast

00:26:20.960 on iHeart Radio

00:26:22.040 or wherever you listen

00:26:23.100 to your podcasts

00:26:23.820 this brings us

00:26:26.560 to confirmations

00:26:27.480 and I do want to

00:26:28.360 just give a quick update

00:26:29.500 for everybody

00:26:30.200 about where we are

00:26:31.460 it shows you

00:26:32.760 the importance

00:26:33.360 of having people

00:26:34.040 in these positions

00:26:34.780 you talk about

00:26:35.500 Sean Duffy

00:26:35.980 as a great example

00:26:36.680 he was confirmed

00:26:37.460 on the day

00:26:38.400 this happened

00:26:39.120 there are several

00:26:40.380 other major posts

00:26:41.720 that we have

00:26:42.600 confirmation hearings

00:26:43.520 that wrapped up

00:26:45.220 on Thursday

00:26:45.880 as you and I

00:26:46.520 are recording

00:26:46.880 this Thursday night

00:26:47.780 there will not be

00:26:49.200 votes on them

00:26:49.880 until next week

00:26:50.700 how are things

00:26:51.920 moving forward

00:26:52.600 where are we

00:26:53.400 in general

00:26:53.960 right now

00:26:54.540 compared to

00:26:55.800 in the past

00:26:56.700 because I've been

00:26:57.200 saying are they

00:26:57.880 slowing us down

00:26:58.760 are we getting

00:26:59.460 back on track

00:27:00.360 where are we

00:27:01.080 so look

00:27:02.340 the Democrats

00:27:02.880 are certainly

00:27:03.440 engaged in delay

00:27:04.500 and obstruction

00:27:05.100 that being said

00:27:06.640 where we are now

00:27:07.440 eight cabinet members

00:27:08.440 have been confirmed

00:27:09.200 so we are

00:27:10.460 what's the total

00:27:12.300 number that is

00:27:12.940 a full cabinet

00:27:13.620 in the low 20s

00:27:16.080 okay so we're

00:27:17.000 far away

00:27:17.520 we're not even

00:27:17.940 a half

00:27:18.360 we're not even

00:27:18.780 at 50%

00:27:19.340 correct but we

00:27:20.640 are ahead

00:27:22.160 of where

00:27:23.600 Biden was

00:27:24.380 at this point

00:27:25.040 and we're ahead

00:27:26.340 of where Trump

00:27:27.020 was in the first

00:27:27.740 term so so

00:27:28.840 eight is moving

00:27:30.420 with with greater

00:27:31.400 expedition than

00:27:32.320 the last two

00:27:32.940 administrations

00:27:33.640 have seen

00:27:34.040 and so it

00:27:35.340 started with

00:27:36.080 the first

00:27:36.540 cabinet member

00:27:37.120 confirmed was

00:27:37.700 Marco Rubio

00:27:38.320 he was confirmed

00:27:38.920 on January 20th

00:27:39.880 the first day

00:27:40.440 and he was

00:27:42.240 confirmed 99 to

00:27:43.200 zero

00:27:43.420 the second

00:27:44.800 cabinet member

00:27:45.460 was the CIA

00:27:46.160 director John

00:27:46.960 Ratcliffe

00:27:47.480 he had 74

00:27:49.480 yeses and 25

00:27:50.480 noes

00:27:50.920 after that you

00:27:52.800 had Pete

00:27:53.160 Hegseth as

00:27:54.140 defense secretary

00:27:55.220 he had 51

00:27:56.240 yeses and 50

00:27:57.120 noes

00:27:57.620 the vice

00:27:58.320 president J.D.

00:27:59.100 Vance cast the

00:27:59.780 tie-breaking vote

00:28:00.460 the next person

00:28:01.920 confirmed was the

00:28:02.720 secretary of

00:28:03.220 homeland security

00:28:03.960 Christy Dome

00:28:04.780 she had 59

00:28:06.080 yeses and 34

00:28:07.120 noes

00:28:07.580 after that the

00:28:09.340 treasury secretary

00:28:10.180 was confirmed

00:28:11.000 he had 68

00:28:13.100 yeses

00:28:13.660 29 noes

00:28:15.020 that's Scott

00:28:15.600 Besant

00:28:16.000 after that the

00:28:17.540 transportation

00:28:17.980 secretary Sean

00:28:19.040 Duffy was

00:28:19.560 confirmed

00:28:19.980 we're very glad

00:28:20.640 he was confirmed

00:28:21.280 given this

00:28:21.780 crisis

00:28:22.180 he had 77

00:28:24.000 yeses and

00:28:24.700 22 noes

00:28:25.520 after that

00:28:27.220 the EPA

00:28:29.240 administrator

00:28:30.020 Lee Zeldin

00:28:30.840 former congressman

00:28:31.760 from New York

00:28:32.400 former candidate

00:28:33.100 for governor

00:28:33.660 in New York

00:28:34.200 a friend of mine

00:28:35.300 he was confirmed

00:28:36.600 as EPA

00:28:37.100 administrator

00:28:37.680 with 56

00:28:38.620 yeses

00:28:39.140 42 noes

00:28:40.400 and then just

00:28:41.540 today the

00:28:42.180 interior secretary

00:28:43.280 Doug Burgum

00:28:44.060 the former governor

00:28:45.320 of North Dakota

00:28:46.520 he was confirmed

00:28:47.400 79 yeses

00:28:48.620 18 noes

00:28:49.500 now where do we

00:28:50.100 stand now

00:28:50.860 in addition to

00:28:52.440 confirming Doug

00:28:53.160 Burgum

00:28:53.540 we've teed up

00:28:54.540 as the next

00:28:55.300 cabinet members

00:28:56.140 to be confirmed

00:28:57.500 Chris Wright

00:28:58.760 as secretary of

00:28:59.500 energy

00:28:59.840 Doug Collins

00:29:01.620 as secretary of

00:29:02.400 veterans affairs

00:29:03.100 and Pam Bondi

00:29:04.840 as attorney general

00:29:05.740 and Scott Turner

00:29:06.640 as secretary

00:29:08.000 of housing

00:29:09.380 and urban development

00:29:10.160 all of those

00:29:11.640 are scheduled

00:29:12.480 to be confirmed

00:29:13.160 next week

00:29:13.880 so they're

00:29:14.280 teed up

00:29:14.880 we were going

00:29:16.720 to ram

00:29:17.280 through the weekend

00:29:18.080 and keep the

00:29:18.760 Democrats here

00:29:19.440 because they were

00:29:19.980 engaged in obstruction

00:29:21.040 and Thursday night

00:29:22.660 the Democrats

00:29:23.280 caved

00:29:23.760 and they agreed

00:29:24.400 to expedite

00:29:25.180 and move

00:29:25.860 these forward

00:29:26.540 so we're

00:29:27.580 moving now

00:29:28.360 on a faster

00:29:29.180 pace

00:29:29.620 than we would

00:29:30.260 have

00:29:30.680 if we had

00:29:32.380 rammed through

00:29:32.840 the weekend

00:29:33.340 and the Democrats

00:29:34.100 had extended

00:29:34.580 all the time

00:29:35.200 and so they

00:29:35.680 agreed

00:29:36.060 all right

00:29:36.320 we'll compress

00:29:36.800 the time

00:29:37.400 if we let

00:29:39.280 them fly home

00:29:40.060 and so by

00:29:40.720 next week

00:29:41.220 as I said

00:29:41.800 Secretary of Energy

00:29:43.060 Secretary of Veterans

00:29:43.860 Affairs

00:29:44.240 Attorney General

00:29:45.120 and HUD

00:29:46.440 will all make

00:29:47.460 it through

00:29:47.720 next week

00:29:48.260 that obviously

00:29:49.720 means the pace

00:29:50.580 is moving up

00:29:51.320 when you look

00:29:52.340 at so far

00:29:53.660 what's happened

00:29:54.340 there does seem

00:29:55.300 to be a little

00:29:55.800 bit of a change

00:29:56.700 now we're noticing

00:29:57.640 it with the

00:29:58.080 Democrats

00:29:58.440 and the media

00:29:59.540 especially

00:30:00.360 it seems like

00:30:02.260 there's a real

00:30:03.300 appetite

00:30:03.940 to just get

00:30:06.020 a nominee

00:30:07.920 whatever one

00:30:09.220 they can get

00:30:09.480 their hands

00:30:09.940 on

00:30:10.200 to not

00:30:10.860 pass

00:30:11.420 is that

00:30:12.060 part of

00:30:12.460 the

00:30:12.580 gamesmanship

00:30:13.180 that we're

00:30:13.640 witnessing

00:30:14.020 am I reading

00:30:14.580 the room

00:30:14.900 the right way

00:30:15.500 yeah look

00:30:16.260 I still believe

00:30:17.820 and I've said

00:30:18.280 this a number

00:30:18.780 of times

00:30:19.300 that all

00:30:20.640 of Trump's

00:30:21.260 cabinet nominees

00:30:21.940 are going

00:30:22.280 to be confirmed

00:30:22.900 and I think

00:30:23.360 they'll be

00:30:23.660 confirmed

00:30:24.040 within 30

00:30:24.640 days

00:30:24.980 that we

00:30:25.580 are leaning

00:30:26.020 in

00:30:26.340 we're putting

00:30:26.760 the pedal

00:30:27.140 to the metal

00:30:27.660 on under

00:30:28.700 the Senate

00:30:29.120 rules

00:30:29.640 that the

00:30:30.160 Democrats

00:30:30.520 can delay

00:30:31.280 some

00:30:31.980 but I think

00:30:32.960 within 30

00:30:33.460 days we'll

00:30:33.880 get them

00:30:34.120 all through

00:30:34.520 now the

00:30:36.600 two the

00:30:37.920 three that

00:30:38.600 they're going

00:30:39.160 after hardest

00:30:40.040 are in

00:30:41.920 terms of

00:30:42.360 cabinet nominees

00:30:43.300 Tulsi Gabbard

00:30:44.220 for director

00:30:45.460 of national

00:30:45.940 intelligence

00:30:46.560 Bobby Kennedy

00:30:48.440 for health

00:30:49.120 and human

00:30:49.440 services

00:30:49.960 and then

00:30:51.200 it's not a

00:30:51.720 cabinet position

00:30:52.520 but but

00:30:53.200 cash Patel

00:30:53.980 for director

00:30:54.540 of the FBI

00:30:55.200 which it's a

00:30:56.180 sub cabinet

00:30:56.660 position but a

00:30:57.900 very very

00:30:58.420 important law

00:30:59.060 enforcement position

00:30:59.880 those are the

00:31:01.260 three it's not

00:31:02.040 complicated or

00:31:02.840 subtle those

00:31:04.180 three are the

00:31:04.780 top targets

00:31:05.400 of the

00:31:05.620 Democrats

00:31:06.120 today in

00:31:07.860 the Senate

00:31:08.140 Judiciary

00:31:08.580 Committee we

00:31:09.180 had cash

00:31:10.220 Patel's

00:31:10.660 hearing I

00:31:12.300 was vigorous

00:31:13.040 at the

00:31:13.400 hearing

00:31:13.740 defending

00:31:14.200 him I

00:31:15.300 will tell

00:31:15.720 you I

00:31:16.020 think I

00:31:17.360 think cash

00:31:18.260 did very

00:31:18.720 well I

00:31:19.240 think he

00:31:19.480 acquitted

00:31:19.740 himself in

00:31:20.400 an excellent

00:31:20.800 way this

00:31:22.360 evening I

00:31:22.740 was on

00:31:23.020 Sean Hannity

00:31:23.640 and as I

00:31:24.080 put it I

00:31:24.640 said my

00:31:25.080 assessment of

00:31:25.740 the Democrats

00:31:26.240 behavior at

00:31:27.420 cash Patel's

00:31:28.140 hearing reminded

00:31:29.500 me of the

00:31:30.020 quote from

00:31:30.660 from Shakespeare's

00:31:31.600 Macbeth it

00:31:32.960 was a tale

00:31:33.600 told by an 1.00

00:31:34.380 idiot full 1.00

00:31:35.060 of sound 1.00

00:31:35.480 and fury

00:31:35.940 and signifying

00:31:36.600 nothing

00:31:36.980 that is a

00:31:39.080 great accurate

00:31:40.200 way of describing

00:31:41.000 it was a you

00:31:41.820 know what show

00:31:42.540 is how I was

00:31:43.140 going to put

00:31:43.540 it but but

00:31:44.400 they didn't

00:31:44.860 land any

00:31:45.360 material blows

00:31:46.220 and look the

00:31:46.740 point on cash

00:31:47.680 what they're

00:31:48.940 attacking him

00:31:49.680 on not that

00:31:51.000 he's not

00:31:51.360 qualified he's

00:31:52.180 clearly qualified

00:31:52.980 he has has

00:31:54.100 over a decade

00:31:55.680 of experience in

00:31:56.720 law enforcement

00:31:57.300 national security

00:31:58.300 including having

00:31:59.520 been a a

00:32:00.460 federal public

00:32:01.600 defender including

00:32:02.400 having been a

00:32:02.860 federal prosecutor

00:32:03.620 having worked in

00:32:04.260 the national

00:32:04.580 security division

00:32:05.420 of the department

00:32:06.340 of justice

00:32:06.900 having worked in

00:32:07.560 the white house

00:32:08.100 and the national

00:32:08.460 security council

00:32:09.180 having been a

00:32:10.120 senior intelligence

00:32:10.940 staffer on

00:32:12.040 capitol hill and

00:32:12.840 having been the

00:32:13.300 chief of staff at

00:32:14.260 the united states

00:32:15.480 defense department

00:32:16.740 they're not arguing

00:32:19.640 he's unqualified

00:32:20.360 what they're arguing

00:32:21.280 is they're terrified

00:32:23.120 he will do exactly

00:32:24.260 what president trump

00:32:25.200 promised he would

00:32:26.040 do which is

00:32:27.280 eliminate the

00:32:28.060 politicization and

00:32:29.080 weaponization of the

00:32:30.080 fbi and get it

00:32:31.060 back to its core

00:32:31.740 function i

00:32:32.700 believe cash

00:32:33.220 patel will do

00:32:33.860 that and i think

00:32:34.500 the democrats are

00:32:35.140 freaking out because

00:32:35.740 they don't want

00:32:36.220 him to do that

00:32:36.840 but i think cash

00:32:37.960 will make it

00:32:38.440 through we also

00:32:39.800 had hearings this

00:32:40.700 week for both

00:32:41.360 bobby kennedy and

00:32:42.220 tulsi gabbard i

00:32:43.460 don't know it is

00:32:44.680 not impossible

00:32:45.680 that that one of

00:32:48.040 those nominees is

00:32:49.680 defeated but i

00:32:51.300 think they all make

00:32:52.220 it through right now

00:32:52.940 when you look at

00:32:54.420 the republicans

00:32:55.400 when democrats are

00:32:56.800 pushing this

00:32:57.260 obstructionism the

00:32:58.400 way that they they're

00:32:59.200 doing it and trying

00:32:59.840 to slow things down

00:33:00.440 does that unify the

00:33:02.440 the republican base

00:33:04.200 more because it's

00:33:05.360 like all right come

00:33:06.080 on guys does that

00:33:06.940 make it actually easier

00:33:08.080 to get the votes you

00:33:08.900 need because you

00:33:09.920 realize what you're

00:33:10.620 up against oh look

00:33:12.440 potentially um you

00:33:14.600 had pete hagseth who

00:33:15.720 is the one they went

00:33:16.560 after the hardest uh so

00:33:18.760 far and and that vote

00:33:20.780 was 50 50 we lost

00:33:22.140 three republicans we

00:33:23.180 lost susan collins

00:33:24.140 lisa murkowski and

00:33:25.060 mitch mcconnell um

00:33:26.700 because we have a 53

00:33:28.300 47 majority losing

00:33:30.400 three made it 50 50

00:33:31.680 and that meant the

00:33:32.520 vice president jd

00:33:33.440 vance could break

00:33:34.040 the tie i am glad

00:33:36.040 we have 53 if we

00:33:37.420 had a 51 vote

00:33:38.440 majority i would

00:33:39.660 not be nearly so

00:33:40.620 sanguine i would

00:33:41.280 not be saying every

00:33:42.240 trump cabinet nominee

00:33:43.140 is going to be

00:33:43.560 confirmed if we had

00:33:45.040 a 51 vote majority

00:33:46.140 but because we have

00:33:47.000 53 we can lose up

00:33:49.540 to three um and

00:33:51.500 and so i think all

00:33:52.700 of these make it

00:33:53.380 through listen tulsi

00:33:55.700 tulsi was a democrat

00:33:57.240 for most of her

00:33:58.060 career she is

00:33:59.020 perceived if you

00:34:00.120 look at republican

00:34:01.100 foreign policy they're

00:34:02.380 interventionists and

00:34:03.940 isolationists there are

00:34:05.160 many who perceive

00:34:06.100 tulsi as much more of

00:34:07.340 an isolationist so

00:34:09.160 there are republicans

00:34:10.800 who have real

00:34:11.280 concerns with her

00:34:12.040 will that play out

00:34:14.000 into no votes i

00:34:14.980 don't know i think

00:34:15.680 the president deserves

00:34:17.120 a considerable amount

00:34:18.040 of deference in in

00:34:19.180 in naming his cabinet

00:34:20.560 members and he has

00:34:21.420 decided to name

00:34:22.200 tulsi gabbard i'm

00:34:23.140 gonna vote yes but

00:34:24.780 i don't know it's

00:34:26.980 not impossible that

00:34:29.040 we get four no

00:34:30.140 votes which would

00:34:30.760 take down the

00:34:31.320 nomination likewise

00:34:32.320 bobby kennedy bobby

00:34:33.480 kennedy is a

00:34:33.940 complicated situation

00:34:34.840 both kennedy and

00:34:36.160 tulsi until like 12

00:34:38.020 minutes ago they were

00:34:38.900 both democrats yeah

00:34:40.480 and so bobby

00:34:42.260 kennedy obviously a

00:34:43.500 scion of of one of

00:34:45.000 the great democrat

00:34:45.960 royalty families

00:34:47.420 camelot um it is a

00:34:50.880 curious dynamic it's

00:34:52.020 not clear to me any

00:34:52.980 democrat is gonna

00:34:53.820 vote for him uh 0.87

00:34:55.560 which is a which is

00:34:56.680 an interesting

00:34:57.260 situation listen

00:34:58.720 there are some

00:34:59.260 conservatives bobby

00:35:01.360 kennedy until recently

00:35:02.580 on many policies his

00:35:03.980 his views were were

00:35:05.540 quite left of center

00:35:06.980 um i'm gonna vote for

00:35:10.220 bobby kennedy because i

00:35:11.340 think he's a change

00:35:12.140 agent because i think

00:35:12.980 he has courage to take

00:35:14.620 on i think some of the

00:35:15.620 corruption that we

00:35:16.340 have at hhs particularly

00:35:17.660 with big pharma that

00:35:18.760 gets in bed with with

00:35:20.540 the career bureaucrats

00:35:21.960 there and and stifles

00:35:23.300 competition and drives

00:35:24.420 up costs i i think if

00:35:27.880 you have a terrible 0.59

00:35:30.220 disease you should have

00:35:32.220 a right to access

00:35:33.280 life-saving medication

00:35:34.560 and and i'm one of the

00:35:35.680 original sponsors of the

00:35:36.740 right to try legislation

00:35:37.880 i think that's very

00:35:39.540 important and and i think

00:35:41.340 bobby kennedy is going to

00:35:42.580 shake up the the

00:35:44.580 cronyism that that that

00:35:46.340 that has characterized

00:35:48.180 hhs what's not clear to

00:35:50.980 me is i don't if any

00:35:54.100 democrats want that

00:35:55.300 cronyism shaken up and

00:35:57.480 to be honest there may

00:35:59.000 be some republicans or

00:36:00.020 don't let's play this

00:36:01.620 exchange so this is bobby

00:36:03.000 kennedy uh responding to

00:36:05.120 bernie sanders bernie's

00:36:06.160 gonna vote no and bernie

00:36:07.200 was attacking him like

00:36:08.160 crazy but i gotta say

00:36:09.400 bobby kennedy popped him

00:36:11.060 back pretty hard listen to

00:36:12.200 this exchange i'm gonna

00:36:14.500 make america healthier

00:36:16.360 than other countries in

00:36:17.520 the world right now

00:36:18.400 will you guarantee do

00:36:19.820 what every other major

00:36:21.140 country does it's a

00:36:22.380 simple question and by

00:36:23.720 the way bernie the you

00:36:26.680 know the the problem of

00:36:27.980 corruption is not just in

00:36:29.460 the federal agencies it's

00:36:30.900 in congress too almost all

00:36:33.100 the members of this panel

00:36:34.100 are accepting including

00:36:35.320 yourself are accepting

00:36:36.540 millions of dollars from

00:36:37.840 the pharmaceutical industry

00:36:39.280 oh no no no no

00:36:40.660 protecting their interests

00:36:42.060 oh i thought that that

00:36:44.500 would come no i ran for

00:36:46.720 president like you i got

00:36:48.400 millions and millions of

00:36:50.380 contributions they did not

00:36:52.520 come from the executives not

00:36:54.560 one nickel of pack money from

00:36:56.460 the pharmaceutical industry

00:36:57.480 they came from workers 0.89

00:36:58.480 in 2020 in 2020 you were the

00:37:01.560 single largest because i had

00:37:04.040 four contributions from

00:37:06.820 workers all over this country

00:37:08.740 workers you were the single

00:37:10.320 not a nickel from corporate

00:37:12.400 you were the single largest

00:37:13.840 except for pharmaceutical

00:37:15.420 dollars oh from workers in

00:37:17.860 1.5 million yeah out of 200

00:37:21.240 million all right but you have

00:37:24.500 not answered last question

00:37:25.700 yep i mean not you want to

00:37:28.320 talk about a beat down with the

00:37:29.440 facts there bernie you've

00:37:30.700 accepted millions of dollars

00:37:32.280 from the pharmaceutical industry

00:37:33.520 in 2020 you were the single

00:37:35.600 largest receiver of

00:37:36.660 pharmaceutical dollars 1.5

00:37:38.740 million like well let's just

00:37:40.520 move on here

00:37:41.260 yeah he he did not like that

00:37:43.540 exchange by the way i've never

00:37:45.580 seen a confirmation hearing where

00:37:47.000 the nominee refers to the

00:37:48.200 senator by his first name he

00:37:49.400 keeps calling him bernie like

00:37:50.620 it's clear bobby kennedy and

00:37:52.620 bernie sanders they know each

00:37:53.600 other well i mean they've got a

00:37:55.460 long history there because that's

00:37:57.260 that that that's quite unusual

00:37:59.900 too but i gotta say bernie was

00:38:02.180 not anticipating that pop back

00:38:04.500 we'll see how it plays out but i

00:38:07.160 think kennedy is going to get

00:38:08.080 confirmed i want him to get

00:38:09.180 confirmed i i i like bobby

00:38:11.120 kennedy and and i also think

00:38:12.700 there are a lot of americans a

00:38:15.340 lot of americans who are not even

00:38:16.440 very political a lot of moms who 1.00

00:38:18.820 are worried about the garbage that 0.99

00:38:20.540 that our kids are consuming are

00:38:22.800 worried about the rise in in in

00:38:25.500 in chronic illness that that i think

00:38:29.280 bobby kennedy is a very good person

00:38:30.920 to take that on

00:38:31.640 well and the key word you use was

00:38:34.380 an agent of change yep there is an

00:38:37.200 appetite for that in washington the

00:38:39.240 status quo people are sick and tired

00:38:41.120 of and that's part of the reason i

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Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 31, 2025

Inside the Investigation into the Tragic DC Airline Crash, plus Trump Confirmations Accelerate

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