Welcome in his verdict with Center. Ted Cruz.

Welcome in his verdict with Center. Ted Cruz.

Nice to have you with us on this Friday morning, and Center, We've got a lot to talk about, including the tragedy that happened. You were right there in Washington when all this was unfolding with this helicopter and airplane colliding at Reagan National Airport.

Nice to have you with us on this Friday morning, and Center, We've got a lot to talk about, including the tragedy that happened. You were right there in Washington when all this was unfolding with this helicopter and airplane colliding at Reagan National Airport.

Well, it was truly a tragic and horrific accident, and it cost the lives of sixty seven souls. The commercial airliner from American Airlines, flying from Wichita, Kansas to Washington d C. Reagan Airport had sixty passengers on it and four crew members, and then an Army black Hawk helicopter had three soldiers on it, bringing the total death toll to sixty seven. The two collided just before nine pm on Wednesday night. They collided as the American Airlines airliner was landing at d C. Reagan Airport. And I'll tell you today, so you and I are recording this Thursday night. Today, I spent a lot of the day dealing with the aftermath of this. So, as you know, I'm the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It has jurisdiction over all of aviation. And so today I hosted briefings from the FAA and the NTSB, the National Traffic Safety Board, and we were heard from. They were bipartisan briefings. I had senators both Republicans and Democrats that participated, and we got we got briefings the NTSB, which is as I said, the National Transportation Safety Board does investigations whenever there's a serious accident, whenever there's an accident, an aviation accident, whenever there's a rail accident, they do investigations, and we heard from them. Now as of Thursday, the NTSB had over a dozen investigators on the ground. And listen, in the wake of an accident, you've got to actually see what happened. You've got to investigate and discover the facts, discover the evidence. In this instance, we know that the American Airlines flight was coming in. It was initially on runway one at Reagan Airport, and then the air traffic controllers moved it to runway thirty three, So they shifted the runway right at the very end, and the American Airlines pilots changed their descent to land on runway thirty three. Now, simultaneously there was an Army black Hawk helicopter that was traveling. There are multiple helicopter routes that go in and around Reagan Airport, and that Army helicopter was on Route one and then it was shifting from Route one to Root four, and the air traffic controllers were in contact with the pilots of the American Airlines flight and also the pilots of the helicopter, and after telling the American Airlines jet to land on Runway thirty three, the air traffic controller tells the black Hawk pilots to visually confirm and have in the line of sight the incoming plane, and the black Hawk helicopter pilots confirmed that yes, they have the plane in sight, and they also instruct the black Hawk pilots to come behind the plane that is landing. What in fact happens, or what appears to have happened, is the black Hawk helicopter came in front of the plane that was landing. The two collided midair and exploded midair. Now at this point it appears everyone involved died. Both the plane and the black Hawk helicopter sunk into the Potomac River. They were both in relatively shallow water about seven to eight feet of water where they had sunk, and as of Thursday, the black box, the flight recorder had been recovered from the airplane and they are in the process of recovering the black box the audio transcript recorder for the Blackhawk helicopter, so both of those will be recovered and they're trying to piece together what happened. What do we know. We know that somebody were multiple somebodies made a catastrophic mistake, a catastrophic mistake that led to a massive loss of life at this point, and look, there are lots of people who are giving all sorts of theories, who are jumping on all sorts of possibilities. In my view, we shouldn't speculate. We shouldn't we shouldn't get ahead of the evidence. We need to understand exactly what caused this accident, whether it was an error on the part of the army pilot, whether it was conceivably an error on the part of the commercial airliner pilot, whether it was an error on the part of the air traffic controller, or some combination of multiplayers in that regard. We don't know right now. What we do know is two aircraft we're in the same place at the same time. Now as we were having the briefing from the NTSB and the FAA that they told us several things. Number number one that had the helicopter stayed on Route four, it would have been well out of the way of the landing path of the airline, and it would have been in a lower altitude than where the helicopter and the jet collided. We don't know what happened exactly. One of the things the NTSB is going to do in this investigation is they're going to listen to the black boxer coardings of both aircraft and they're going to retrace the path the exact path of both aircraft to discover was one of them where it was not supposed to be? Were both of them where they were not supposed to be. At this point, we don't have a clear answer to that, and it's easy I would say, don't trust twitter, don't trust every theory. Look, they looked at one theory and actually, something I asked the NTSB, I said, when the air traffic controller asked the black Hawk pilots, do you have visual confirmation to the aircraft, and the black Hawk pilots confirm that do we have evidence that they were looking at a different airplane. You could certainly this strikes me as a reasonable inference that the the helicopter pilot looks and says, yes, I see the plane and perhaps didn't realize it was a different plane that was landing, because presumably if they saw the plane that led to the collision, they would not have stayed in the in the path of the plane, but they would would have piloted elsewhere. So NTSB and FAA told me right now, we don't know, so that's not confirmed. That's a theory people are saying online it is a plausible theory, but we don't have confirmation of that right now. There's also discussion about the equipment. So the Blackhawk helicopter had a transponder, so it was appearing on radar. It did not have technology called ADSB, which is technology that pings the location of an aircraft, and it does so using GPS rather than radar, and ADSB is more accurate and more reliable then simply a transponder that is pinging on radar. Now, under the FAA rules, military aircraft and federal law enforcement, an aircraft are exempted from the requirement that they have ADSB technology, And I will tell you as we were talking with the FAA, as we were talking with the NTSB, what they told us, at least initially, is that had the Blackhawk had ADSB, they said, it would have not have altered the ability of air traffic control and the American Airlines pilot to see the helicopter. I don't know. I will confess I don't know the technical answers to this precisely, which is why the investigation needs to proceed. I expect to get an answer on that, but we don't know the answer to that exactly. I will say, also, Ben, I think a very reasonable question that a number of senators were asking is why exactly are there so many helicopter flight paths immediately in the vicinity of such a busy airport as DC Reagan Airport. Is that a sound policy decision to have helicopters traveling that close. Now, now, I don't know if that's the cause of it, By the way, we will. What we do know is the two should not have collided, and so somebody screwed up, and we'll figure out who and how and why.

Well, it was truly a tragic and horrific accident, and it cost the lives of sixty seven souls. The commercial airliner from American Airlines, flying from Wichita, Kansas to Washington d C. Reagan Airport had sixty passengers on it and four crew members, and then an Army black Hawk helicopter had three soldiers on it, bringing the total death toll to sixty seven. The two collided just before nine pm on Wednesday night. They collided as the American Airlines airliner was landing at d C. Reagan Airport. And I'll tell you today, so you and I are recording this Thursday night. Today, I spent a lot of the day dealing with the aftermath of this. So, as you know, I'm the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It has jurisdiction over all of aviation. And so today I hosted briefings from the FAA and the NTSB, the National Traffic Safety Board, and we were heard from. They were bipartisan briefings. I had senators both Republicans and Democrats that participated, and we got we got briefings the NTSB, which is as I said, the National Transportation Safety Board does investigations whenever there's a serious accident, whenever there's an accident, an aviation accident, whenever there's a rail accident, they do investigations, and we heard from them. Now as of Thursday, the NTSB had over a dozen investigators on the ground. And listen, in the wake of an accident, you've got to actually see what happened. You've got to investigate and discover the facts, discover the evidence. In this instance, we know that the American Airlines flight was coming in. It was initially on runway one at Reagan Airport, and then the air traffic controllers moved it to runway thirty three, So they shifted the runway right at the very end, and the American Airlines pilots changed their descent to land on runway thirty three. Now, simultaneously there was an Army black Hawk helicopter that was traveling. There are multiple helicopter routes that go in and around Reagan Airport, and that Army helicopter was on Route one and then it was shifting from Route one to Root four, and the air traffic controllers were in contact with the pilots of the American Airlines flight and also the pilots of the helicopter, and after telling the American Airlines jet to land on Runway thirty three, the air traffic controller tells the black Hawk pilots to visually confirm and have in the line of sight the incoming plane, and the black Hawk helicopter pilots confirmed that yes, they have the plane in sight, and they also instruct the black Hawk pilots to come behind the plane that is landing. What in fact happens, or what appears to have happened, is the black Hawk helicopter came in front of the plane that was landing. The two collided midair and exploded midair. Now at this point it appears everyone involved died. Both the plane and the black Hawk helicopter sunk into the Potomac River. They were both in relatively shallow water about seven to eight feet of water where they had sunk, and as of Thursday, the black box, the flight recorder had been recovered from the airplane and they are in the process of recovering the black box the audio transcript recorder for the Blackhawk helicopter, so both of those will be recovered and they're trying to piece together what happened. What do we know. We know that somebody were multiple somebodies made a catastrophic mistake, a catastrophic mistake that led to a massive loss of life at this point, and look, there are lots of people who are giving all sorts of theories, who are jumping on all sorts of possibilities. In my view, we shouldn't speculate. We shouldn't we shouldn't get ahead of the evidence. We need to understand exactly what caused this accident, whether it was an error on the part of the army pilot, whether it was conceivably an error on the part of the commercial airliner pilot, whether it was an error on the part of the air traffic controller, or some combination of multiplayers in that regard. We don't know right now. What we do know is two aircraft we're in the same place at the same time. Now as we were having the briefing from the NTSB and the FAA that they told us several things. Number number one that had the helicopter stayed on Route four, it would have been well out of the way of the landing path of the airline, and it would have been in a lower altitude than where the helicopter and the jet collided. We don't know what happened exactly. One of the things the NTSB is going to do in this investigation is they're going to listen to the black boxer coardings of both aircraft and they're going to retrace the path the exact path of both aircraft to discover was one of them where it was not supposed to be? Were both of them where they were not supposed to be. At this point, we don't have a clear answer to that, and it's easy I would say, don't trust twitter, don't trust every theory. Look, they looked at one theory and actually, something I asked the NTSB, I said, when the air traffic controller asked the black Hawk pilots, do you have visual confirmation to the aircraft, and the black Hawk pilots confirm that do we have evidence that they were looking at a different airplane. You could certainly this strikes me as a reasonable inference that the the helicopter pilot looks and says, yes, I see the plane and perhaps didn't realize it was a different plane that was landing, because presumably if they saw the plane that led to the collision, they would not have stayed in the in the path of the plane, but they would would have piloted elsewhere. So NTSB and FAA told me right now, we don't know, so that's not confirmed. That's a theory people are saying online it is a plausible theory, but we don't have confirmation of that right now. There's also discussion about the equipment. So the Blackhawk helicopter had a transponder, so it was appearing on radar. It did not have technology called ADSB, which is technology that pings the location of an aircraft, and it does so using GPS rather than radar, and ADSB is more accurate and more reliable then simply a transponder that is pinging on radar. Now, under the FAA rules, military aircraft and federal law enforcement, an aircraft are exempted from the requirement that they have ADSB technology, And I will tell you as we were talking with the FAA, as we were talking with the NTSB, what they told us, at least initially, is that had the Blackhawk had ADSB, they said, it would have not have altered the ability of air traffic control and the American Airlines pilot to see the helicopter. I don't know. I will confess I don't know the technical answers to this precisely, which is why the investigation needs to proceed. I expect to get an answer on that, but we don't know the answer to that exactly. I will say, also, Ben, I think a very reasonable question that a number of senators were asking is why exactly are there so many helicopter flight paths immediately in the vicinity of such a busy airport as DC Reagan Airport. Is that a sound policy decision to have helicopters traveling that close. Now, now, I don't know if that's the cause of it, By the way, we will. What we do know is the two should not have collided, and so somebody screwed up, and we'll figure out who and how and why.

And look, Washington and I talked to a pilot today, and he said, Washington's just different and Reagan's just different. There's a lot more helicopters there, there's a lot more airspace there that's different than other parts. It's a lot more intense, there's a lot more rules, especially after nine to eleven, and so you got to look at all those things. It goes back to what you're saying, it's just different. Private airplanes, for example, aren't going into Reagan. You go into DoLS for that exact reason, because you're protecting and so there are so many X factors. Is one pilot to today, There's so many questions to ask. This is not a simple yes or no or point of finger because there's so many X factors when you fly to DCA.

And look, Washington and I talked to a pilot today, and he said, Washington's just different and Reagan's just different. There's a lot more helicopters there, there's a lot more airspace there that's different than other parts. It's a lot more intense, there's a lot more rules, especially after nine to eleven, and so you got to look at all those things. It goes back to what you're saying, it's just different. Private airplanes, for example, aren't going into Reagan. You go into DoLS for that exact reason, because you're protecting and so there are so many X factors. Is one pilot to today, There's so many questions to ask. This is not a simple yes or no or point of finger because there's so many X factors when you fly to DCA.

Well, and I'll say the briefing that I hosted with NTSB of the FAA, so I had, I was on it. Obviously Maria Cantwell, who's the ranking member of the senior Democrat on the Commerce Committee, she was on it. We also had both of the Kansas Senators, Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall. They both participated, and obviously the flight came from WHICHITAS. So the Kansas senators are particularly engaged and then we had Tammy Duckworth and Jerry Moran and Tammy Duckworth are the chairman and ranking member, respectively of the Aviation Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, so they're both particularly engaged in aviation issues, which is why I invited both of them to participate. So Tammy Duckworth was in the military. She was a helicopter pilot and she's in a wheelchair. She was very badly wounded in a combat injury. But she is an experienced helicopter pilot. I will tell you in the briefing, I commented, I said, Tammy, it's really helpful to have an experienced helicopter pilot as part of this discussion, because she was literally she had the maps out of the flight path and she's looking at, okay, where runway thirty three is and where helicopter Roote four is. And Tammy was saying in the course of the discussion, if the helicopter stayed on helicopter Route four, it should not have been anywhere close to the landing pattern for runway thirty three. So that was an insight. Look, I'm not a helicopter pilot. I don't have the insight to look at those maps and determine that. I thought that was a very interesting insight from her. I'll tell you something else she said that I didn't know that was interesting. It's been widely reported the Army black helicopter was on a training mission. What she said is the Army routinely codes virtually every flight as a training mission. And she said the reason they do that is Army pilots are required to have a certain number of hours to keep their certification, and so every flight they do as a training mission to maintain those hours. So what she said is it doesn't necessarily convey what the purpose of that flight was that it is being called a training mission. I have to admit I would not have known that had she not said that, And I think all of us we were like, oh, that's.

Well, and I'll say the briefing that I hosted with NTSB of the FAA, so I had, I was on it. Obviously Maria Cantwell, who's the ranking member of the senior Democrat on the Commerce Committee, she was on it. We also had both of the Kansas Senators, Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall. They both participated, and obviously the flight came from WHICHITAS. So the Kansas senators are particularly engaged and then we had Tammy Duckworth and Jerry Moran and Tammy Duckworth are the chairman and ranking member, respectively of the Aviation Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, so they're both particularly engaged in aviation issues, which is why I invited both of them to participate. So Tammy Duckworth was in the military. She was a helicopter pilot and she's in a wheelchair. She was very badly wounded in a combat injury. But she is an experienced helicopter pilot. I will tell you in the briefing, I commented, I said, Tammy, it's really helpful to have an experienced helicopter pilot as part of this discussion, because she was literally she had the maps out of the flight path and she's looking at, okay, where runway thirty three is and where helicopter Roote four is. And Tammy was saying in the course of the discussion, if the helicopter stayed on helicopter Route four, it should not have been anywhere close to the landing pattern for runway thirty three. So that was an insight. Look, I'm not a helicopter pilot. I don't have the insight to look at those maps and determine that. I thought that was a very interesting insight from her. I'll tell you something else she said that I didn't know that was interesting. It's been widely reported the Army black helicopter was on a training mission. What she said is the Army routinely codes virtually every flight as a training mission. And she said the reason they do that is Army pilots are required to have a certain number of hours to keep their certification, and so every flight they do as a training mission to maintain those hours. So what she said is it doesn't necessarily convey what the purpose of that flight was that it is being called a training mission. I have to admit I would not have known that had she not said that, And I think all of us we were like, oh, that's.

Interesting because when you listen this, especially if you're just watching the news, and they're like, why would you have this training flight this time of night? Yeah, right there in this airspace. Surely there's somewhere else you could go and treat that is a lot less congested than DCA and all the regulations that you have, and this bravo space around the Washington d C. At the highest level go somewhere else and be safer. But the way that you just described it from her, well, this actually makes sense. They could be doing real work and they categorize it.

Interesting because when you listen this, especially if you're just watching the news, and they're like, why would you have this training flight this time of night? Yeah, right there in this airspace. Surely there's somewhere else you could go and treat that is a lot less congested than DCA and all the regulations that you have, and this bravo space around the Washington d C. At the highest level go somewhere else and be safer. But the way that you just described it from her, well, this actually makes sense. They could be doing real work and they categorize it.

As a training mission.

As a training mission.

So look, I think in the days that go forward, we're going to find out what the precise mission was. My understanding is the pilots for the American Airlines flight were quite experienced. They had a very significant number of hours of flight, so they were very experienced. At this point, I don't have a clear picture of what the experience level was for the Army pilots. I'm confident we will find out more about that, and I'm confident we will have discussions on policy questions. One discussion I'm sure we will have is whether the exemptions of the FAA rules for military aircraft and federal law enforcement aircraft from having the ADSB technology, Whether that is a good decision or not. My understanding is one of the reasons for that exemption is the military law enforcement sometimes doesn't want to be tracked. They don't want their location evident, And there may be reasons for both military law enforcement context why you want the ability not to be tracked in real time. I think that's a discussion we're going to have to have, and as I sit here today, I don't know whether that if the Blackhawk had that technology, whether it would have made a material difference preventing this accident. I think that's a reasonable question to ask. Secondly, I think we're going to get some real questions about, Okay, how many helicopter flights are there in and around Reagan Airport? Do we need all of those flights? Is there an unnecessary unreasonable risk. I don't know the answer to that. There may be some compelling reason why you need to have that. I certainly think you ought to give the military a chance to explain it. But I think given this horrific collision and the lives that are lost, we're going to have to have a very serious conversation about what caused this accident and what steps can be taken to prevent this from happening in the future.

So look, I think in the days that go forward, we're going to find out what the precise mission was. My understanding is the pilots for the American Airlines flight were quite experienced. They had a very significant number of hours of flight, so they were very experienced. At this point, I don't have a clear picture of what the experience level was for the Army pilots. I'm confident we will find out more about that, and I'm confident we will have discussions on policy questions. One discussion I'm sure we will have is whether the exemptions of the FAA rules for military aircraft and federal law enforcement aircraft from having the ADSB technology, Whether that is a good decision or not. My understanding is one of the reasons for that exemption is the military law enforcement sometimes doesn't want to be tracked. They don't want their location evident, And there may be reasons for both military law enforcement context why you want the ability not to be tracked in real time. I think that's a discussion we're going to have to have, and as I sit here today, I don't know whether that if the Blackhawk had that technology, whether it would have made a material difference preventing this accident. I think that's a reasonable question to ask. Secondly, I think we're going to get some real questions about, Okay, how many helicopter flights are there in and around Reagan Airport? Do we need all of those flights? Is there an unnecessary unreasonable risk. I don't know the answer to that. There may be some compelling reason why you need to have that. I certainly think you ought to give the military a chance to explain it. But I think given this horrific collision and the lives that are lost, we're going to have to have a very serious conversation about what caused this accident and what steps can be taken to prevent this from happening in the future.

Well, let's talk about the government aspect of this as well, because there's people that have been asking is there full staffing? Are we understaffed? Are there enough people in the towers? Are there enough qualified people in the towers? Has that even become part of the conversation yet?

Well, let's talk about the government aspect of this as well, because there's people that have been asking is there full staffing? Are we understaffed? Are there enough people in the towers? Are there enough qualified people in the towers? Has that even become part of the conversation yet?

On the hill.

On the hill.

It's certainly part of the conversation. I would say, at this point, we don't know. So I've seen reports that the air traffic controller was assigned to multiple responsibilities. It's not clear what the facts are on that. And one of the dangers coming out of a catastrophic accident is there's a fog of war. There's people here snip at this and the other, and they repeat it. And I'm a big believer, I will say the NTSB, I've grown to really respect the work they do. They investigate when you have a catastrophic accident. They investigate based on the facts, based on evidence, and they do a good job of not jumping into conclusions, trying to figure out, okay, exactly what happened. So a last airlines when you had the door plug blow off, and TSB did a very thorough investigation there and presented their conclusions. And so today we heard from them, but it was barely twelve hours into the investigation, so they didn't know a whole lot yet. And I do think and they will reach a conclusion expeditiously. These guys are serious and technical and they try to follow the facts, and that investigation is important. Once we know the facts of what caused the accident, then we can say, all right, what steps can be taken to minimize these risks going forward. But I do think one of the things I'm merging my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, is is don't don't get ahead of ourselves. And by the way, I'll tell you just a personal aspect to this. So last night, Wednesday night, I was having dinner in Washington, d C. I was having dinner with Mike Waltz. Mike Waltz is President Trump's national security advisor. And so most nights when I'm in Washington, d C. I have working dinners. I have dinners with colleagues, with other senators or House members. I have dinners with cabinet members. Sometimes I have dinners with subject matter experts. So last night I was having dinner with Mike Waltz, the Trump's national security advisor, and we were talking foreign policy. We're talking the Middle East. We were talking Israel and Iran and China and all of the foreign policy challenges facing this country. And I will tell you right at the end of the dinner, we actually were just wrapping up when Mike got a call and said, oh, wow, okay, there's been a collision between a jet and helicopter a DC Reagan airport. So Mike left to go back to the White House to deal with it. And as I was walking out, I'll tell you been a particularly personal aspect. So last night Heidi was flying into d C and she was flying into Reagan. Wow. And she was due to land about thirty minutes after this accident happened. And so I'll say, my body man, who's a great kid, is with me frequently, came up. I'll give him credit what he said to me walking up, As he said, Heidie's okay, but there's been an accident at d C Reagan and a commercial jettis Hitt helicopter. I was very glad he started with Heidie's okay, because I got to say, and so what happened. Her flight was diverted from Reagan and it landed in BWI for beer.

It's certainly part of the conversation. I would say, at this point, we don't know. So I've seen reports that the air traffic controller was assigned to multiple responsibilities. It's not clear what the facts are on that. And one of the dangers coming out of a catastrophic accident is there's a fog of war. There's people here snip at this and the other, and they repeat it. And I'm a big believer, I will say the NTSB, I've grown to really respect the work they do. They investigate when you have a catastrophic accident. They investigate based on the facts, based on evidence, and they do a good job of not jumping into conclusions, trying to figure out, okay, exactly what happened. So a last airlines when you had the door plug blow off, and TSB did a very thorough investigation there and presented their conclusions. And so today we heard from them, but it was barely twelve hours into the investigation, so they didn't know a whole lot yet. And I do think and they will reach a conclusion expeditiously. These guys are serious and technical and they try to follow the facts, and that investigation is important. Once we know the facts of what caused the accident, then we can say, all right, what steps can be taken to minimize these risks going forward. But I do think one of the things I'm merging my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, is is don't don't get ahead of ourselves. And by the way, I'll tell you just a personal aspect to this. So last night, Wednesday night, I was having dinner in Washington, d C. I was having dinner with Mike Waltz. Mike Waltz is President Trump's national security advisor. And so most nights when I'm in Washington, d C. I have working dinners. I have dinners with colleagues, with other senators or House members. I have dinners with cabinet members. Sometimes I have dinners with subject matter experts. So last night I was having dinner with Mike Waltz, the Trump's national security advisor, and we were talking foreign policy. We're talking the Middle East. We were talking Israel and Iran and China and all of the foreign policy challenges facing this country. And I will tell you right at the end of the dinner, we actually were just wrapping up when Mike got a call and said, oh, wow, okay, there's been a collision between a jet and helicopter a DC Reagan airport. So Mike left to go back to the White House to deal with it. And as I was walking out, I'll tell you been a particularly personal aspect. So last night Heidi was flying into d C and she was flying into Reagan. Wow. And she was due to land about thirty minutes after this accident happened. And so I'll say, my body man, who's a great kid, is with me frequently, came up. I'll give him credit what he said to me walking up, As he said, Heidie's okay, but there's been an accident at d C Reagan and a commercial jettis Hitt helicopter. I was very glad he started with Heidie's okay, because I got to say, and so what happened. Her flight was diverted from Reagan and it landed in BWI for beer.

They don't know.

They don't know.

Bw's Baltimore, Baltimore, Washington, and it's about forty five minutes away. There are three airports that serve DC Washington. Reagan is the closest to d C Washington. Dulles's in northern Virginia a little further out, and then BWI Baltimore, Washington is, like I said, forty five minutes to an hour out. So she was diverted. And so when she landed it was interesting. I texted her immediately said hey, are you okay? I got no answer because she was still in the air. And then when she landed, I called her immediately, and as she was getting off the plane, she said, what happened? I don't understand. Why do we get sent to BWI? So they didn't tell the passengers why they were diverted, and so I told her what had happened, and she was and I look, I understand, you don't want to tell passengers on an airplane. Hey, there was just a plane crash that freaks people out. But I told her and then she came home. But I got ad met it. It freaked me out a little bit that my wife was within twenty thirty minutes of where there was a fatal plane crash at that airport, and you and I both landed at DCA hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of times, and so it's I got to say. I did. I was, I said a long prayer and was like God, thank you for sparing Heidi and I. When she got to our apartment, I gave her a very long hug. And it's uh. And I am grieving for the sixty seven families who are mourning the loss of their loved ones. It's horrific and and and we're certainly grieving them. And we're grateful for all the first responders and everyone who's been really heroic, UH, try to deal with this, this this catastrophe since it happened.

Bw's Baltimore, Baltimore, Washington, and it's about forty five minutes away. There are three airports that serve DC Washington. Reagan is the closest to d C Washington. Dulles's in northern Virginia a little further out, and then BWI Baltimore, Washington is, like I said, forty five minutes to an hour out. So she was diverted. And so when she landed it was interesting. I texted her immediately said hey, are you okay? I got no answer because she was still in the air. And then when she landed, I called her immediately, and as she was getting off the plane, she said, what happened? I don't understand. Why do we get sent to BWI? So they didn't tell the passengers why they were diverted, and so I told her what had happened, and she was and I look, I understand, you don't want to tell passengers on an airplane. Hey, there was just a plane crash that freaks people out. But I told her and then she came home. But I got ad met it. It freaked me out a little bit that my wife was within twenty thirty minutes of where there was a fatal plane crash at that airport, and you and I both landed at DCA hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of times, and so it's I got to say. I did. I was, I said a long prayer and was like God, thank you for sparing Heidi and I. When she got to our apartment, I gave her a very long hug. And it's uh. And I am grieving for the sixty seven families who are mourning the loss of their loved ones. It's horrific and and and we're certainly grieving them. And we're grateful for all the first responders and everyone who's been really heroic, UH, try to deal with this, this this catastrophe since it happened.

Well, I also want to just highlight the response was incredible. And I'm sure you've got some of that briefing that came about this. You know, there's always criticism of we could do things better, but the on the ground first responders' response truly seemed unbelievable. How quick they were responding, how fast there were so many people there to help. You were hoping for good news that they were going to be survivors. We now know that the tragic loss of life and what the reality was, but even in the recovery, it was all hands on deck. And it made me proud to be an American. I mean, it was it was truly incredible to watch it in real time on TV.

Well, I also want to just highlight the response was incredible. And I'm sure you've got some of that briefing that came about this. You know, there's always criticism of we could do things better, but the on the ground first responders' response truly seemed unbelievable. How quick they were responding, how fast there were so many people there to help. You were hoping for good news that they were going to be survivors. We now know that the tragic loss of life and what the reality was, but even in the recovery, it was all hands on deck. And it made me proud to be an American. I mean, it was it was truly incredible to watch it in real time on TV.

Yeah. I talked early this morning to Robert Isam, who's the CEO of American Airlines. He flew to DC. He was on the ground. Obviously they were dealing with sixty passengers and four crew members who were killed, and they were dealing with trying to provide help and support to the families, and I talked to him. I also talked to Sean Duffy as the Secretary of Transportation. You know, Seawan was confirmed the day earlier, like it literally this was his first day on the job. Yeah, And Shawn is a good man and a serious man, and he's been diving in and trying to deal with it. But this is a heck of a welcome to be Secretary of Transportation. We've got a major airplane accident on day one and he's dealing with it and look the resources to investigate to try to determine ex exactly what happened. The NTSB in particular, they're very good at this, and we're trying to track down Obviously there was a massive mistake somewhere, but we need to figure out who made it and why and and and how could it have been prevented so that we can learn lessons and try to stop this from happening again. I will say this though also as just to comfort everyone. As horrific as this is, it is worth remembering that air travel is is hands down the safest mode of transport it and your odds of being killed driving to the airport are still higher than they are being killed flying on a commercial airline, so they're not zero. And and and in some ways it is amazing given the flights that occur all over this country in so many places, that that that that it has been a long time since we've had a mass fatality accident in the United States, given how complicated lying is, and in some ways that's remarkable. But nonetheless this tragedy, we should do everything we can to press for zero fatalities. And so we're going to learn lessons from this and try to try to prevent it from happening again.

Yeah. I talked early this morning to Robert Isam, who's the CEO of American Airlines. He flew to DC. He was on the ground. Obviously they were dealing with sixty passengers and four crew members who were killed, and they were dealing with trying to provide help and support to the families, and I talked to him. I also talked to Sean Duffy as the Secretary of Transportation. You know, Seawan was confirmed the day earlier, like it literally this was his first day on the job. Yeah, And Shawn is a good man and a serious man, and he's been diving in and trying to deal with it. But this is a heck of a welcome to be Secretary of Transportation. We've got a major airplane accident on day one and he's dealing with it and look the resources to investigate to try to determine ex exactly what happened. The NTSB in particular, they're very good at this, and we're trying to track down Obviously there was a massive mistake somewhere, but we need to figure out who made it and why and and and how could it have been prevented so that we can learn lessons and try to stop this from happening again. I will say this though also as just to comfort everyone. As horrific as this is, it is worth remembering that air travel is is hands down the safest mode of transport it and your odds of being killed driving to the airport are still higher than they are being killed flying on a commercial airline, so they're not zero. And and and in some ways it is amazing given the flights that occur all over this country in so many places, that that that that it has been a long time since we've had a mass fatality accident in the United States, given how complicated lying is, and in some ways that's remarkable. But nonetheless this tragedy, we should do everything we can to press for zero fatalities. And so we're going to learn lessons from this and try to try to prevent it from happening again.

You mentioned something and just you talk about perspective, it was it's amazing just how fast things can change. Because Sean Duffy, who you know well, and his wife Rachel, they have a large family, and he was welcomed just minutes before at his office and his family was there, and he walked up to walk into the office where he's going to serve the American people. And he went into that office and then I'm sure afterwards was immediately rushed out because of what happened. And I sent a note to is what Rachel last night. I just said, you know, I'm so proud and I'm so sorry that the first night that this is what you're having to deal with the best that I know. God has put y'all there for times like this to lead into comfort. And I do think the American peoples to understand they're incredible leaders that we have just gained who are going to do an amazing job in times like these.

You mentioned something and just you talk about perspective, it was it's amazing just how fast things can change. Because Sean Duffy, who you know well, and his wife Rachel, they have a large family, and he was welcomed just minutes before at his office and his family was there, and he walked up to walk into the office where he's going to serve the American people. And he went into that office and then I'm sure afterwards was immediately rushed out because of what happened. And I sent a note to is what Rachel last night. I just said, you know, I'm so proud and I'm so sorry that the first night that this is what you're having to deal with the best that I know. God has put y'all there for times like this to lead into comfort. And I do think the American peoples to understand they're incredible leaders that we have just gained who are going to do an amazing job in times like these.

Sean is one of those.

Sean is one of those.

Yeah, and look, I'm grateful that he was on board and confirmed and was able to be doing his job on the day of this accident. Also Pete Hegseth, who was just confirmed as Secretary of Defense. Listen, this is a crisis involving the loss of life for three soldiers as well and the question of who was at fault. There's at least some real question whether the military pilots have committed some serious error. We don't know for sure, but that you look at Pete Hegseith, you're just confirmed his Defense secretary. This is a serious challenge to deal with in his first couple of days as well, and I'm grateful both of them were confirmed on the job, because you need strong leadership to deal with the crisis of this magnitude.

Yeah, and look, I'm grateful that he was on board and confirmed and was able to be doing his job on the day of this accident. Also Pete Hegseth, who was just confirmed as Secretary of Defense. Listen, this is a crisis involving the loss of life for three soldiers as well and the question of who was at fault. There's at least some real question whether the military pilots have committed some serious error. We don't know for sure, but that you look at Pete Hegseith, you're just confirmed his Defense secretary. This is a serious challenge to deal with in his first couple of days as well, and I'm grateful both of them were confirmed on the job, because you need strong leadership to deal with the crisis of this magnitude.

I was going to ask you my next question quickly was going to be the follow up on the military. We talked so much about, you know, transportation, the airlines and the CEO and et cetera, But let's talk about the military side.

I was going to ask you my next question quickly was going to be the follow up on the military. We talked so much about, you know, transportation, the airlines and the CEO and et cetera, But let's talk about the military side.

There was loss of life there as well. What do we know from that perspective.

There was loss of life there as well. What do we know from that perspective.

We know three soldiers were aboard the Blackhawk and they were all killed. We don't know the details now of who made the mistake. Obviously somebody did because this should not have happened, But we don't know where the mistake was, and it's where the investigation, like NTSB will retrace the exact path of each airline, each aircraft and figure out, Okay, who was not where they were supposed to be, Who was in the wrong place? Was there a miscommunication? Look, as you review the transcripts, you know FA and NTSB told us, at least initially reviewing the transcript. It appeared like when the air traffic controllers said, okay, do you have visual confirmation of the airline and the helicopter pilot said yes. What we were told in the b anything is ordinarily the air traffic controller would move on say okay, you guys are taken care of, onto the next flight. So that was their initial take. Is that exchange appeared to be a fairly typical exchange back and forth of navigating multiple aircraft in close proximity. Nevertheless, we'll find out as we examine. Was there just one individual who made an error? Were there multiple individuals? Was what was the cause of this? And that I'm confident I've told the other members of the Commerce Committee. As NTSB reaches conclusions, i'll have another briefing where we sit down with them and can ask them, ask them hard questions and understand, Okay, what really caused this and how do we prevent it from happening again.

We know three soldiers were aboard the Blackhawk and they were all killed. We don't know the details now of who made the mistake. Obviously somebody did because this should not have happened, But we don't know where the mistake was, and it's where the investigation, like NTSB will retrace the exact path of each airline, each aircraft and figure out, Okay, who was not where they were supposed to be, Who was in the wrong place? Was there a miscommunication? Look, as you review the transcripts, you know FA and NTSB told us, at least initially reviewing the transcript. It appeared like when the air traffic controllers said, okay, do you have visual confirmation of the airline and the helicopter pilot said yes. What we were told in the b anything is ordinarily the air traffic controller would move on say okay, you guys are taken care of, onto the next flight. So that was their initial take. Is that exchange appeared to be a fairly typical exchange back and forth of navigating multiple aircraft in close proximity. Nevertheless, we'll find out as we examine. Was there just one individual who made an error? Were there multiple individuals? Was what was the cause of this? And that I'm confident I've told the other members of the Commerce Committee. As NTSB reaches conclusions, i'll have another briefing where we sit down with them and can ask them, ask them hard questions and understand, Okay, what really caused this and how do we prevent it from happening again.

This brings us to confirmations, and I do want to just give a quick update for everybody about where we are. It shows you the importance of having people in these positions you talk about. Sean Duffy is a great example. Confirmed on the day this happened. There are several other major posts that we have confirmation hearings that wrapped up on Thursday, as you and I recording this Thursday night. There will not be votes on them till next week. How are things moving forward? Where are we in general right now compared to in the past, Because I'm just saying, are they slowing us down? Are we getting back on track? Where are we?

This brings us to confirmations, and I do want to just give a quick update for everybody about where we are. It shows you the importance of having people in these positions you talk about. Sean Duffy is a great example. Confirmed on the day this happened. There are several other major posts that we have confirmation hearings that wrapped up on Thursday, as you and I recording this Thursday night. There will not be votes on them till next week. How are things moving forward? Where are we in general right now compared to in the past, Because I'm just saying, are they slowing us down? Are we getting back on track? Where are we?

So?

So?

Look, the Democrats are certainly engaged in delay and obstruction. That being said, where we are now? Eight cabinet members have been confirmed, So we.

Look, the Democrats are certainly engaged in delay and obstruction. That being said, where we are now? Eight cabinet members have been confirmed, So we.

Are so ple know what's the total number that is a full.

Are so ple know what's the total number that is a full.

Cabinet in the low twenties.

Cabinet in the low twenties.

Okay, So we're far away. We're not even a half, We're not even a fifty percent.

Okay, So we're far away. We're not even a half, We're not even a fifty percent.

Correct, But we are ahead of where Biden was at this point, and we're ahead of where Trump was in the first term. So eight is moving with greater expedition than the last two administrations of scene and so started with. The first cabinet member confirm was Marco Rubio. He was confirmed on January twentieth, the first day, and he was confirmed ninety nine to zero. The second cabinet member was the CIA director John Ratcliffe. He had seventy four yeses and twenty five knows. After that, you had Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary. He had fifty one yeses and fifty knows. The Vice President J. D. Vance cast the tie breaking vote. The next person confirmed was the Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Dome. She had fifty nine yeses and thirty four nos. After that, the Treasury Secretary was confirmed. He had sixty eight yes, twenty nine knows. That's Scott Bessent. After that, the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was confirmed. We're very glad he was confirmed given this crisis. He had seventy seven yeses and twenty two knows. After that, the EPA Administrator Lee Zelden, former congressman from New York, former candidate for governor in New York, a friend of mine. He was confirmed as EPA administrator with fifty six yes's, forty two knows. And then just today, the Interior Secretary Doug Burgham, the former governor of North Dakota. He was confirmed seventy nine yes as eighteen nos. Now where do we stand now? In addition to confirming Doug Burgham, we've teed up as the next cabinet members to be confirmed, Chris Wright as Secretary of Energy, Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Pam Bondy as Attorney General, and Scott Turner as Secretary of Housing in Urban Development. All of those are our scheduled to be confirmed next week, so they're teed up. We were going to ram through the weekend and keep the Democrats here because they were engaged in obstruction, and Thursday night the Democrats caved and they agreed to expedite and move these forward. So we're moving now on a faster pace than we would have if we had rammed through the weekend and the Democrats had extended all the time. So they agreed, all right, we'll compress the time if we let them fly home, and so by next week, as I said, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Eddans Affairs, Attorney General and hud we'll all make it through next week.

Correct, But we are ahead of where Biden was at this point, and we're ahead of where Trump was in the first term. So eight is moving with greater expedition than the last two administrations of scene and so started with. The first cabinet member confirm was Marco Rubio. He was confirmed on January twentieth, the first day, and he was confirmed ninety nine to zero. The second cabinet member was the CIA director John Ratcliffe. He had seventy four yeses and twenty five knows. After that, you had Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary. He had fifty one yeses and fifty knows. The Vice President J. D. Vance cast the tie breaking vote. The next person confirmed was the Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Dome. She had fifty nine yeses and thirty four nos. After that, the Treasury Secretary was confirmed. He had sixty eight yes, twenty nine knows. That's Scott Bessent. After that, the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was confirmed. We're very glad he was confirmed given this crisis. He had seventy seven yeses and twenty two knows. After that, the EPA Administrator Lee Zelden, former congressman from New York, former candidate for governor in New York, a friend of mine. He was confirmed as EPA administrator with fifty six yes's, forty two knows. And then just today, the Interior Secretary Doug Burgham, the former governor of North Dakota. He was confirmed seventy nine yes as eighteen nos. Now where do we stand now? In addition to confirming Doug Burgham, we've teed up as the next cabinet members to be confirmed, Chris Wright as Secretary of Energy, Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Pam Bondy as Attorney General, and Scott Turner as Secretary of Housing in Urban Development. All of those are our scheduled to be confirmed next week, so they're teed up. We were going to ram through the weekend and keep the Democrats here because they were engaged in obstruction, and Thursday night the Democrats caved and they agreed to expedite and move these forward. So we're moving now on a faster pace than we would have if we had rammed through the weekend and the Democrats had extended all the time. So they agreed, all right, we'll compress the time if we let them fly home, and so by next week, as I said, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Eddans Affairs, Attorney General and hud we'll all make it through next week.

That obviously means the pace is moving up. When you look at so far what's happened there does seem to be a little bit of a change. Now we're noticing it with the Democrats in the media especially, it seems like there's a real appetite to just get a nominee whatever when they get their hands on to not pass. Is that part of the gainsmanship that we're witnessing. Am I reading the room the right way?

That obviously means the pace is moving up. When you look at so far what's happened there does seem to be a little bit of a change. Now we're noticing it with the Democrats in the media especially, it seems like there's a real appetite to just get a nominee whatever when they get their hands on to not pass. Is that part of the gainsmanship that we're witnessing. Am I reading the room the right way?

Yeah?

Yeah?

Look, I still believe, and I've said this a number of times, that all of Trump's cabinet nominees are going to be confirmed, and I think they'll be confirmed within thirty days. That we are leaning in. We're putting the pedal to the medal under the Senate rules that the Democrats can delay some, but I think within thirty days we'll get them all through Out the two the three that they are going after hardest are in terms of cabinet nominees, Tulca Gabbert for Director of National Intelligence, Bobby Kennedy for Health and Human Services, and then it's not a cabinet position, but Cash Pateel for Director of the FBI, which it's a sub cabinet position but a very very important law enforcement position. Those are the three. It's not complicated or subtle. Those three are the top targets of the Democrats. Today. In the Senate Judiciary Committee, we had cash Betel's hearing. I was vigorous at the hearing defending him. I will tell you I think I think Cash did very well. I think he acquitted himself in an excellent way. This evening I was on Sean Hannity, and as I put it, I said, my assessment of the Democrats behavior at cash Betel's hearing reminded me of the quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth. It was a tale told by an idiot, full of out in fury and signifying nothing.

Look, I still believe, and I've said this a number of times, that all of Trump's cabinet nominees are going to be confirmed, and I think they'll be confirmed within thirty days. That we are leaning in. We're putting the pedal to the medal under the Senate rules that the Democrats can delay some, but I think within thirty days we'll get them all through Out the two the three that they are going after hardest are in terms of cabinet nominees, Tulca Gabbert for Director of National Intelligence, Bobby Kennedy for Health and Human Services, and then it's not a cabinet position, but Cash Pateel for Director of the FBI, which it's a sub cabinet position but a very very important law enforcement position. Those are the three. It's not complicated or subtle. Those three are the top targets of the Democrats. Today. In the Senate Judiciary Committee, we had cash Betel's hearing. I was vigorous at the hearing defending him. I will tell you I think I think Cash did very well. I think he acquitted himself in an excellent way. This evening I was on Sean Hannity, and as I put it, I said, my assessment of the Democrats behavior at cash Betel's hearing reminded me of the quote from Shakespeare's Macbeth. It was a tale told by an idiot, full of out in fury and signifying nothing.

That is a great accurate way of describing it. Was a you know what show is how I was going to put it.

That is a great accurate way of describing it. Was a you know what show is how I was going to put it.

But they didn't land any material blows. And look, the point on Cash. What they're attacking him on not that he's not qualified. He's clearly qualified. He has over a decade of experience in law enforcement, national security, including having been a federal public defender, including having been a federal prosecutor, having worked in the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, having worked in the White House and the National Security Council, having been a senior intelligence staffer on Capitol Hill, and having been the chief of staff at the United States Defense Department. They're not arguing he's unqualified. What they're arguing is they're terrified he will do exactly what President Trump promised he would do, which is eliminate the politicization and weaponization of the FBI and get it back to its core function. I believe Cash Bettel will do that, and I think the Democrats are free out because they don't want them to do that. But I think Cash will make it through. We also had hearings this week for both Bobby Kennedy and Tulsea Gabbert. I don't know, it is not impossible that one of those nominees is defeated, but I think they all make it through.

But they didn't land any material blows. And look, the point on Cash. What they're attacking him on not that he's not qualified. He's clearly qualified. He has over a decade of experience in law enforcement, national security, including having been a federal public defender, including having been a federal prosecutor, having worked in the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, having worked in the White House and the National Security Council, having been a senior intelligence staffer on Capitol Hill, and having been the chief of staff at the United States Defense Department. They're not arguing he's unqualified. What they're arguing is they're terrified he will do exactly what President Trump promised he would do, which is eliminate the politicization and weaponization of the FBI and get it back to its core function. I believe Cash Bettel will do that, and I think the Democrats are free out because they don't want them to do that. But I think Cash will make it through. We also had hearings this week for both Bobby Kennedy and Tulsea Gabbert. I don't know, it is not impossible that one of those nominees is defeated, but I think they all make it through.

Right now, when you look at the Republicans, when Democrats are pushing this obstructionism the way that they are doing it and trying to slow things down, does that unify the Republican base more because it's like, all right, come on, guys. Does that make it actually easier to get the votes you need because you realize what you're up against?

Right now, when you look at the Republicans, when Democrats are pushing this obstructionism the way that they are doing it and trying to slow things down, does that unify the Republican base more because it's like, all right, come on, guys. Does that make it actually easier to get the votes you need because you realize what you're up against?

A look, potentially, you had Pete hag Seth, who is the one they went after the hardest so far, and that vote was fifty to fifty. We lost three Republicans. We lost Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitch McConnell. Because we have a fifty three to forty seven majority, losing three made it fifty to fifty, and that meant the Vice President JD. Vance could break the tie. I am glad we have fifty three. If we had a fifty one vote majority, I would not be nearly so sanguine. I would not be saying every Trump Cabinet nominee is going to be confirmed if we had a fifty one vote majority. But because we have fifty three, we can lose up to three, and so I think all of these make it through. Listen, Tulsi. Tulsi was a Democrat for most of her career. She is perceived if you look at Republican foreign policy, they're interventionists and isolationists. There are many who perceive Tulsi as much more of an isolationist. So there are Republicans who have real concerns with her will that play out into no votes. I don't know. I think the President deserves a considerable amount of deference in naming his cabinet members, and he has decided to name Tulci Gabbert. I'm going to vote yes, but I don't know. It's not impossible that we get four no votes, which would take down the nomination. Likewise, Bobby Kennedy. Bobby Kennedy's a complicated situation. Both Kennedy and Tulsa, until like twelve minutes ago, they were both Democrats, and so Bobby Kennedy obviously a scion of one of the great Democrat royalty families, Camelot. It is a curious dynamic. It's not clear to me any Democrat is going to vote for him, which is an interesting situation. Listen, there's some conservatives. Bobby Kennedy, until recently, on many policies is his views were quite left of center. I'm going to vote for Bobby Kennedy because I think he's a change agent, because I think he has courage to take on I think some of the corruption that we have at HHS, particularly with big Pharma, that gets in bed with the career bureaucrats there and stifles competition and drives up costs. I think if you have a terrible disease, you should have a right to access life saving medication. And I'm one of the original sponsors of the right to Try legislation. I think that's very important, and i think Bobby Kennedy is going to shake up the cronyism that that has characterized HHS. What's not clear to me is I don't if any Democrats want that cronyism shaken up, and to be honest, there may be some Republicans that don't. Let's play this exchange. So this is Bobby Kennedy responding to Bernie Sanders. Bernie's going to vote now. When Bernie was attacking him like crazy, but I got to say, Bobby Kennedy popped him back pretty hard. Listen to this exchange.

A look, potentially, you had Pete hag Seth, who is the one they went after the hardest so far, and that vote was fifty to fifty. We lost three Republicans. We lost Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Mitch McConnell. Because we have a fifty three to forty seven majority, losing three made it fifty to fifty, and that meant the Vice President JD. Vance could break the tie. I am glad we have fifty three. If we had a fifty one vote majority, I would not be nearly so sanguine. I would not be saying every Trump Cabinet nominee is going to be confirmed if we had a fifty one vote majority. But because we have fifty three, we can lose up to three, and so I think all of these make it through. Listen, Tulsi. Tulsi was a Democrat for most of her career. She is perceived if you look at Republican foreign policy, they're interventionists and isolationists. There are many who perceive Tulsi as much more of an isolationist. So there are Republicans who have real concerns with her will that play out into no votes. I don't know. I think the President deserves a considerable amount of deference in naming his cabinet members, and he has decided to name Tulci Gabbert. I'm going to vote yes, but I don't know. It's not impossible that we get four no votes, which would take down the nomination. Likewise, Bobby Kennedy. Bobby Kennedy's a complicated situation. Both Kennedy and Tulsa, until like twelve minutes ago, they were both Democrats, and so Bobby Kennedy obviously a scion of one of the great Democrat royalty families, Camelot. It is a curious dynamic. It's not clear to me any Democrat is going to vote for him, which is an interesting situation. Listen, there's some conservatives. Bobby Kennedy, until recently, on many policies is his views were quite left of center. I'm going to vote for Bobby Kennedy because I think he's a change agent, because I think he has courage to take on I think some of the corruption that we have at HHS, particularly with big Pharma, that gets in bed with the career bureaucrats there and stifles competition and drives up costs. I think if you have a terrible disease, you should have a right to access life saving medication. And I'm one of the original sponsors of the right to Try legislation. I think that's very important, and i think Bobby Kennedy is going to shake up the cronyism that that has characterized HHS. What's not clear to me is I don't if any Democrats want that cronyism shaken up, and to be honest, there may be some Republicans that don't. Let's play this exchange. So this is Bobby Kennedy responding to Bernie Sanders. Bernie's going to vote now. When Bernie was attacking him like crazy, but I got to say, Bobby Kennedy popped him back pretty hard. Listen to this exchange.

I'm going to make America healthier than other countries in the world. Right now, will.

I'm going to make America healthier than other countries in the world. Right now, will.

You guarantee do what every other major country. It's a simple question.

You guarantee do what every other major country. It's a simple question.

And by the way, Bernie, you know the problem of corruption is not just in the federal agents, is in Congress too. Almost all the members of this panel are accepting, include yourself, or accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry protecting their interests.

And by the way, Bernie, you know the problem of corruption is not just in the federal agents, is in Congress too. Almost all the members of this panel are accepting, include yourself, or accepting millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry protecting their interests.

Oh I thought that that would No. No, I ran for president like you. I got millions, millions of contributions. They did not come from the executives, not one nickel of pack money from the pharmaceuticals and they came to twenty twenty.

Oh I thought that that would No. No, I ran for president like you. I got millions, millions of contributions. They did not come from the executives, not one nickel of pack money from the pharmaceuticals and they came to twenty twenty.

In twenty twenty, you were the single largest.

In twenty twenty, you were the single largest.

Because I received a pharmaceutical combinations from workers all over this country.

Because I received a pharmaceutical combinations from workers all over this country.

Workers.

Workers.

You were this, not a nickel from corporate.

You were this, not a nickel from corporate.

You was the single largest pharmaceutical.

You was the single largest pharmaceutical.

Dollars from workers in point three five million. Yeah, out of two hundred millions.

Dollars from workers in point three five million. Yeah, out of two hundred millions.

All right, but.

All right, but.

You have not answered last question.

You have not answered last question.

I mean that you want to talk about a beatdown with the facts there, Bernie, You've accepted millions of dollars in the pharmaceutical industry.

I mean that you want to talk about a beatdown with the facts there, Bernie, You've accepted millions of dollars in the pharmaceutical industry.

In twenty twenty, you were this single.

In twenty twenty, you were this single.

Largest receiver of pharmacyal dollars one point five millions.

Largest receiver of pharmacyal dollars one point five millions.

Like, let's just move on here.

Like, let's just move on here.

Yeah, he did not like that exchange. By the way, I've never seen a confirmation hearing where the nominee refers to the senator by his first name. He keeps calling him Bernie. Like it's clear Bobby Kennedy and Bernie Sanators they know each other well. I mean, they've got a long history there. Because that's that that that's quite unusual too. But I gotta say Bernie was not anticipating that pop back. We'll see how it plays out. But I think Kennedy's gonna get confirmed. I want him to get confirmed. I like Bobby Kennedy, and I also think there are a lot of Americans, a lot of Americans who are not even very political, a lot of moms who are worried about the garbage that that our kids are are consuming, are worried about the rise in in in in chronic illness, that that that that. I think Bobby Kennedy is a very good person to take that on well.

Yeah, he did not like that exchange. By the way, I've never seen a confirmation hearing where the nominee refers to the senator by his first name. He keeps calling him Bernie. Like it's clear Bobby Kennedy and Bernie Sanators they know each other well. I mean, they've got a long history there. Because that's that that that's quite unusual too. But I gotta say Bernie was not anticipating that pop back. We'll see how it plays out. But I think Kennedy's gonna get confirmed. I want him to get confirmed. I like Bobby Kennedy, and I also think there are a lot of Americans, a lot of Americans who are not even very political, a lot of moms who are worried about the garbage that that our kids are are consuming, are worried about the rise in in in in chronic illness, that that that that. I think Bobby Kennedy is a very good person to take that on well.

And the keyword you use was an age of change. Ye, there is an appetite for that in Washington. The status quo people are sick and tired of. And that's part of the reason why I think Donald Trump brought who he brought to the table. Absolutely, don't forget. We did a show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We do a week in review as well on Saturdays. At that subscribe or auto download button on those in between days, grab my podcast to Ben ferguson podcasts as well, and I'll keep you up to down on the latest breaking news and the Sina and I will see you back here Saturday for the weekend review.

And the keyword you use was an age of change. Ye, there is an appetite for that in Washington. The status quo people are sick and tired of. And that's part of the reason why I think Donald Trump brought who he brought to the table. Absolutely, don't forget. We did a show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We do a week in review as well on Saturdays. At that subscribe or auto download button on those in between days, grab my podcast to Ben ferguson podcasts as well, and I'll keep you up to down on the latest breaking news and the Sina and I will see you back here Saturday for the weekend review.