On today’s show: The latest on the crash between an army helicopter and passenger plane in Washington, D.C. ABC News has live updates. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced intense questioning during his Senate confirmation hearing for HHS secretary. CNN breaks down what happened. Alex Ward with the Wall Street Journal describes the rush for exemption waivers after the Trump administration temporarily paused funding for foreign aid. Plus, Trump signs the first piece of legislation of his second term, former Sen. Bob Menendez is sentenced for bribery, and how a massive concert to benefit L.A. fire recovery came together in 48 hours. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: What happened in the helicopter and plane collision?
But first, an American Airlines plane collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River just outside Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near D.C. last night. Authorities say the plane was a small commercial airliner coming from Wichita, Kansas, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members. And the military helicopter had three people on board.
A search effort involving local, state and federal authorities went into action overnight. But at a press conference this morning, D.C. 's fire and EMS chief John Donnelly said dozens of bodies had been recovered and it's believed there are no survivors.
Chapter 2: What is the status of the search and recovery operation?
We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. And we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones.
Video of the incident shows two aircraft from a distance colliding and a bright fireball lighting up the sky. All flights from Reagan National Airport were grounded and the airport remained closed in the morning. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation to analyze the wreckage and understand what caused the crash.
Chapter 3: What did video footage reveal about the incident?
The DC CBS affiliate spoke with a man whose wife was on the plane from Wichita. He saw on social media that something was going on at the airport. He appeared to be in shock as he spoke about what was happening.
I'm just praying that somebody's pulling her out of the river right now as we speak. That's all I can pray for. I'm just praying to God. When was the last time you spoke with her? She texted me that they're landing in 20 minutes.
Chapter 4: Who were the victims of the crash?
Also reported to be on the plane were a group of competitive figure skaters from the United States and Russia returning from a skate camp in Kansas, along with their families and coaches. President Trump was briefed on the situation. In a statement, he thanked the first responders and said of the victims, may God bless their souls.
Yesterday's crash happened on the first day of work for newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. He spoke in his confirmation hearings about keeping America's skies safe. In particular, he said he would address the shortage of air traffic controllers.
Chapter 5: What is the role of air traffic controllers in ensuring safety?
Safety will remain its top priority. America needs more air traffic controllers. Many of you have talked about that with me. We want the best and the brightest air traffic controllers.
For some time now, air traffic controllers have been saying that they are stretched too thin and overall understaffed. The New York Times reports this is an issue that dates back to the early 1980s and the Reagan administration. Over the last 10 years, the number of fully trained controllers has dropped 10%, while airport traffic has increased 5%.
This area near Reagan National is one of the country's most complex airspaces, with domestic flights, military planes and other aircraft competing for space in close proximity. The Wall Street Journal reports the FAA began a review of its air traffic control operation weeks ago.
That wasn't made public, but the department confirmed to the journal it was hiring an independent expert panel to review potential improvements. Still, experts say flying remains incredibly safe. It's been 15 years since the last major fatal plane crash involving a U.S. airliner. In 2009, a plane traveling from New Jersey to Buffalo, New York, crashed into a house.
Bye.
The confirmation hearing process continues today for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He's President Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy built a sizable following over the years by questioning evidence about the safety of vaccines and spreading a number of falsehoods.
More recently, he's talked about his goals of eliminating ultra-processed foods from schools and finding the root cause of chronic diseases, ideas that have attracted a lot of bipartisan support. Whether senators confirm his nomination will likely hinge on whether he's able to convince them that he's more interested in making changes around those ideas than he is on vaccine policy.
Yesterday, Kennedy testified that he will not dissuade Americans from using vaccines, and he confirmed on the record that his own kids are vaccinated, though he has also said he wishes he hadn't gotten them vaccinated. During yesterday's hearing, a lot of lawmakers honed in on his record of spreading misinformation.
Colorado Democrat Michael Bennett read some of Kennedy's past false statements aloud.
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Chapter 6: What were the key points from RFK Jr.'s confirmation hearing?
And when Cassidy asked him to expand on how he would do that, Kennedy incorrectly explained how the programs work.
I'm not exactly sure because I'm not in there. I mean, it is difficult to integrate them because Medicare is under fee-for-service. It's paid for by employer taxes. Medicaid is fully paid for by the federal government, and it's not fee-for-service.
Again, that is not true. Medicaid is jointly funded by states and the federal government. And throughout this exchange with Cassidy, Kennedy struggled to be specific about his plans. As Kennedy's confirmation hearing continues today, Cassidy will be a key person to keep watching. In fact, he's leading today's hearing in the Senate Health Committee.
Cassidy had previously said that Kennedy was wrong in his stances on vaccinations, but the senator has not indicated how he will vote on Kennedy's nomination. As we've mentioned before, RFK Jr. is one of Trump's more controversial cabinet picks. Two other nominees who are under a lot of scrutiny will face questions from senators today, too.
That's former Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who is Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, and Kash Patel, who's been selected to lead the FBI. You can find more coverage on all of those hearings today in the Apple News app. Let's turn now to the fallout from President Trump's sweeping order to suspend federal aid, both domestic and foreign.
On Wednesday, the White House rescinded its order that appeared to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. Yesterday, we talked a bit about how domestic services like Medicaid were initially impacted. Today, we'll focus on foreign aid. Nearly all U.S.
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Chapter 7: What issues were raised during the Senate questioning?
foreign assistance, typically only about 1 percent of the federal budget, but still hundreds of billions of dollars, was put on pause Friday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, essentially sending out an immediate stop work order and a suspension of funds.
And it led to chaos, not only just sort of the internal bureaucracy, but in the world as well, as there were people on the ground in global hotspots doing important work, figuring out whether or not they could continue doing their work. And more often than not, the answer was they could not.
Chapter 8: How does Kennedy's history with vaccines affect his nomination?
That's Alex Ward at The Wall Street Journal. He told us it's not unusual to see a new administration come in, examine government spending, and put it through a review process.
What's odd about this is that they put the stop work order and that canceled a bunch of things. And their main case is that any cent sent abroad must help the United States, must advance the global interests or the national interests of the United States.
The U.S. is one of the biggest contributors to global aid organizations. In 2023, it was responsible for nearly a quarter of all aid provided by wealthy nations. Secretary Rubio revised the order this week, issuing a temporary waiver for some programs the government has deemed essential to saving lives. That includes groups involved with medical services, food, and shelter.
A group that distributes life-saving HIV drugs, for example, was allowed to continue. The exemption does not include health care programs that provide abortions or gender-affirming care, even though medical experts say that can be lifesaving in some cases.
Some humanitarian groups interviewed by CNN say even after what was supposed to be a clarifying memo from Rubio, it's been confusing to figure out if they're impacted. Many say the Trump administration has not officially told them if their work is covered by the exemption, so many are stuck in limbo.
The longer this uncertainty continues, the more aid organizations are at risk of being forced to close permanently.
People are just kind of begging for their programs to restart. That's basically what this is. You know, waivers makes it sound more technocratic. It's not like there's a waiver review office necessarily. People are just saying, my program should exist. Please let my program exist.
Humanitarian officials have warned of catastrophic consequences if Trump's administration does not move quickly in this decision. One told CNN if the suspension in aid services continues for even just a couple more weeks, thousands of lives are at risk. Here are a few other stories we're following today. President Trump signed a lot of executive orders in his first days in office.
But just yesterday, he signed the first piece of legislation of his second term. The Lake and Riley Act passed with bipartisan support in the House and Senate and directs Homeland Security to detain and deport people who do not have legal status that have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting.
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