WEBVTT - Plane Crash Spurs Aviation Questions 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:10.119 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to the 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:13.880 Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.119 noon and five pm Eastern on Apple, Cocklay and Android 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.520 Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:25.040 you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:28.120 Incredible to see if you're with us on Bloomberg Tv 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:31.480 or on YouTube. Flights taken off from the runways at 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.479 DCA operations trying to get back to normal, even as 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:36.800 recovery crews are still working. 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:37.159 In the Potomac. 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:39.280 As we see, I can't imagine flying into the airport 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:41.400 on this day, but you're right, they start a little 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:43.480 bit later than they had planned. In the noontime hour, 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:47.720 we saw the first flight takeoff and land at Reagan 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.680 National Airport. They had been, of course, stopped a full 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.640 ground stop, and that whole area was kind of strange actually, 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:56.760 how quiet it was this morning, Kaylee. I look pretty 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:58.920 close to the airport and drive by there on my 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:01.000 way into work. It's usually a pretty busy affair at 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:02.680 rush hour. It felt like a Sunday. 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:04.759 Morning, well in a busy airport, usually with a lot 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.840 of congestion concern which is being raised anew in the 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:09.759 aftermath of the events today, not just when it comes 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:12.520 to commercial airspace, but airspace that is also shared with 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.679 the US military, which is what has resulted obviously stress 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:19.800 tragic events and of course the largest air tragedy in 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.119 terms of fatalities in the United States we have seen 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.320 in about fifteen years, since two thousand and nine. And 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.440 on that note, we want to turn to the person 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:31.360 who was Secretary of Transportation newly minted himself at that time, 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:33.920 Former Secretary Rayla Hood is with us now here on 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:37.000 Bloomberg TV and Radio. Sir, thank you very much for 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:39.440 your time. Obviously, this is something I'm sure no one 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:43.039 in a Secretary of Transportation position wants to have to 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.440 deal with. Just walk us through what is actually happening 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.480 in the department, the NTSB, the FAA right now as 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.120 we speak. And for Sean Duffy, having gone through this 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:52.920 yourself all these years ago. 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:56.680 Oh, I think Sean has done a good job. In 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:59.680 terms of being in the job for only two days. 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.320 It's a very tough situation to be put in. I'm 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.320 glad the President has named someone as acting FAA Administrator, 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:13.480 a very very important position and has responsibility for air 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:20.480 traffic controllers and the FAA generally, I think we should 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.680 reach out and our hearts do go out to the 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:29.760 family members as they wait to hear about their loved 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:32.760 ones that have perished and some have been found, some 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.840 haven't been found. I think our attention should really be 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:41.280 on the family members and thoughts and prayers with them. 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:46.840 I think really the questions that have been raised and 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:50.600 the answers to those questions won't be really solved until 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:55.160 the NTSB really delves into this and investigates it. This 0:02:55.240 --> 0:03:00.520 is an agency that's independent, it's not given to any politicaliosophy. 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:08.040 Of extraordinarily talented people at the NTSB career people, professional people. 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:12.960 Many of them have been involved in investigations of plane 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.480 crashes all over America and some around the world, so 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.280 they know what they're doing. They do take their time 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:25.119 and deliberate and collect all the information. Obviously, or want 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:29.160 to look at the black boxes in the plane, in 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.240 the helicopter. They want to listen to the tapes from 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:37.920 the air traffic controllers and their conversations with the pilot 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.760 of the American Eagle flight UH and then talk to 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:45.240 as many people as they possibly can and and so 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:51.440 this is uh. This will be a lengthy investigation and 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:54.840 but NTSB will get to the bottom of it and 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.840 they will identify what the issues are. Now for starters, 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:03.680 we know that this is one of the busiest airspaces 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:08.360 in the country. You have Dallas Airport, an international airport. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:12.720 You have Reagan Airport an international airport. You have Baltimore 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.800 which is nearby an international airport. You have a lot 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:20.680 of general aviation airports. You have the military at the 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:25.400 Andrews Air Force Base and other places where helicopters take off. 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:30.160 So there's a lot of activity in a very in 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:35.160 a very very busy airspace, and I'm sure the NTSB 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.440 will be looking at that also and trying to determine 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:43.359 if there are too many planes and helicopters in the 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.360 air at one time. And so there'll be a lot 0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:50.799 of activity over the next several months. But the NTSB 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:52.000 will get us answers. 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:55.920 Well, we do look forward to some answers. 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:57.599 Secretary of Hood, I don't know how you feel about 0:04:57.600 --> 0:04:59.919 the President speaking and advance sharing his opinion on what 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.440 happen and how that kind of impacts the way people 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.279 are looking at this whole process. That is very deliberate 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.640 to your point, professionals working at the NTSB with an 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:13.000 enormous amount of experience. But he's talking about your former administration. 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:14.839 I don't know what you think about this, he said. 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:18.599 I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:21.640 to extraordinary. When I left office and Biden took over, 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:24.200 he changed them back to lower than ever before. 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:26.120 I put safety first. 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.840 Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first. This kind 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.159 of language was pretty unusual to hear from the White 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.520 House briefing room as a recovery operation is still underway. 0:05:35.720 --> 0:05:37.119 Secretary, what's he talking about? 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.680 I think we don't want to get ahead of the NTSB. 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.640 You don't want to get ahead of the professionals who 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.800 will go in depth on the causes of the crash 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:50.159 and they'll make. 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:53.360 You see right that the Obama administration changed safety standards though, 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:55.280 or can we knock that down together right now? 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:59.240 Well, if you look at the statement that I made 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:03.080 before the Commerce Committee for my nomination, I talked about 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.159 safety number one priority. If you look at the four 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.760 and a half years that we were at DOT, we 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:12.920 implemented some of the highest safety standards for every mode 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.960 of Transportation, and when the Colgan air crash occurred in 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:21.239 February of twenty nine, I was new in the secretary's position. 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.120 I reached out to the families. I talked to all 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:28.080 of the families. I reached out to Congress with the families, 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:33.640 and with Congress we passed one of the highest People 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:37.560 complimented us on the legislation that Congress passed for more 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:42.599 pilot training, for more pilot rest, for making sure that pilots. 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:45.800 In the case of Colgan, it was during an ice 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.479 storm as they were coming into Buffalo, New York that 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:52.240 caused the plane to crash, plus not proper training by 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:57.400 the pilots. And I've never really heard any criticism of 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:00.960 the time that we were there four and a half years, 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.760 of any compromise of safety. We took safety as the 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:09.800 highest priority. You talked to anybody in the industry about 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:14.720 our administration and our priority on safety, and we get 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:19.400 very high marked. So look at We will wait to 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:23.640 see what the NTSB says, But in terms of safety, 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:29.040 during my time at DOT, the highest standards were set. Now, 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:30.640 I think if you talked to the families of the 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:34.440 Colgan air crash or to Congress passed a safety bill, 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:38.040 safety for pilots, more training for pilots. They will tell 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:41.600 you we worked very hard in a bipartisan way to 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:43.920 get to the highest safety standards. 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:46.880 Well, and we appreciate that look back, sir, But if 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:49.760 we could look forward as well, and we consider Reagan Airport, 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.480 which has had much debate around the addition of flight 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:57.040 slots last year to different destinations across the US ten 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:01.200 round trip plates in total, these questions around military aircraft 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:05.080 having to share space and adjust altitudes with commercial aircraft. 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.480 Do you see the need for changes here in terms 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:11.640 of congestion at this airport, specifically given its proximity to 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:12.600 the nation's capital. 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:18.000 Well, I believe there's way way too much activity in 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:21.680 that region. And for what I said before, three major 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:28.440 international airports, General Aviation Airports, Andrews Air Force Base, the 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:34.080 Military Air Command that exists very Reagan, and I think 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:37.960 that will be looked at by the NTSB. It's a 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:43.560 very very crowded airspace and I think the NTSB will 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:47.160 take a very very careful look at that. Last year 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:52.960 when Congress passed additional slots, additional opportunities for aircraft to 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:56.920 fly into Reagan, I thought that was a mistake. There's 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.439 just too much congestion. 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:04.120 One of those flights that was added was, in fact 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.839 the route from Wichitsaw that airplane was flying last night. 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:11.559 Secretary of the Hood Donald Trump was asked if how 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.040 he can come to the conclusion that diversity was involved 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.640 in this crash, and he said, because I have common sense, 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:21.840 and unfortunately a lot of people don't. Is this dangerous 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.840 talk before we hear from the NTSB, when we're speculating 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:25.640 on a level like this. 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.240 Well, Joe, what I'm going to do is what I 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.120 think most Americans are going to do. Let's wait till 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.719 the experts. Let's wait till the professionals. Let's wait till 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.360 the career people at NTSB who've done many, many, many 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:42.719 of these investigations. 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.800 The President's not waiting though. That's why I asked the answer. Absolutely, 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:47.400 and I don't want. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.559 Opinion a corner, but the President of the United States 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:51.520 seemed to do something a little different today, and that's 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.520 why your experience is important to us. We'd love to 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:56.840 talk to you once we do learn more about this from. 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:57.920 The NTSB later today. 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.560 Raylan is the former US Secretar Area Transportation, and I 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:05.800 appreciate your caution in talking with us Today's secretary, and 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:08.280 of course thinking of the families here. We're thinking as 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.600 well of some three hundred rescue workers who have been 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:16.040 in freezing cold water in a harrowing and terrifying experience 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:16.400 for them. 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:19.480 Yeah, in incredibly difficult conditions. As we've mentioned that work 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:22.640 is still underway. As of the latest update, only twenty 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.680 eight bodies have been recovered. It's believed sixty seven people, 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:28.040 all of the individuals who are on board these two aircraft, 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:31.280 are not believed to have survived this crash, and I 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.160 would just reiterate we do not definitively know what caused 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.520 this crash, despite suggestions that were made by the President 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:40.199 of the United States earlier. We are awaiting a briefing 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:42.600 from the NTSB. It's coming up a two forty five 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:43.160 Eastern time. 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.400 We'll bring that to you here on Bloomberg. We'll assemble 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.600 our panel next as well. 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.280 You're listening to the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcasts. Catch 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.800 us live weekdays at noon and five pm Eastern on Apple, 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:58.880 Cockley and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. You 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.320 can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our Flagship 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:06.320 New York station. Just say Alexa played Bloomberg eleven thirty. 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.920 It is the Thursday edition, and we start with tragic 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.760 news here, of course, a tragedy that's hitting a lot 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:17.240 of families here across the Washington region. American Eagle flight 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:20.800 fifty three forty two in a mid air collision with 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.080 a military black Hawk helicopter. And of course this is 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:27.520 now a situation where a rescue operation has become a 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:32.840 recovery operation, having been staged at the airport since early 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:37.600 this morning DCA National Airport. Bloomberg's Tyler Kendall joins us 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:39.920 right now with the latest that she's hearing from authorities 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:40.920 on the ground. 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:42.520 Tyler, what can you tell us? 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.000 Yeah, hey, Joe, we know that twenty seven bodies have 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.160 been recovered from the Potomac River. We know that sixty 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.800 four victims were on that American Airlines flight three. We're 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:58.520 on the Blackhawk helicopter when the pair collided. A lot 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:02.920 of questions still remain. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy came out 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:05.439 and said that all of this could have been preventable. 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:07.960 We also heard from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who called 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.320 this a quote mistake, suggesting that it might have been 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.160 an elevation issue at play here. We're still waiting though 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:18.000 on additional questions, considering authorities say that both of those 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:22.200 aircraft were on routine of flight paths. The NTSB is 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:26.160 expected to brief shortly and will be efforting some additional 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:27.160 answers there. 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:30.280 Right, Tyler, thank you so much. 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.560 We'll get back with Tyler throughout the day as she 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:34.920 learns more from the airport. And we want to bring 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:37.559 in the voice of an expert here before we assembled 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.640 our panel. Jeff Wise is where this aviation journalist, host 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:44.160 of the Finding MH three to seventy podcast, has been 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:48.800 covering the commercial airline sector and aviation at large for years, 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:51.920 and Jeff, I want to welcome you to Bloomberg. We 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.480 heard a doozy of a news conference with the President 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:59.920 a short time ago. He blamed the Biden administration, specific 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.720 Pete Bodhaj edge around the Transportation Department and more broadly 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:08.800 DEI policy for resulting in a crash that appears to 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.000 if you also listen to what else you said, appears 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:14.480 to likely have not been the faults of the air 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:19.400 traffic controller or any of the other regulators and FAA 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:23.160 operators who were involved. You've got your own take on 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:24.800 this in a column today that I want to ask 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:26.280 you about, Jeff, But what did you make of what 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:27.040 the president said? 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:28.560 Is any of that true or provable? 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:41.280 Well, you know, listen, safety is a tedious, meticulous, careful, 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:43.319 not exciting game. 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:43.600 Right. 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.040 You have to cross your t's and dot your eyes, 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.240 and you know, it's not exciting, it's not entertaining, it's 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:54.079 not you know, making a big show. And so if 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:55.800 you come in and you're going to just sort of 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.839 make wild accusations and connect unconnected thoughts and everything, that's 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:00.920 how safety works. 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:01.240 Right. 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.600 On the other hand, I will say this, the President 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.680 said that he thought the military helicopter was to blame him, 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.440 and which is, you know, in itself, kind of crazy 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.520 protocol wise. But anyway, it does seem like in my 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.080 judgment that it was the helicopter that was in the 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:22.920 wrong place at the wrong time. So it will be 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:24.800 interesting to see what the NTSP has to say about this. 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.400 It is sort of in contrast with what if his 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:33.080 own Transportation secretary, believe had to say that everyone was 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:34.280 on the correct path. 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:38.960 It is pretty wild to step in front of the 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:43.120 NTSB and make statements like that. I think to your point, Jeff, 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:45.760 we can also let our viewers and listeners know that 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.600 the NTSB has in fact, just now scheduled in news 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.680 briefing that will take place two hours from now two 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:55.760 forty five pm East coast time. You're writing, Jeff, safe 0:14:55.800 --> 0:15:01.080 operation is particularly a challenge at Reagan, of course, National Airport. 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.920 We're talking about, you say, a small airport very close 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.800 to the Washington City Center, whose users include a large 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:09.000 number of people with considerable power over the. 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:10.560 Aviation system itself. 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.840 Is this a congestion story that we're talking about because 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:16.840 you know people are reaching and you're writing about it too. 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:19.920 The roots that were added last year, I believe five 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.720 of them at the behest of lawmakers who wanted more 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.800 long range routes coming out of DCA. This has been 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:29.480 an argument going back years. Remember John McCain talking about this, 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.920 trying to get back to Arizona. Is it smart to 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:35.760 be pointing people in that direction right now? If this, 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.600 in fact was the fault of the military helicopter. 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:44.640 Well it gets down to overworked air traffic controllers. And 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:48.920 if the FAA is saying, look, this is a small airport. 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:51.720 We can only carry so much traffic. 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:53.760 You're overloading us. 0:15:54.400 --> 0:16:00.240 There is danger, and then those dangers bear fruit. I 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:03.080 don't think those things are unconnected. And you have a 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.600 kind of tragedy of the commons dynamic going where if 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:11.920 lawmakers can say, oh, I want this extra route, even 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.000 though you're overloaded, even though you don't think you can 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:16.120 carry this much traffic safely, I want you to add 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:17.800 another route because I want to get home. It's for 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.200 my own sake. And that's just not a safe dynamic. 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:25.800 You point out the flight that crashed was a route 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.520 added last year. Is I mentioned this is one of 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:30.840 the couple that were out of as a result. You 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.920 write of pressure from Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, Republicans spoke 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:36.240 this morning at the news conference. 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:36.880 I know that flight. 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:39.360 I've flown it many times myself, he said. I lobbied 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.960 American Airlines to begin having a direct, NonStop flight service 0:16:43.360 --> 0:16:44.280 to DCA. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:45.080 So here we are. 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:50.480 Donald Trump seems to think that this is basically something 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:52.640 that the FAA needs to sort out. 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:55.960 After you heard Jerry Moran, what did you think? 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.080 Yeah, I mean, I think this is really a bad 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:04.520 look for him. You know, I think as a legislator. 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.400 I'm sure he's proud that he was able to, you know, 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.600 tweak the powers the leavers of government to get what 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.480 he wanted for himself and his constituencies. He might want 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.000 to fly to DC as well as him But look, 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:20.439 this is he lobbied for the addition of a flight 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:24.440 over the objection of the FAA, which wound up getting 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:29.359 into a fatal accident. So he I hope he has 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:34.119 like some thought that he might. I hope he second 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:35.879 guesses his own logic, is what I'm saying. 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:40.080 You invoke the saying that I can't use on the 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:44.919 air f around and find out fool around. Talk about 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.959 Donald Trump's move. Sure we can do that, Donald Trump's 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:51.600 moved to eliminate the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. The fact 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.639 that the FAA administrator quit at the behest of Elon 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:56.720 Musk on the twentieth of January. You say, as the 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:00.679 saying goes, this crash puts us unambiguously in the find 0:18:00.680 --> 0:18:05.200 out stage of the process. Jeff, they're still pulling bodies, 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:07.880 They're still looking for bodies in the Potomac River. 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:09.800 What do you mean by that? 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:16.920 This is that we are bearing the process of ignoring safety, 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:21.480 of undermining safety, of deprioritizing safety is bearing fruit in 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:23.680 the form of dead bodies being pulled out of the river. 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:27.960 Safety is boring. It's not interesting, it's not exciting. And 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.479 if you do it properly, what you get is nothing. 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:36.199 Nothing happens, It's invisible. And so if you're smart and 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:40.600 you're sensible, and you understand cause and effect, and you 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.120 want to create a meticulous system to prevent this kind 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:48.720 of thing happening, which was successful for where is it now? 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:54.120 Sixteen years? And now it has broken down. And you know, 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.600 they say, if you see a cockroach, it doesn't mean 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:58.879 you have a cockroach, it means you have a thousand cockroaches. 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:03.880 And this accident should be telling us something. And if 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:06.800 we don't want to pull more bodies out of more 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:11.000 crash sites, we should think carefully about cause and effect 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:16.119 and less about entertainment and scoring political points with completely 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:21.080 unrelated dogma and really put this in the hands of 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:21.680 grown ups. 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:26.359 Rankly, I'm glad you could come on with us today. 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:28.879 Jeff Wise, aviation expert. Clearly. 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.080 He's also a contributing author to New York Magazine, Popular 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.680 Mechanics Magazine. Thanks for bringing your expertise to us, Jeff, 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:37.480 as we assemble our panel, Rick Davis and Genie Shanzino 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.200 are with us here on a difficult day in Washington, 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:43.640 of course, both Bloomberg Politics contributors. Rick is our Republican 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:46.560 strategist partner at Stone Court Capital, and Genie is our 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:49.760 Democratic analyst and senior Democracy fellow with the Center for 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:54.440 the Study of the Presidency and Congress. Rick, I'll start 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.560 with you today, and I'm curious your thoughts on everything 0:19:57.600 --> 0:19:59.359 that we're talking about. I didn't want to do a 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:01.159 panel on this. This was not supposed to be a 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:05.200 political story. Donald Trump made it one today, for better 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:09.080 or worse, and he's blaming largely DEI. He also put 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:12.120 the names Joe Biden, Pete Boudage, Edge, and Barack Obama 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:12.479 on this. 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:14.000 Have you ever heard of anything like this? 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:19.359 Well, first, Joe, I would say, our thoughts and prayers 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.800 are with the families of the victims of this horrific accident. 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:27.200 Thank you, and I hope that the healing can begin 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:30.920 even after a press conference that you know, did anything 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:37.080 but start that process. So I do think that you 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:40.040 have to expect this with the president who wants to 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:44.159 lay blame. He's a quick draw when it comes to 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:48.040 doing that, and partly because he doesn't want it to 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:51.520 land on his desk, right. I mean, we had an 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:57.000 entire administration, you know, in his first term where you know, 0:20:57.160 --> 0:21:02.120 he wasn't prepared to take responsibility for acts of his cabinet. 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:04.440 And that's just who he is, right, That's the guy 0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:08.200 we elected president of United States, and so it shouldn't 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:12.800 be a surprise that this is his mo But I 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:18.080 would say the flashing red signal politically on this is 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:23.000 he is the least popular president at the start of 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:28.240 a term since nineteen fifty three. That's not a attribute 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:30.399 that is easy to overcome. 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:31.359 So if he is. 0:21:31.359 --> 0:21:36.080 Thinking about wanting to sustain his power and office as 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:39.919 a lame duck on election day, you would think that 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:43.280 he would think through opportunities like this to unify the 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:46.800 nation and to focus their attention on things that can 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:50.760 actually keep this from happening again. I mean, no question, 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:54.960 we need to evaluate our air traffic control system to 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:58.400 ensure that we're using the best and most capable technology 0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:01.159 that the market has to all and that the people 0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:05.040 who we have are the best trained and best equipped 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:08.200 to do the job to ensure future safety. That would 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.480 have been a perfectly acceptable approach for the president to 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:13.520 take today and no more. 0:22:16.040 --> 0:22:19.000 I'm really glad that you guys are both on today 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:21.480 because this is pretty sensitive stuff. 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:22.959 Genie. I don't know where you want to go here. 0:22:23.000 --> 0:22:24.800 I should point out by the way Donald Trump did 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:27.440 make news in that news conference. There was a headline 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:33.720 Acting Commission to the FAA, Chris Rushlow joining hands here 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:36.320 with Sean Duffy and transportation secretaries but on the job 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:38.240 for something like forty eight hours. I mean, this is 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:41.320 really tough stuff, Genie. But when you consider the human element, 0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:43.920 and I appreciate Rick taking time to consider the families 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:46.680 who are gathered waiting for horrible news right now. 0:22:46.680 --> 0:22:48.439 Donald Trump, we had to bleep this. 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:52.480