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Search for Survivors Changes to Recovery in Frigid Potomac River After Midair Collision; All Aboard Both American Airlines Flight and Army Helicopter Perish; Confirmation for Trump's Pick for FBI Director Kash Patel; Trump to Hold News Briefing Following Midair Collision; Hamas and Allies Release Eight Hostages from Gaza. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 30, 2025 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:00:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos live in Abu Dhabi.

Heartbreaking news from the icy Potomac River. Officials are saying there are no survivors following a midair collision between a passenger plane and

a military helicopter outside Washington Wednesday night. Recovery efforts are currently underway.

Meanwhile, chaotic scenes from Gaza. Israeli hostages have been released as part of the cease-fire agreement with Hamas. And you see here, crowds in

Khan Yunis as Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud is handed over to the Red Cross.

Confirmation hearings for three key Trump cabinet nominees are happening right now on Capitol Hill. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on his second day. And

nominees Kash Patel as FBI director and Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence are also in the hot seat today.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

GIOKOS: Well, we start with breaking news. It is now 10 am in Washington, D.C., where a rescue mission has turned to recovery. The remains of at

least 28 people have been found in the Potomac River after a mid-air collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter; 67 in all

are believed to have perished. There were no survivors.

It's believed that among the victims were figure skaters and their families returning from a training camp in Wichita, Kansas. Wichita's mayor was

asked about that a short time ago. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LILY WU, WICHITA, KANSAS: It was truly an honor to have future Olympians and those who are at the highest competition level of figure

skating right here in the air capital. We were so excited to have the opportunity to host the National Championship.

And even yesterday, I had folks tell me how wonderful these last few days have been with additional individuals that came into our community, whether

to watch or to participate.

So our community was really excited and thankful that everything went well with the championship. And so right now we're just waiting for more

information from U.S. Figure Skating that we can release.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: The U.S. Transportation Secretary says both aircraft were flying in standard flight patterns when they collided Wednesday night. American

Airlines' CEO seemed to place the blame on the helicopter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT ISOM, AMERICAN AIRLINES CEO: On final approach into Reagan National, it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal

approach. And at this time, we don't know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: CNN's Julia Benbrook is monitoring developments from our D.C. bureau.

Julia, so many questions about what happened.

If both the helicopters were as the -- as the plane were traveling on a normal flight path, what was the ultimate issue?

What are we learning about this investigation to help answer some of these questions?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been a day full of briefings following that overnight rescue effort that has now turned into a recovery

effort. They announced that earlier.

And we're going to hear from president Donald Trump himself in just about an hour. He's expected to speak from the White House Briefing Room at 11.

And that's the same time that Reagan International Airport is going to resume flights. So a lot happening at 11 am Eastern.

Now we know that there were 64 passengers on that American Airlines passenger jet, 60 passengers -- excuse me -- and then four crew members,

64 people in total. And then three soldiers on that Black Hawk helicopter. These two aircraft collided over the Potomac River.

And just devastating images that we're seeing there now, as these recovery efforts continue. And the D.C. Fire and EMS chief said that they do not

expect survivors here. We've also heard from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who's only been on the job for a little while. He was confirmed as

Transportation Secretary on Tuesday.

[10:05:00]

And he explained, like you said, that the helicopter and the plane seemed to be on standard flight paths. But something about this wasn't standard.

Something went wrong. And he said that everyone should be able to feel safe when they get on a plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Safety is our expectation. Everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely; that, when

you depart an airport, you get to your destination. That didn't happen last night.

And I know that president Trump, his administration, the FAA, the DOT, we will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying

public. You should be assured that, when you fly, you're safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And Duffy said that the president has been informed of all of the steps here. Again, we're going to hear from him in about an hour. The

National Transportation Safety Board, the NTSB, is going to be leading this investigation. We expect to hear from them later today as well.

They're managing expectations, though, of what they're going to be able to talk about. It's going to be more about process as this investigation is

still in its early stages.

GIOKOS: Yes. All right.

And then, Julia, what do you -- what can you tell us about the victims?

It's absolutely heartbreaking news that it's likely there are no survivors.

BENBROOK: And we are still learning more about the people who were on that plane. We had crews at the airport, you know, speaking with loved ones, as

they hoped and actually sent text messages that didn't go through last night.

Some of our affiliates were able to speak with some of those people. We do know, though, and I heard you mention it earlier, that the U.S. figure

skating community has been impacted.

We've heard from the organization that oversees the sport, that some members of that community were on that flight from Wichita, Kansas, to

Washington, D.C. There was a development program going on which was a part of the championship program overall. And they released a statement.

They said, "We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the

situation and will release more information as it becomes available."

We're also learning from Russia's state news agency that two world champion Russian figure skaters were on that flight.

GIOKOS: All right, Julia Benbrook, thank you so much.

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GIOKOS: Jason Pack joins us now live.

[10:10:00]

He is a former FBI special agent and a former firefighter.

Jason, thank you so much for taking the time today.

What was it about this collision that made rescuing any of these -- those involved, the victims, so difficult?

We just heard a very windy, very cold. We also know that a lot of the debris from the crash site had actually moved further down. So we are

expecting a lot of currents. Take us through some of these challenges they faced.

JASON PACK, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Yes. I think the biggest challenge was the height of the flight. Even though it was on final approach, the

mid-air collision there and the impact to the water, some, most of the time unsurvivable.

I know the firefighters, the water rescue folks, you saw dozens and dozens of apparatus lined up along the banks of the Potomac last night, from all

jurisdictions within D.C., all the fire and rescue boats that got in.

And even though they weren't on the water immediately, their stations are really close. There's actually a fire station at the DCA. And there's

several nearby in both -- on both sides of the banks. There -- so there was plenty of help there. And they gave the victims every opportunity they

could to survive.

It just was such a horrific thing. And, you know, as we learn about the names of the victims in the days ahead, they're going to need all of our

best wishes and our prayers for them for sure, because they're going to be hearing a lot about some just pretty interesting and sweet people, I'm

sure.

GIOKOS: Look, there's an investigation underway to answer a lot of the questions that people have, because even the Transportation Secretary said

that both the Black Hawk as well as the plane were on the right flight path.

We've also just heard from the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, about a little bit more information about the operation that the Black Hawk was on.

Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It was a fairly experienced crew. And that was doing a required annual night evaluation. They did have night

vision goggles. The 12th Aviation Battalion as of now is granted a 48 hour operational pause on contingency missions as what happened is reviewed.

And a senior level aviation team, an investigative team from our Aviation Safety Center, was deployed last night. It already is in Washington, D.C.,

to investigate what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. So we just heard from the Defense Secretary. They're talking about that required night evaluation, that they were fairly

experienced. Tell me about the information you've just given us and how important that that is in terms of understanding where the investigation is

going.

PACK: Yes, ma'am. I lived up there for 10 years. I was on regional jets here in Tennessee. We have regional jet service directly to Reagan. I was

on that flight for 18 months straight, every Friday and every, you know, Monday, coming to and from D.C.

So there's always looking out the window on approach. And when you're landing and taking off, you see aircraft in the vicinity. But they know the

game up there. And they know the ins and outs of all the air traffic.

There's helicopters, emergency service helicopters, medical helicopters, military helicopters. And then you have three large commercial airports

around there and then some general aviation airports that are nearby.

So there is a lot of traffic in and out of there. And it's -- as the investigation moves along, we'll have to take a look when they find the

black boxes, the voice recorders, hearing what was going on in the cockpits of -- and the helicopter to see what exactly the conversations were.

That may gain some more insight as to what happened. The National Transportation Safety Board is the lead in this case. They're a pretty

small but robust agency. I know the FBI have been in touch with my contacts at the FBI today.

The Victim Services Division from the FBI, the Evidence Response Team unit has a memorandum of understanding with the NTSB. So they'll be also

assisting in the recovery efforts as well.

And just one thing about the diving, a lot of people think, oh, you can just jump off the boat, put a hook on the debris and bring it up. But you

can't really see your hand in front of your face. It's very murky. It's very cold and it's a very difficult task.

GIOKOS: The Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, was saying that the United States has some of the safest airspace in the world. But we also

have heard reports specifically from "The New York Times" in 2023 about near misses from the FAA. That was information from the FAA.

Have you seen anything like this before?

Mistakes happening, perhaps because of bad communication, of routes not being organized or planned properly.

What is your characterization of what could possibly have gone wrong if both aircraft were supposed to be on the right flight path?

PACK: Well, I think that is the million dollar question, ma'am.

When we get on an airplane -- I mentioned I did it for two years straight - - you have no expectations that you're not going to get there. Air travel in the United States has been spot on. And you've not really had an

incident like this.

[10:15:00]

The last one in D.C. was 33 years ago, an Air Florida flight -- or Florida Air flight that hit the bridge and it was very icy situation. You know, the

NTSB took a few months to investigate that and a report was -- the final report didn't come out for a year or so.

So just they're going to have to take this step by step. The unified command plan today is to continue to identify pieces of the debris, bring

the equipment in they need to recover that. You'll probably see some barges come in with cranes on them and able -- and so they can hoist the parts

that they weren't able to recover last night.

They'll probably take that back to a hangar, reassemble that; same thing with the helicopter and try to figure out exactly, based on the evidence,

based on the voice data recorders and then just the pattern of the debris field that they recover and map just exactly what happened.

And they'll combine that with the radar things and things going on in the tower. They'll interview folks and try to put that piece together. Yes, the

air traffic is busy in the United States.

But most Americans, I would say the majority of Americans, think nothing about getting on an airplane and traveling to where they want to go. So

this is a pretty sobering reminder that things like this, while absolutely rare, can happen. And it's so heartbreaking for the families.

GIOKOS: All right, Jason Pack, thank you so much for your insights. Good to have you with us today. Much appreciated.

All right. We're keeping a very close watch on the FBI director's (sic) hearing, Kash Patel. He is Trump's pick and we're keeping a close watch on

some of the messages. We'll bring you an update on that and more, coming through on CNN, right after this.

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GIOKOS: All right. Welcome back. Let's listen in to Donald Trump's nominee to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, currently busy with his opening statement

during his confirmation hearing. Let's listen in.

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE: These values have shaped and been the driving force of my career in 16 years of government service. Protecting

the rights of the Constitution is of the utmost importance to me.

[10:19:14]

[PATEL HEARING]

[10:24:37]

PATEL: Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the question. It's really humbling to be afforded the opportunity to have served this country for 16 years. But I

think what I'm most proud of is my work in Nashville.

GIOKOS: All right. You're listening in to Kash Patel's confirmation hearing, nominee for FBI director. I want to go now to CNN's Sunlen

Serfaty, joining us from Washington.

[10:25:00]

His opening statement, he says that he wants to bring trust back to the FBI. He was talking about the erosion of trust in the United States toward

the FBI.

Give me a sense of what we could expect that is really going to be important for the senators in that room.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's an absolute preview of what we will see in those opening statements that we saw from

the chairman and ranking member, as well as senator Republican Tillis. A preview of how contentious potentially this hearing is going to be.

It was notable that the senator, the Republican senator that introduced him, he created a bingo card, a little moment of theatrics here, of course,

but a bingo card.

He said, I'm going to tick through many of the topics that Democrats are going to bring up against you today. And he said he'd already ticked

through four. So that just giving you a little window into how politically charged this moment is.

And some very strong words from Senator Dick Durbin on the committee, really blasting his inexperience.

He says, I don't think you have the temperament, the judgment; saying that he's unfit for this role and bringing up many of the past statements, the

rhetoric and the views that Kash Patel has in the past, saying that he's pushed untruths about January 6th, that he's made financial gain from lies

over COVID.

So a lot of past statements and rhetoric being included in these first few moments of the hearing. I think what you saw from Kash Patel there was a

very, kind of humbling --humble introductory remark from him, noting, he says, at least in his words, I will remain focused on the FBI's core

mission.

But certainly a lot of doubts, a lot of scrutiny here, one of Donald Trump's president Trump's most controversial and consequential nominees.

GIOKOS: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much for that update.

You're still watching live pictures of Kash Patel's confirmation hearing. We'll bring you the latest on that and much more after this break.

And still to come, the very latest on the recovery mission underway after that collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter in

Washington, D.C. Our teams are on top of the story and we'll give you information as we get it. Stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.

We are awaiting Israel's release of 110 Palestinian prisoners after Hamas released three Israeli and five Thai hostages in Gaza. This chaotic scene

showing Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud being moved through a huge crowd earlier in Khan Yunis.

[10:30:00]

Israel's government described it as shocking and initially announced a delay in the prisoner release, demanding the chaos not be repeated during

future handovers.

Now to Capitol Hill, where several of U.S. president Donald Trump's nominees face confirmation hearings this hour, Robert Kennedy Jr. is back

for a second day of questioning in his bid to become the country's top health official and FBI director, Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's

choice for Director of National Intelligence, are facing their first day of questions.

All right, first responders in Washington are looking for the bodies of the victims from a midair collision involving a commercial flight and a U.S.

army helicopter. Both aircraft went into the icy Potomac and all 67 people involved are believed dead. We have audio from air traffic control

describing the moments the collision took place. Let's listen in.

Fire command. the accident happened in the river. Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river. It was probably out in the middle of the

river. I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. So I haven't seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a car and a helicopter that

hit.

The White House says president Donald Trump will hold a news briefing in about 30 minutes. Following that mid-air collision. We'll bring you that

when it happens. Right. We're joined now from the Pentagon by CNN's national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand, who has been looking at

the latest news out of this investigation and what we've been hearing. Natasha, give us a sense of what we've heard about when the Black Hawk got

involved in this accident. What happened in the seconds after it spotted the aircraft?

What have we learned?

Well, the Black Hawk helicopter did appear to see that aircraft. According to air traffic control audio that we obtained, they did say that they had

this aircraft in their sights. Now at this point, it is unclear what happened next and why the helicopter was unable to seemingly avoid the

passenger American airlines flight. But we know now that the Defense Department, the army is cooperating with NTSB and the FAA to figure out

exactly what happened here. But we got a little bit more background on the Black Hawk flight itself. According to the Secretary of Defense, Pete

Hegseth, that flight was a routine training mission. It was an evaluation that they are required to conduct at night annually. And so while this was

a very routine training mission, the pilots on board were also fairly experienced. According to Pete Hegseth. According to a U.S. Army official

that we spoke to and according to the national security advisor, they all said that there was not a particularly junior pilot or crew member on board

this Black Hawk helicopter. So all of them had a fair amount of experience here. Still unclear how this happened. Hegseth did release a prerecorded

video statement earlier today and he did say that right now, the 12th aviation battalion, which is the unit that this Black Hawk helicopter comes

from out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, it is on an operational pause until they can figure out was this helicopter flying at the correct altitude?

Was it in the correct corridor where it was supposed to be flying?

All of these things are going to be helping to determine whether this was simply pilot error or something else went very wrong with the aircraft

itself. So that is what they are going to be looking at here. And secretary Hegseth. He also said that right now it is understood that there was not

any kind of breakdown in communications and that the on board the helicopter, according to the national security advisor, there were three

U.S. Army soldiers, an officer, a warrant officer and a crew member. Very standard for this kind of training mission. Melanie. Yes.

Absolutely. And first time we were actually understanding more about the mission that the Black Hawk was on, that it was an annual, flight

evaluation that they were pretty, experienced and so forth. Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, spoke earlier, earlier and specifically said that

the Black Hawk was on the right flight pattern path and so was the plane. We are expecting to hear from president Donald Trump in about 30 minutes

from now. He did post on social media that he was really upset with this. And he also said, you know, questioned why the helicopter didn't move up or

down.

All right, we have to go to Capitol Hill. Natasha, unfortunately. Let's listen in to Kash Patel.

All right. Let's listen in.

[10:34:55]

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL): -- violently assaulted our police in the Capitol.

PATEL: Senator, America will be safe when we don't have 200,000 drug overdoses in two years.

[10:35:04]

America will be safe. We don't have 50,000 -- 50 homicides in a day.

(CROSSTALK)

DURBIN: So you just won't answer the question.

(CROSSTALK)

DURBIN: I don't think we're safe -- Matthew Shuttle (sic) -- or Matthew Huddle (ph) was sent back to Indiana.

[10:35:16]

[PATEL HEARING]

[10:50:49]

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): Trump's deputy national security advisor, the nominee's former supervisor said, "His ideas are ludicrous. He's

absolutely unqualified for this job. He's untrustworthy and it's an absolute disgrace to even consider an individual of this nature."

That's from Republican appointees who worked with him. And here's what this nominee himself has said about using --

[10:51:22]

GIOKOS: -- to Kash Patel's confirmation hearing. He's a nominee for FBI director. And, of course, tough questions around January 6th, his

foundation, what money was paid out and to whom.

And, of course, this is on the back in the context of Donald Trump's pardoning of the rioters involved in January 6th and also the fact that he

assisted in raising funds for what he says were the nonviolent protesters.

This confirmation hearing is still underway. We will be checking in on some of the key messages coming through as it continues.

But right now, I want to turn our attention to what's happening in Israel.

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GIOKOS: Israel is releasing 110 Palestinian prisoners. There have been boarding buses outside a prison in the West Bank. I think we've got some

live pictures of this. The release is following Hamas freeing three Israeli and five Thai hostages from Gaza earlier. We've got Jeremy Diamond on the

ground.

Jeremy, what more can you tell us?

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. We understand that at least one bus carrying Palestinian prisoners from Ofer

prison in the West Bank has indeed left that prison and is on its way to allowing those Palestinian prisoners to be released. Some of them will be

released into the West Bank.

But we also know that a certain number of them will also ultimately be deported outside of Israel, outside of the Palestinian Territories. That's

because, of the 110 Palestinian prisoners being released today, 32 of them are serving life sentences.

And we know that the most severe of those cases, including several individuals responsible for bombings that killed Israeli civilians, will

indeed be deported abroad. But it is important to note that these are not all terrorists responsible for suicide bombings or other bombings who are

being released here.

We know that there are 30 children who have been held, many of them under administrative detention without charge, in Israeli prisons, who are being

released today as well. So that is important to note.

This release of Palestinian prisoners was delayed by several hours today after the Israeli government objected to the manner in which Israeli

hostages were released earlier this morning from Khan Yunis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, especially the 29 year old Israeli hostage

Arbel Yehud.

She had been taken from her kibbutz, Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, taken from her home by militants on October 7th. And today we saw her emerge,

flanked by Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as Hamas militants amid a very, very rowdy crowd. Quite a chaotic situation.

And really, if you look at the look on her face, she seemed absolutely terrified in what were her final moments of captivity.

And so following that, the Israeli government protesting, calling this an example of Hamas' cruelty and urging the mediators to ensure that future

hostage releases do not happen this way.

And in order to emphasize that point, it would seem, the Israeli government deciding to delay the release of these Palestinian prisoners. But we are

now watching that unfold. Things seem to be back on track. And we are expecting the next release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian

prisoners to take place this coming Saturday.

GIOKOS: Yes, absolutely. And we're seeing some of those images out of Khan Yunis earlier and just the chaotic scenes and the crowds of people as the

hostages were released.

Jeremy, in terms of what we're seeing on the Palestinian prisoners being released.

[10:55:00]

From what we've been hearing is, of course, even the last time this happened, that there were people celebrating in the streets. I know that

the IDF has specifically wanted to not see that happen. They see that as a risk.

What is the messaging now?

What are you seeing?

And, of course, we've got live pictures coming through from the West Bank as well.

DIAMOND: Yes, we did see Israeli forces clearing people from the route where this bus was going to come out, including our own producer, Kareem

Khadder, who was on the ground and was told to move by Israeli forces.

But what we also saw was, in the wake of this delay by the Israeli government with these, a bus that appeared to be about to head out from

Ofer prison that suddenly turned around amid this delay.

We also saw Palestinian youths taking to the streets, protesting, some of them throwing rocks, it would seem, at Israeli forces and Israeli forces

responding quite severely, not only with tear gas and rubber bullets.

But the Palestinian Red Crescent also says that at least three people were shot by live ammunition as a result of those clashes that unfolded amid

that delay by the Israeli government.

GIOKOS: All right, Jeremy Diamond, always good to speak to you.

These are live pictures from Ramallah, West Bank, as 110 Palestinians are currently being released.

Well, we've had so much news today. We're still watching very closely the investigation of the mid-air crash of the passenger airplane and Black Hawk

helicopter. We're following the confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill today for Donald Trump's picks for FBI director in Health and Human Services, as

well as Director of National Intelligence.

All your news is coming up. Stay with CNN.

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