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The Situation Room

Trump Revives Presidential Fitness Test; Interview With State Rep. Jon Rosenthal (D-TX); D.C. Flight Crash Investigation. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired July 31, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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[11:33:09]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now: Six months after an American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. Army helicopter over the skies of the nation's capital, federal investigators this week are holding hearings to try to find out what caused the fatal crash killing all 67 passengers and crew on board.

Here with us now are Amy Hunter and Rachel Feres. They lost their cousin Pete Livingston, who was returning home with his wife and two daughters.

Amy and Rachel, thanks so much for being here. We are so, so sorry for your loss.

How are you handling, first of all, these hearings that are ongoing?

RACHEL FERES, LOST FAMILY MEMBER IN D.C. FLIGHT COLLISION: Well, thank you so much for having us.

These hearings are excruciating. It's been six months since we lost a branch of our family tree. And to see the repeated systemic failures coming to light is very, very painful, but very necessary, we think.

BLITZER: The chair of the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, says warning signs were either ignored or just not known after the hearing, revealed the FAA knew there was a problem with U.S. Army helicopters flying in such close proximity to civilian aircraft at the Reagan National Airport just outside of Washington, D.C.

How do you both -- how do both of you respond to that finding, which is so disturbing?

AMY HUNTER, LOST FAMILY MEMBERS IN D.C. FLIGHT COLLISION: Yes, it -- Wolf, thank you for having us.

It's clear that there was unacceptable complexity and risk for the shared airspace around DCA. And it makes one wonder, where else in the country is this happening? BLITZER: These hearings have also revealed that there were major

discrepancies, those words used, major discrepancies in the altitude readouts of that U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that led the crew to fly higher than they thought they were.

[11:35:04]

I know you have been in contact with the NTSB. Rachel, have you gotten any specific, hard answers about this?

FERES: The NTSB has been wonderful throughout. They have taken the time to really help educate family members on the technical aspects of the investigation that are coming up.

And I will admit that I still don't fully understand all of the implications of these altimeters, but what I can say is that the variance in altimeter readings is something that many people expected. And I think the more disturbing part of that is that there wasn't stronger guidance, stronger checks on flying a route that required such incredible precision.

So I think that's the piece of it that really disturbs me.

BLITZER: And I know you have said that your advocacy has been a -- quote -- "healing journey" for you.

Amy, let me ask you, what changes would you like to see take place after this horrible, awful disaster?

HUNTER: I appreciate it.

We really would like to see either an inspector general for the Department of Defense, or specifically the Army, to do a deeper dive into the response that the Army has had after our accident, and as well as what led up to it.

We already know that the Department of Transportation has their inspector general, with the support of Secretary Duffy, is looking at what the FAA's responsibilities were in this and where they failed.

BLITZER: Amy Hunter and Rachel Feres, to both of you, thank you so much for joining us and our deepest, deepest condolences once again. Thank you very much.

HUNTER: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right, right now, I want to bring in attorney Justin Green. He's representing the families of 31 people who were killed in this collision.

Justin, thanks very much for being here.

So, what's your reaction to what we have been learning so far from these NTSB hearings?

JUSTIN GREEN, AVIATION ACCIDENT ATTORNEY: Well, I think the number one is, 67 people are dead and they didn't have to die. The risks were known.

And just understand, what the FAA was allowing to happen was helicopters to cut through the area around DCA on the approach and departure ends of the runway and let the pilots visually look out and try to stay away from the airplanes. That should not have happened in this very complex, very busy airspace.

BLITZER: As you know, the NTSB says there were, in their words, major discrepancies in the altitude readouts on board the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, causing the crew to think they were flying lower than they actually were. Investigators said they found the same issue in other Black Hawks that the Army has been using.

You're also a former Marine Corps pilot. So what does this finding suggest to you?

GREEN: Well, it's really a function of the barometric altimeters. So there's errors in those altimeters. They're not going to give you the precise altitude. The pilots should know that. The FAA should understand that.

And the airplane also -- the helicopter also has a second altimeter, a radio altimeter, a radio altimeter that shows their altitude above ground. So they have a way to crosscheck. And they -- on this route, they're supposed to stay below 200 feet. So they could have looked at their radio altimeter and understood, because they're flying over the river at sea level, that they were too high.

BLITZER: The chair of the NTSB says warning signs were ignored, her words, ignored, after the Army admitted they regularly flew helicopters below flights coming into land over at Reagan National Airport.

In your view, who is at fault here? And what changes do you think need to take place?

GREEN: It's a shared responsibility. In every accident, there's usually more than one cause.

Here, the Army could be faulted. The FAA certainly can be faulted for allowing this to happen. The FAA has the power to control that airspace. They own the airspace. And then we want to see what the airlines understood about the risks of flying into DCA.

BLITZER: You're representing the families, as we know.

And as we have learned in these hearings that started yesterday, continue today, will continue for a while longer, do you plan to file suit against the U.S. Army or the FAA?

GREEN: Yes, so most of the families have now filed notices of claims against the government. There's a period of time that you have to wait after filing a notice of claim to allow the government to respond to it. That is a six-month period. And that is soon to be coming up. So

lawsuits will be filed starting probably this month, in August, actually, and then through the next six months.

BLITZER: How are the families dealing with this?

GREEN: You just met two of the families. They're the most wonderful group of people. Their lives have been devastated. But they are pulling together and they are trying to make changes, because the one thing that they don't want to happen is another family to go through what they're going through.

BLITZER: Yes, we have to learn the lessons of the blunders that occurred to make sure it never, ever happens again.

[11:40:00]

GREEN: That's right.

BLITZER: Justin Green, thanks very much for coming in.

GREEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: And just ahead, we're talking with one of the Texas lawmakers fighting a Republican effort to shift the balance of power in Congress.

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BLITZER: A redistricting arms race, that's how the current battle over congressional lines playing out in Texas is being described.

And that's why the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, is in Austin, Texas, right now meeting with Democratic members of the state legislature, slamming the GOP effort just moments ago. Listen to this.

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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Donald Trump has ordered Greg Abbott and compliant Texas Republicans to race back to Austin, have a special session in order to rig the congressional map.

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BLITZER: Jeffries' visit comes as Texas Republicans are trying to redraw congressional districts just ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The proposed new map shows Republicans attempting to gain at least five more House seats, setting up a potentially seismic moment for Congress, as Democratic governors in blue states are vowing to retaliate, signaling they may use that same tactic in their states to boost Democrats' chances of winning the House next year.

Joining us now is Texas State Representative Jon Rosenthal. He's the top Democrat on the Redistricting Committee. Representative, thanks so much for joining us.

I know you were in a closed-door meeting with Hakeem Jeffries last night. Did Democrats decide whether you will challenge the Republican- drawn maps in court, and on what grounds?

[11:45:03]

STATE REP. JON ROSENTHAL (D-TX): So, first, thanks for having me.

Yes, I don't think we needed to meet with Leader Jeffries to decide that we were going to challenge a bunch of racially driven maps that attack our black and Latino communities and steal their voice. We are definitely going to do that.

BLITZER: Under the rules governing what's going on right now, the rules governing the Texas legislature, there must be what's called a quorum, requiring a certain number of lawmakers to be present for a vote in order to pass the new congressional map.

Are Democratic lawmakers like you considering leaving the state to at least prevent Republicans from reaching that quorum?

ROSENTHAL: So, what I -- I don't think I should comment on the specifics of that, but I will say we're going to fight with everything we have. All tools are on the table.

A quorum break is kind of a last resort thing, but if we come to the last resort, then that's something that we just have to consider.

BLITZER: Texas Democrats staged a walkout back in 2003, and that failed to stop redistricting then. Why would this be more effective now, more than just, let's say, a symbolic move?

ROSENTHAL: So, we -- Democrats in Texas did stage a walkout in 2003. It didn't stop the process, but those maps that were drawn in 2003 did end up being defeated in the court system.

And so all these pieces play together. And actually, as a result of that, that's one of the reasons that some of the districts in Texas exist the way they are now. The courts determined that Texas had illegally racially gerrymandered, illegally racially rigged the maps.

And so I would expect any work that we do on this now to really highlight the issue and bring attention to it.

BLITZER: So, you think the courts will make the same decision this time?

ROSENTHAL: I certainly hope so, but, as we all know, the courts are made up a little bit differently than they were then.

But this is a pretty bold, unconstitutional attack on our constitutional values, on our communities of color. So I would hope that the courts will have a similar result. I will note that every decade in the last 30 years, since Republicans have been in control of this state, the redistricting that we do every 10 years has been challenged in court every 10 years, and every 10 years they have found problems.

BLITZER: We will see what happens this time.

The Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin recently said -- and I'm quoting her now -- 'If they're going to go nuclear in Texas, I'm going to go nuclear in other places."

Have Texas state Democrats meeting with the blue state governors yielded any progress in getting them to act to improve Democrats' chances in the midterms through redistricting in Democratic-led states, let's say, like New York or California, for that matter?

ROSENTHAL: So we have been meeting with Democrat governors. It's not our place to tell them how to do what they do best for their interests in their state. We are working to build a coalition that will create a firewall against these attacks on our entire system here.

So I would hope that they will join us in the fight and by whatever means they consider appropriate and necessary.

BLITZER: Representative Rosenthal, I want you to watch what one of your Democratic colleagues in the legislature said yesterday, and then I will ask you about it on the other side. Listen to this.

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STATE REP. JAMES TALARICO (D-TX): And this should be alarming to everyone, not just Democrats, but independents and Republicans too, because politicians choosing their voters, instead of voters choosing their politicians, is the rot at the core of our broken political system. And it means that they will never have to fear the voters ever again, and nothing could be more dangerous in a democracy.

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BLITZER: If that's the case, representative, that politicians would be choosing their voters, instead of voters choosing their politicians, then why are Democrats advocating for other states to do this as well?

ROSENTHAL: Well, we're not going to disarm in advance.

And when you're -- so, in Texas, we might say it's a bad idea to bring a knife to a gunfight. If we're going to get into it, I think that we should be playing on the same battlefield. So we should engage them. Where the battle comes, that's where we need to meet them, and we need to meet them head on.

So disarming ourselves in advance, if they are willing to go to any and all means to corruptly and -- attack our communities with these racially driven, racist gerrymandering schemes, we have to be prepared to fight back in every way that we can. Nothing is off the table.

[11:50:13] BLITZER: All right, state Representative Jon Rosenthal, we will stay

in very close touch with you. Thank you very much for joining us.

ROSENTHAL: Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up: why President Trump wants to revive a test that was once a staple for America's children and teens, whether they wanted to participate or not.

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BLITZER: Happening today, one of the NFL's greatest linebackers ever is teaming up with President Trump.

[11:55:00]

The New York giant legend Lawrence Taylor, alongside Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, and pro-golfer Bryson DeChambeau, will be over at the White House today. They will be on hand when the president signs an executive order expanding his Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.

Let's discuss what's going on. We're joined by CNN's Andy Scholes from Atlanta.

Andy, this also marks the return of the Presidential Fitness Test.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes.

BLITZER: First and foremost, what does the test entail? And, secondly, could you pass it?

(LAUGHTER)

SCHOLES: Well, Wolf, I need to work on my shuttle runs, but if I could be measured up against 10-year-olds, I think I'd have a chance.

Now, if you went to school anywhere from the 60s to the mid-2010s, you probably remember the old Presidential Fitness Test. It consists of curl-ups, which are like crunches, the shuttle run, the mile run, pull-ups, and that old sit-and-reach.

Now, if you scored in the top 85th percentile, you were awarded the Presidential Fitness -- Physical Fitness Award. But that was tough to achieve. As a 12-year-old boy, you have to run a seven-minute mile. If you got in the top 50 percentile, you got the National Physical Fitness Award.

Now, Lyndon B. Johnson started that test back in 1966. It was retired under the Obama administration in 2013 because it was deemed that it emphasized athletic ability and not health, and that it may discourage kids who couldn't do some of the movements. The test was replaced by the Presidential Youth Fitness Program that focused on progress, not perfection.

But, Wolf, under President Trump, the test is coming back. How many pull-ups can you do right now, Wolf?

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BLITZER: I don't know how many I can do. I will check it out later. I will let you know.

SCHOLES: All right.

BLITZER: Andy, I am taking golf lessons now, so I'm learning how to play golf.

SCHOLES: All right.

BLITZER: Andy Scholes, thank you very, very much.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN. We will see you back here tomorrow morning and every weekday morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

"INSIDE POLITICS," today with Manu Raju, is coming up next right after a short break.