--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Thursday, January 30th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, RFK Jr. faces tough questioning in the Senate, where foreign aid stands after widespread confusion from Trump's federal funding freeze, and how a benefit concert for L.A. fire survivors came together in 48 hours. But first, an American Airlines plane collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac River just outside Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near D.C. last night.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Safety will remain its hot 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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 percent, while airport traffic has increased 5 percent.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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 airliner.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In 2009, a plane traveling from New Jersey to Buffalo, New York, crashed into a house. 49 people on board were killed, as well as one person in the home. This is still a developing story. You can find ongoing coverage in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So I'm asking you yes or no, Mr. Kennedy. Did you say that COVID-19 was a genetically engineered bioweapon that targets black and white people but spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people? I didn't say it was deliberately targeted. I just quoted an NIH-funded, an NIH-published study.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Did you say that it targets black and white people but spared Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people? I quoted a study, Your Honor. I quoted an NIH study that showed that certain reasons are disproportionately.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Another tense moment was when Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island told Kennedy he would need to promise the American people that he would never say vaccines are unsafe.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We've just had a measles case in Rhode Island, the first since 2013. And frankly, you frighten people. Whitehouse and Kennedy have a history together. They were both outdoorsmen and at one point hunted, hiked, and rafted together while in law school at the University of Virginia.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Kennedy, in the hearing, pledged to work with the senator if confirmed, but his old classmate didn't seem to think much of that promise. Unfortunately, Mr. Chairman, one of the things I've learned in my tenure in the Senate is that a nominee saying that they're willing to work with me amounts to exactly zero.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Another critical exchange happened with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, who is himself a physician. He asked Kennedy about Medicare and Medicaid, including how HHS should care for beneficiaries who are eligible for both.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Kennedy proposed integrating the programs in those cases. And when Cassidy asked him to expand on how he would do that, Kennedy incorrectly explained how the programs work.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I'm not exactly sure because I'm not in there. I mean it is difficult to integrate them because Medicare is under a fee It paid for by employer taxes Medicaid is fully paid for by the federal government and it not fee
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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. 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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 sent sent abroad must help the United States, must advance the global interests or the national interests of the United States.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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 life-saving in some cases.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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 basically what this is Waivers makes it sound more technocratic It not like there a waiver review office necessarily People are just saying my program should exist Please let my program exist
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Laken-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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The law is named after a young woman in Georgia who was killed by a Venezuelan man in the country without legal status. Her killer had previously been charged with shoplifting. Republican lawmakers said had such a law been in place, Riley's murderer would have been deported sooner and her death could have been prevented.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In other news, former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison for bribery, conspiracy, extortion and obstruction of justice.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Menendez was found guilty of accepting bribes in the form of gold bars, Mercedes, and cash in exchange for his influence on the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Menendez has maintained his innocence all along.
--:-- Shamita Basu: When he left the courthouse, he blasted prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, the same office that prosecuted and convicted President Trump on 34 felony counts.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He echoed Trump in calling his own trial a political witch hunt. President Trump is right. This process is political and it's corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Menendez says he will appeal. And finally, the Grammy Awards are this weekend and festivities kick off tonight with a massive benefit concert for fire relief.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The show will be five hours long and feature some of the music industry's biggest names from multiple generations. Billie Eilish, Peso Pluma, Joni Mitchell, and Stevie Wonder are just a few names performing at two shows split between venues in Inglewood.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Wall Street Journal has a story on how the mega concert came together in just 48 hours. When music mogul Irving Azoff watched fires ravage Los Angeles, he thought a concert would be the best way to raise money for relief efforts.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One phone call led to another, and before he knew it, A-list talent and powerful executives like L.A. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer were on board, signing up to be part of the show and help pay for it. Ticketmaster even waived its normal ticket fees.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The concert will be streamed live, and every dollar spent by fans goes directly to Fire Relief. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a Narrated article coming up next. Staying with the fires in L.A., New York Magazine examines the challenges of rebuilding and why it's so much more than just reconstructing homes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow. Thank you.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This is Shamita Basu, and that's Apple News Today.
