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CNN's Jake Tapper pressed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for evidence Sunday that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives were responsible for last week's mid-air collision over Washington, D.C., that claimed 67 lives.

At a press conference after an American Eagle Flight from Wichita, Kansas, collided mid-air with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, Wednesday night, Trump said that DEI hiring practices "could have been" the cause of the tragedy.

"We have to have our smartest people" as air traffic controllers, Trump said. "It doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. ... They have to be talented, naturally talented. Geniuses. Can’t have regular people doing their job. We can’t have regular people doing this job. They won’t be able to do it, but we’ll restore faith in American air travel."

Tapper asked Duffy, "Is there any specific evidence that backs up Donald Trump's claims, President Trump's claims that DEI or FAA hiring practices are responsible in any way for this tragedy at Reagan National?"

"So, Jake, I think the better question is, 'Am I going to guarantee the American people that only the best and the brightest serve in this incredibly important body of the department of transportation? That they're driven by safety, and DEI doesn't matter?" Duffy said.

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He continued, "I do know that in the last administration, they were focused on not safety, but they were focused on changing the name from 'cockpit' to 'flight deck'...They focused on EVs and sustainability and racist roads, things that don't matter in regard to safety. Our mission since the start has been safety, and they've lost that mission. And we see when you don't focus on safety and you focus on social justice or the environment, bad things happen."

Tapper tried again to get some evidence.

"The head of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association says that all air traffic controllers are subject to rigorous training and that, quote, 'The standards to achieve certification have nothing to do with race or gender or anything else,'" Tapper said. "So, it sounds like you're saying that there isn't any evidence right now that affected the accident because it's so early -- you'll let us know if there is any. But I just don't know of any evidence. And if there is some, please tell us that DEI had anything to do with the tragedy itself."

"Under the Obama administration, they they did change the recruitment standards and brought more people in, but less people were certified," Duffy said. "That caused a shortage in the system, but also they lowered -- this is the Obama or the Biden administration -- they lowered the entrance exam scores to get people into air traffic control. We only have so many slots in the academy. I want to get the best people into the academy that can pass the test, get into towers and not wash out."

Watch the clip below via CNN or at the link..

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem refused to rule out housing women, children, and families at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

During a Sunday interview on Meet the Press, host Kristen Welker asked Noem about President Donald Trump's plan to expand Gitmo detention facilities for immigrants and migrants.

"There are a lot of questions about the announcement this week that Guantanamo Bay will be used as a detention facility for migrants," Welker noted.

"We've always had a presence of illegal immigrants there that have been detained," Noem said. "We're just building out some capacity."

"Is it possible, Madam Secretary, that people could be held at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely?" Welker wondered.

Noem insisted that indefinite detentions were "not the plan" but did not answer firmly.

"Could women, children, and families be held there at Guantanamo?" Welker pressed.

"You know, if you look at what we are doing today is targeting the worst of the worst," Noem dodged again. "The priority of this president is to go after criminal aliens that are making our streets more dangerous."

ALSO READ: 'Driven to self-loathing': Inside the extremist website believed to 'groom' teen attackers

"But I guess, Madam Secretary, my question, would you rule out that women, that children, that families could be held at Guantanamo Bay?" Welker asked again. "Do you rule that out?"

"You know, Kristen, we're going to use the facilities that we have," Noem said, dismissing the question. "And I think you're well aware we have other detention facilities, other places in the country."

Watch the video below from NBC or at the link..

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the path for former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to become Donald Trump's director of national intelligence took a major hit after she was confronted by senators from both sides of the aisle about Edward Snowden who stole U.S. secrets before fleeing to China and then ending up in Russia.

During Gabbard's hearing she was grilled by both Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Michael Bennet (R-CO) and notably refused to label the former intelligence analyst a "traitor."

According to the Journal's Dustion Volz, those two exchanges may lead to the embattled ex-Democrat not even making it to a full Senate vote.

ALSO READ: Top GOPer's ‘most immediate’ priority for new committee includes probing a MAGA conspiracy

The report states, "... her testimony stunned some lawmakers and aides in both parties, who thought she would more definitively break from her past positions," adding, "Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Todd Young of Indiana, who both serve on the intelligence committee, are among the Republicans who have yet to say whether they will support Gabbard. Only one Republican would need to oppose her to block her nomination from being reported favorably to the full Senate, assuming all Democrats oppose her. "

Observors note that the equally embatttled FBI director nominee,Kash Patel, may slide through but they are less bullish on the DNI nominee.

“Kash is in. Tulsi, we’re not so sure," one predicted with another calling Gabbard's path to confirmation "trickier."

The report adds, "Heading into Thursday’s hearing, congressional aides saw Gabbard’s past advocacy for pardoning Snowden—most notably during a May 2019 podcast interview with Joe Rogan—as a likely liability."

You can read more here.

Longtime CNN host Michael Smerconish butted heads with one of Donald Trump's biggest fans in the House on Saturday morning over the firing of key FBI officials late Friday to be followed by what is being called a "purge" of the department.

On Friday, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, who previously served as part of the president's legal team in a criminal case in New York where Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts related to business fraud, oversaw the firing of key FBI officials and then demanded the names and titles of all the FBI employees who took part investigating the insurrection at the nation's Capitol on Jan. 6.

Speaking with the CNN host, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) said he saw no problem with cleaning house at the FBI which led Smerconish to note it sounds like something disgraced Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) attempted in the 1950's.

ALSO READ: Top GOPer's ‘most immediate’ priority for new committee includes probing a MAGA conspiracy

"Who in the world, in the FBI, if this takes place, is going to be willing to investigate any malfeasance alleged within this administration," the CNn host prompted his guest. "People are going to say, if 'I now pursue what is reported as someone breaking the law who works for this president, I’m going to lose my job.'”

The Florida Republican protested, "No. That’s simply not true because there’s a difference between you have actual evidence that would lead towards an investigation versus –– no pun intended, ––trumped up evidence, which is exactly what took place as far back as the Russia collusion scandal."

Claiming FBI officials "...led to the FISA courts knowingly to open up an investigation into President Trump’s first presidential campaign," Donalds maintained, "You have to deal with the fact that, yes, during this current presidential campaign, the Biden administration and the DOJ were either working with or allowing these indictments, which were silly."

"Everybody knew they were political, but they were allowed to continue. They brought in Jack Smith. They raided Mar-A-Lago. I mean, I can go on," he added, as the CNN host attempted to interrupt his guest's harangue.

"Real quick and I want to add this point," Donalds exclaimed. "I would add for the rank-and-file FBI agents who do their job every single day, they were shaking their heads, saying, 'What the hell is going on?' So we need this place cleaned up.”


"I myself have been plenty critical of [former attorney general] Merrick Garland and [ex-special counsel] Jack Smith and this whole process over several years and I'm not thinking about them," the CNN host countered. "I’m thinking about a woman, a man in a DC field office who played no policy role and was given an assignment to go out and conduct an investigation whose name now shows up on a list."

"It sounds awfully McCarthy-like and they might lose their jobs," he added.

You can watch below or at the link.

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Republicans in Congress are aiming to gut federal safety net programs in order to pass costly policies, like a 10-year extension of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. But they may have an unlikely obstacle in the form of President Donald Trump.

Politico's Rachel Bade recently reported that Trump may not have the stomach to ram through trillions of dollars in federal spending cuts, despite the eagerness of many GOP lawmakers. In order to reach their austerity goals, some Republicans have even targeted earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare for potential cuts in the future.

Earlier this week, Trump was forced to walk back his plans to freeze spending on federal grants and loans, which caused a panic across the country for millions of Americans. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted multiple times that the funding freeze would not impact direct federal assistance programs like Social Security payments and food stamp benefits.

READ MORE: Republicans float plan to slash benefits for working class to pay for Trump tax cuts

"He does not like taking benefits away — that is not his platform," one unnamed senior GOP lawmaker told Politico.

Bade wrote that Republicans are divided about whether to blow their political capital forcing through unpopular austerity measures, with some expecting the House of Representatives will inevitably flip back to Democratic control after the 2026 midterms given Republicans' razor-thin majority. But other Republicans are more cautious, hoping to build on gains they made in traditionally blue states like California, New Jersey and New York. And one unnamed GOP aide to Politico that Trump is particularly opposed to the idea of Democrats retaking a chamber of Congress.

“It’s not so much preservation of Republicans, it’s preservation of Donald Trump,” the aide said. “He doesn’t want a Democratic House because he saw what happened to him for two years — investigations... impeachments.”

But Trump's point of view runs counter even to some of his own Cabinet appointees. One key example is Russ Vought, who has been tapped to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). One anonymous Republican appropriations aide told Politico that the controversial OMB memo announcing the federal funding freeze (which was eventually rescinded) had "Russ’s name written all f—ing over it." The aide added that there was a "disparity between what Trump wants to do and what Russ wants to do."

READ MORE: 'Allow some of this to be privatized': GOP gov admits goal of DOGE is to gut Social Security

Click here to read Bade's full article in Politico.

President Donald Trump is moving to fire FBI officials who were involved in criminal investigations of him, reported the Associated Press on Friday.

While it is not immediately clear how many agents will be affected by the move, "officials acting at the direction of the administration were working to identify individual agents who could be terminated, said the people who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations," said the report.

According to NBC News, one official who has already been notified of impending termination is David Sundberg, head of the Washington FBI Field Office. Sundberg was put in charge by former FBI Director Christopher Wray, himself a Trump appointee from the previous term.

The Washington Field Office was involved closely in working with special counsel Jack Smith on the criminal investigation of Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

This comes after Trump moved to fire career prosecutors in the Justice Department who were likewise involved with those cases — a highly unusual move, as normally the only officials who are changed out with new administrations are U.S. attorneys, not the career prosecutors underneath them.

It also comes as Trump pushes MAGA loyalist Kash Patel to serve as the new FBI director, in spite of his extensive enemies lists and his threats to criminally target journalists.