Aaron Parnas reports on a nationwide air travel shutdown that grounded flights across the United States, stranding travelers and prompting questions about why the president stayed silent. He covers a White House press conference where officials blamed aging legacy equipment and asked Congress for more funding, and he examines reported air traffic controller shortages, low morale and planned staffing changes at the FAA.
The episode also covers the loss of the country's measles elimination status, a bomb threat at an Illinois ethanol plant, and the wider questions these events raise about federal preparedness and public trust.
In this episode Aaron Parnas
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Yesterday, every single flight in the United States was grounded, more than 11,000 flights delayed or canceled, thousands stuck in the air with nowhere to land, and through it all, the American president was silent, was silent. And Americans today are demanding answers: where was President Trump during one of the worst nationwide meltdowns for flights in recent years? Worse since 9/11, only the third time since we've had a nationwide groundstop in the past 26 years.
I was one of the people stuck. I was at an airport almost all night, and I'm hoping I can get back today, but let's see what happens. It is not good. But that's not all. America lost its measles elimination status, a bomb was found at a plant in Illinois, and Iran says 5 ships hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz in a single day. If you can, subscribe to support this work, like, comment, share. I don't know how many updates, truthfully, I'm going to have today as I'm trying to figure out how to get home and get to my daughter, and I know a lot of people are experiencing the same thing.
So if you are, know that I empathize with you more than anything, but I still wanted to make sure you had an update this morning because after 4 hours of a nationwide groundstop that impacted thousands and thousands of flights, over a million and a half travelers stranded, this is what we got from the Trump White House and Mark Wayne Mullin.
This is what the leadership of President Trump looks like by the organization and the team he's put together. We're built to handle crises like this, and that's it.
I've asked, the president's asked for $30 billion. I want $50 billion. And by the way, if you look at how much money congressmen—Peter, you've covered Congress—they waste a lot of money. What's more important than having an air traffic control system that actually works? And so the president—
It's not overnight.
You're right. But when do you want to start it? America, when do you want to start building a brand-new system? Well, you have a team with President Trump that actually is building it right now, but we don't have full funding. And so I think there's no better time than the president to actually give us the money and let us finish the build. What went down was old, right? It was the old legacy equipment. It failed. And listen, it's going to continue to fail. But my number one job is America's safety.
That is my—
It's going to be safety, Americans.
That is my first charge. And so if you—
And that has been a bigger priority for the president. And Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress.
Well, they're—
And still do.
What network?
I'm with NBC News 6.
NBC. So maybe you haven't covered the 100-plus press conferences that I've done on this issue that have been led by the president. But I know Fox has. Peter's carried the story. I know many of you have covered the story about the president's ask and my ask to get the money, right? And so I identify—
And I think the—
I identify—well, because the Congress has to give it to us, right? Every member of Congress should say yes, but every American, I guarantee you, would tell those members, "Yes, give President Trump, give Duffy the money, let them finish this job so we don't have to do a press conference at 8:30 at night ever again."
And if you just—
And I just can't speak enough about President Trump's leadership. This is what President Trump does. He puts leaders in place, and he allows them to lead. They even ask, you know, why is the president not talking? It's because he's allowed Secretary Duffy and us to go out there and explain to you what took place. President Trump—
This is what—
This is what President Trump does. He puts leaders in place, and he allows them to lead. They even ask, you know, why is the president not talking? It's because he's allowed Secretary Duffy and us to go out there and explain to you what took place. President Trump trusts his leadership, and that's why we really lean in towards his leadership. And when Secretary Duffy said, "He's the greatest president we've had," you've never had a builder and a leader like President Trump lead this nation, have a vision, and put the team together.
Thank you guys so much. Appreciate it.
Is the full groundstop the only option moving forward?
Secretary Duffy, I hope—
Are there enough hotel rooms for passengers?
And the second to be Harris—
How does this affect the G20?
Right here.
Yeah.
All right.
So that was the press conference that most Americans watched. And Americans came away from that last night saying, "We don't feel safe to fly." But it's not just—it's not just Americans flying. It's the flight attendants. It's the air traffic controllers. They are not happy. They are not happy. Air traffic controllers have been warning about this for months. Back in September, more than 400 people who identified themselves as FAA air traffic controllers reached out to the Washington Examiner.
They said that the agency was putting cost-cutting ahead of public safety and that morale was at an all-time low. They described 6-day workweeks, 10-hour shifts, mandatory overtime, and just 4 days off every month. And the NTSB has told Congress that controllers get slower at spotting complex dangers after just 90 minutes on task. Yet the FAA administrator, Brian Bedford, wanted controllers working 5 hours at the controls per shift instead of 4.
He also, holding back a 2.8 percent raise that Congress had already approved and funded. And the numbers? Alarming. Today there are about 11,000 certified controllers. In 1980, there were over 16,000. Meanwhile, the number of passengers has tripled. More than 90 percent of the country's air traffic control facilities were short-staffed as of last year, and the FAA's own projections show 6,900 of today's certified controllers retiring by 2028. Now, we don't know what caused yesterday, but what we do know is that the president was absent.
In the 15 hours since the groundstop began, the president has posted three times, including once this morning, beginning shortly after the groundstop, to talk about Hollywood and efforts to legislate around Hollywood. And then he spoke about the horrific disaster in Illinois—thankfully, or sorry, in New Orleans—thankfully no one was injured. And then this morning he decided to start his morning by attacking Governor Gavin Newsom for halting the death penalty for death row inmates. That is the latest from the president. Nothing about the fact that America's air traffic system completely melted down.
Now, I do want to touch on a couple of stories that should alarm everyone, including the fact that overnight the United States officially lost its measles elimination status, a status that we earned more than 25 years ago. An expert panel from the Pan American Health Organization concluded that measles has been spreading continuously in the United States for more than a year, more than 5,400 confirmed cases just this year. That's more than double all of last year. Public health experts point to failing vaccination rates, cuts to outbreak response funding, and distrust spread by federal officials.
And the worst outbreak? It's in Pennsylvania, where 1,500 cases and 7 deaths have been reported. At least 100 pregnant women have been infected. And according to the Washington Post, CDC scientists wanted to send an urgent nationwide alert to doctors about measles and pregnancy, but it was never approved. And in Illinois yesterday, there was a bomb found in an ethanol plant in Peoria. Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes. The plant reported a bomb threat just after 1:00 p.m. yesterday, and to this moment an evacuation order remains in place for the one mile around this ethanol plant because the threat is real.
So that's the latest right now. And if I seem a little agitated or seem a little tired, it is because I have honestly not slept in a hot minute. I am going to be working for you. I'm going to be writing you updates, and hopefully I'll be on a flight at some point soon. See you soon.
Aaron Parnas reports on the news of the day.
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