AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: A passenger jet collides midair with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C., leaving no survivors.

The recovery effort and the search for answers.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD (HI): I understand how critical our national security is.

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO): Apparently, you don't.

AMNA NAWAZ: President Trump's controversial picks to head national intelligence, the FBI, and Health Department all face tough questions in their confirmation hearings.

GEOFF BENNETT: And the Democratic Republic of Congo fights against Rwandan-backed rebels seizing territory in the country's east.

The foreign minister discusses the increasingly unstable situation.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

We are following two major stories tonight.

More of President Trump's Cabinet picks faced tough questions during confirmation hearings today.

But, first, investigators are trying to determine why a military helicopter collided in midair with a passenger jet as the plane was trying to land at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Officials say they believe everyone on board both aircraft were killed.

AMNA NAWAZ: The plane, which was flying from Wichita, Kansas, was carrying 60 passengers and a crew of four.

Three soldiers were aboard the Black Hawk helicopter.

It is the deadliest air crash in the United States in more than two decades.

John Yang begins our coverage with this report.

TOWER: PAT-25, do you have CRJ in sight?

JOHN YANG: This is the terrifying moment of impact, when an American Airlines flight with 64 people on board collided with an Army helicopter as the passenger jet was landing at Washington Reagan National Airport.

The fiery crash came just before 9:00 Wednesday night, triggering a massive search-and-rescue effort.

Hundreds of first responders frantically probed the icy water of the Potomac River.

At daybreak, Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly said they had recovered dozens of bodies, but no one is still alive.

JOHN DONNELLY, Washington, D.C., Fire Chief: Despite all those efforts, we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

At this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident.

JOHN YANG: Today, the wreckage of the Bombardier CRJ700, a popular regional jet, sat in waist-deep water split into three pieces.

As first responders continued their work, questions swirled about how the crash could have happened on a clear night in the nation's capital.

During a White House news conference, President Trump blamed the three soldiers flying the helicopter.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: The people and the helicopter should have seen where they were going.

I can't imagine people with 20/20 vision not seeing what's happening up there.

Again, they shouldn't have been at the same height.

JOHN YANG: He also blamed, without offering proof, DEI policies that he said had been set in motion by former Presidents Obama and Biden and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

DONALD TRUMP: The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency's Web site.

QUESTION: I'm trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion right now that diversity had something to do with this crash.

DONALD TRUMP: Because I have common sense, OK?

And, unfortunately, a lot of people don't.

We want brilliant people doing this.

This is a major chess game at the highest level.

JOHN YANG: Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said investigators will consider all factors.

JENNIFER HOMENDY, Chair, National Transportation Safety Board: As part of any investigation, we look at the human, the machine and the environment.

So we will look at all the humans that were involved in this accident.

Again, we will look at the aircraft, we will look at the helicopter, we will look at the environment in which they were operating in.

That is part of -- that is standard in any part of our investigation.

JOHN YANG: On X, Buttigieg called Trump's response "despicable.

As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying.

Time for the president to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again."

The midair collision was in some of the country's busiest and most sensitive airspace within sight of both the Capitol and the White House.

Flight tracking data showed the Black Hawk helicopter was heading south along the river's path at an altitude of about 400 feet.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. Defense Secretary: On a routine annual retraining of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission.

The military does dangerous things, it does routine things on the regular basis.

Tragically, last night, a mistake was made.

I think the president is right.

There was some sort of an elevation issue that we have immediately begun investigating at the DOD and Army level.

JOHN YANG: The flight originated in Wichita, Kansas, a nonstop route introduced just last year.

Today, there were tributes for the dead, including Sam Lilley, the 28-year-old first officer on the passenger jet.

Among the passengers on the American flight were several U.S. American figure skaters and two former world champion Russian skaters, now coaches, all returning from a training camp for elite skaters that followed last week's U.S. figure skating championships in Wichita.

NANCY KERRIGAN, 1994 Olympic Silver Medalist: Much like everyone here has been saying is not sure how to process it.

Shoot.

I'm sorry, which is why I'm here.

JOHN YANG: Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is a former member of the Skating Club of Boston, which said six of its members were on the flight, including young Spencer Lane and his mother, Christine.

NANCY KERRIGAN: We just wish them well and, like, the families, the courage and the strength to make the next steps.

I don't know how.

You look at people who go through tragedies and you wonder, how do they do it?

I don't know, but we're so strong.

Somehow, we have a reservoir to dig from and each one of them are strong enough to get through this somehow.

JOHN YANG: Doug Zeghibe is the club's CEO.

DOUG ZEGHIBE, CEO, Skating Club of Boston: Skating is a very close and tight-knit community.

These kids and their parents, they're here at our facility in Norwood six, sometimes seven days a week.

It's a close, tight bond.

And I think, for all of us, we have family.

JOHN YANG: The NTSB says it'll have a preliminary report in 30 days, but a final report won't be ready until they have final conclusions.

They're still scouring the debris field at the bottom of the Potomac for evidence to help in that investigation.

Of course, the key will be the flight data recorders, the so-called black boxes, from both the helicopter and the passenger jet.

But NTSB officials say a priority now is recovering the remaining bodies so that families could be reunited -- Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: John, as you reported there, even as that recovery mission was under way looking for those bodies in the river and the investigation had just gotten under way, we saw President Trump take to the Briefing Room and offer that analysis and start to attack Democratic administration and diversity initiative.

What's been the reaction to those remarks from the president?

JOHN YANG: There have been very strong reactions from people who work in the transportation safety field, particularly at the fact that he drew conclusions less than 24 hours after the incident.

I spoke with Peter Goelz.

He's the former managing director of the NTSB.

He said he was appalled by the president's performance.

He said: "In one hour, President Trump did more to damage the impeccable reputation of the U.S. safety system than anyone has done in the past 40 years."

AMNA NAWAZ: John, meanwhile, dozens of families are now mourning the loss of their loved ones.

What's being done to help and support them at this moment?

JOHN YANG: A lot of the families, at least some of the families are still on their way to Washington.

American Airlines has set up an assistance center in Bethesda.

The NTSB says they will brief family members, answer -- and answer what questions they have.

And as is often common in cases like this, many family members will want to visit the crash site itself, which in this case is out in the Potomac.

And the NTSB says they will do that, they will arrange it as soon as they can do it with the proper modesty and dignity -- Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: John Yang at Reagan National Airport for us tonight.

John, thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And for more on the many questions surrounding this accident, we turn now to our own aviation correspondent, Miles O'Brien.

So, Miles, officials said that initial information showed nothing unusual about the moments leading up to this midair collision.

It was a clear night.

Both aircraft were in their standard flight paths.

You're a pilot.

What questions does all of this raise for you?

MILES O'BRIEN: What was happening in the cockpit of that Black Hawk helicopter?

You are correct, Geoff.

Both of them were on the horizontal path that was prescribed.

The airliner was making that left-hand turn and lining up for Runway 33, right where it should have been at the altitude it should have been.

The helicopter was on a helicopter corridor directly beneath that flight path by only about 200 feet difference on a good day.

In this case, however, they were at the same altitude at the same spot.

And so the question is, why was that Black Hawk helicopter not where it should have been?

Air traffic control did radio them and tell them there was traffic to look out for.

They acknowledged that they saw it.

And the important point here that everybody should understand is that all those helicopters which buzz up and down the river at 200 feet, thereabouts are flying under visual flight rules, meaning it is see and avoid.

The pilot looks out the window and is responsible for avoiding a collision.

It is not under direct control of air traffic control.

In this case, air traffic control gave a warning.

They acknowledged the warning.

Then, almost immediately, there was a collision.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, a question about that, because, as you say, both the passenger jet and the military helicopter were under the control of air traffic control at Reagan National.

The New York Times is reporting that an internal FAA report suggests that the controller on duty last night was effectively doing the job of two people, that there was not -- this is a -- quote -- "not normal.

The staffing was not normal for the time of day and the volume of traffic."

How has the FAA really grappled with this air traffic controller problem?

MILES O'BRIEN: They have been behind the power curve on this for years now.

This is a direct outgrowth of the pandemic, during which time a lot of air traffic controllers retired or there was attrition.

And, coincidentally, during that same time, a lot of cockpits changed too, fewer gray hairs.

Many pilots retired as well.

So the system has still been trying to recover from all of that.

But air traffic control, in particular, the FAA recently over the past year, I think, has hired about 1,800 individuals.

They're still 3,000 short, I believe.

But you don't hire them right off the street and put them in the tower cab at Reagan National Airport.

It takes quite some time to train these individuals to make them safe for duty.

Having looked at this accident so far, there's nothing I see here that points to air traffic control failure, however, Geoff.

The warning was issued by the tower when it saw on the radar a potential collision.

The helicopter, which was under visual flight rules, supposed to avoid traffic, acknowledged that the traffic was there.

So, right now, I don't see an air traffic control problem in this specific instance, but, writ large, this is a big problem.

GEOFF BENNETT: We saw President Trump today take to the White House Briefing Room and blame diversity initiatives for this collision, with no basis beyond the fact that we know that this is a familiar and favorite attack line of his.

How does that sit with you?

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, for one thing, to have anybody outside of this investigation coming to conclusions while there are still literally bodies strapped into seats at the underneath the river is a little bit shocking.

And it does undermine the integrity of the investigation, and it impugns a body of a group of individuals who are committed to aviation safety and simply getting the facts straight so that we can learn from these incidents and perhaps make things safer the next time.

And I will tell you, Geoff, I am a pilot and I am also an amputee.

I have one arm.

And I had -- in order to be recertified as a pilot, I had to go through huge hurdles and hoops.

And there was not a single -- they don't grade on a curve because I have one arm.

I met every safety standard an able-bodied person would.

And that goes all across the FAA.

Safety is number one.

And there is no factual basis to say there are individuals in jobs with disabilities who cannot perform at the same level an able-bodied to individual would.

So it's unfortunate to have that kind of distraction.

And I think, frankly, for the families of loved ones, it's just a further piece of the tragedy at this point.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lastly, Miles, D.C. is a unique place when it comes to aviation, as you well know.

You have military aircraft, civilian aircraft often sharing space.

It's not uncommon to see military helicopters around Reagan National Airport, complex, complicated, crowded airspace.

I guess the question now is, is it too crowded and too complex?

How do you see it?

MILES O'BRIEN: It is.

It's an accident that's been waiting to happen, but it can be fixed, Geoff.

I mean, these helicopters at certain points in that route need to stay along the river.

They don't want to be flying over downtown Washington.

But right across from Reagan Airport is a military facility in Anacostia.

There's no reason that helicopter corridor route can't be bent a little bit to extend over land there and a little further away from Reagan National Airport, so you can increase the distance between those approaching aircraft overhead and the helicopters.

I am hopeful that at long last this would happen.

GEOFF BENNETT: Miles O'Brien, grateful, as always, to be able to draw on your insights.

Thank you.

MILES O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Geoff.

AMNA NAWAZ: Two of the president's top intelligence community picks faced some sharp questioning today.

GEOFF BENNETT: Appearing before Senate committees on Capitol Hill, Kash Patel, President Trump's choice to lead the FBI, and Tulsi Gabbard, nominated for director of national intelligence.

Nick Schifrin and Laura Barron-Lopez have been following today's confirmation hearings.

And Nick begins our coverage with Tulsi Gabbard.

MAN: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, in the Senate Intelligence Committee, the name used more than any other was not the woman nominated to lead the intelligence community, but the man responsible for its largest breach.

Edward Snowden was a National Security Agency contractor who leaked more than a million classified documents.

In 2020, Tulsi Gabbard wanted him pardoned.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD (HI): I have introduced legislation to stand up for and to protect brave whistle-blowers.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Do you still think Edward Snowden is brave?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, Gabbard's past comments drew bipartisan concern, beginning with Vice Chairman Virginia Democrat Mark Warner.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: Edward Snowden broke the law.

I do not agree with or support with all of the information and intelligence that he released, nor the way in which he did it.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Oklahoma Republican James Lankford: SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): Was he a traitor at the time when he took America's secrets, released them in public, and then ran to China and became a Russian citizen?

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: Senator, I'm focused on the future and how we can prevent something like this from happening again.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet: SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO): Is Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America?

That is not a hard question to answer when the stakes are this high.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: Senator, as someone who has served in uniform... SEN. MICHAEL BENNET: Is your answer yes or no, is Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America?

I go on to my questions.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: As someone who has worn our uniform in combat.

I understand how critical our national security is.

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET: Apparently, you don't.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: This is about regime change in Russia.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Senators also questioned Gabbard's judgment on Russia and the war in Ukraine.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: The United States and some of these European NATO countries are fueling this war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Which she's blamed in part on the U.S. SEN. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-NM): who's responsible for the war in Ukraine?

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: Putin started the war in Ukraine.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That conversion doubted by Kansas Republican Jerry Moran.

SEN. JERRY MORAN (R-KS): I want to make certain that in no way does Russia get a pass in either your mind or your heart or in any policy recommendation you would make or not make.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: Senator, I'm offended by the question, because my sole focus, commitment and responsibility is about our own nation, our own security and the interests of the American people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Senators also expressed skepticism in her conversion to supporter of warrantless surveillance, which she used to oppose.

SEN. MARK WARNER: I don't find your change of heart credible.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And on Syria.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: The fact is that the United States has been waging this war, this regime change war now.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Gabbard visited in 2017 and dismissed U.S. and U.N. conclusions that Assad launched a chemical weapons attack in April 2017.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: And that evidence was never presented, and it's very clear now as time has gone on that there was a cover-up.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, for the first time, Gabbard said she pushed Assad on chemical weapons.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: I asked him tough questions about his own regime's actions, the use of chemical weapons and the brutal tactics that were being used against his own people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But Democrats fear Gabbard's prior positions could prevent allies from sharing intelligence.

SEN. MARK WARNER: I just don't believe on your judgment and credibility issues that this is the appropriate role that you should take going forward.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Gabbard was elected to Hawaii's legislature in 2002 at the age of 21 as a Democrat.

She served in Congress for eight years, deployed twice to the Middle East, and is a serving lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve.

But she became a Republican and endorsed Donald Trump over their shared questioning of the intelligence community.

FMR.

REP. TULSI GABBARD: The American people elected Donald Trump as their president not once, but twice.

And yet the FBI and intelligence agencies were politicized by his opponents to undermine his presidency and falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin.

NICK SCHIFRIN: With that charge, her supporters proudly call her unconventional, while, to her critics, she's dangerous.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In another hearing room this morning, the fate of another controversial pick, Kash Patel, President Trump's nominee to head the FBI.

KASH PATEL, FBI Director Nominee: I have no interest, no desire, and will not, if confirmed, go backwards.

There will be no politicization at the FBI.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: An agency that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said needs revival.

SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R-IA): Mr. Patel, I know you know this, but it's your job to restore the public trust and return the FBI to its core mission of fighting crime.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Patel opened his hearing with a pledge.

KASH PATEL: I will remain focused on the FBI's core mission.

That is to investigate fully wherever there is a constitutional, factual basis to do so.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Patel, who served in Trump's first administration, has long promoted conspiracy theories that a - - quote -- "deep state" exists across the FBI, CIA and media, all conspiring against Trump.

KASH PATEL: I shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: His false claims and staunch loyalty to the president have raised concerns among Democrats, a number of former Trump officials, and some in law enforcement.

Under oath today, Patel claimed to not know a far right conspiracy theorist who's made antisemitic remarks... KASH PATEL: Thanks, Stew.

Always love coming on your show.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: ... despite appearing on his podcast multiple times, And he broke from Trump when asked about the sweeping pardons Trump granted to January 6 rioters.

KASH PATEL: I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Patel has a history of glorifying the January 6 rioters.

He helped produce what's known as the J6 Prison Choir, a recording played often at Trump's campaign rallies.

In it, defendants in the Capitol attack sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" from inside their jail cells.

KASH PATEL: It's not my choir.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL): Who sings on this recording?

KASH PATEL: I don't know, Senator.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The DOJ's January 6 report made public earlier this month confirmed at least six men on the recording pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers.

Another flash point, Patel's so-called enemies list.

His 2023 book, "Government Gangsters," ends with a glossary of -- quote -- "members of the executive branch deep state," 60-plus names, including former FBI Directors James Comey and Christopher Wray.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar pressed him about one name in particular, Trump's former Attorney General Bill Barr.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Is it because of a personal vendetta that he's on the list?

You're under oath.

KASH PATEL: I have no personal vendetta against people.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: OK. LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: When Patel was floated to serve as deputy FBI director during Trump's first term, Barr, a Republican, said "Over my dead body<" adding in a book he wrote later that Patel had virtually no experience to serve in the role.

Despite Patel's history, Republicans on the committee praised his nomination.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT (R-MO): The rot is deep and the time for you is now and I'm glad because reform is needed.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Asked who he ultimately answers to, Patel recited the chain of command.

KASH PATEL: The FBI is a member of the Department of Justice, and has been the longstanding application... SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): And who does the Department of Justice work for?

KASH PATEL: They're in the executive branch, as all members do at the White House.

SEN. CHRIS COONS: Attorney General Bondi gave a different answer when I asked her the same question, that they work for the Constitution and the American people.

SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY: The hearing is adjourned.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Laura Barron-Lopez.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there was one more break-or-make hearing today.

That was for Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

He went before a second committee after a first round of questioning yesterday.

And for the first time, we heard a Republican publicly express doubts about him.

Our Lisa Desjardins was there.

She joins us now.

So, Lisa, what were the major differences between the second hearing and the first one?

LISA DESJARDINS: This was a much sharper hearing and potentially more impactful as well, Geoff.

This was the Senate's Health Committee.

And it is chaired by a potential swing vote, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who also happens to be a trained physician.

Now, he right at the top of the hearing said something we hadn't heard yesterday, which was he said he has real concerns as a Republican of past misleading and unfounded statements, he said, by Kennedy about vaccines.

And then he asked a direct question to Kennedy.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Will you reassure mothers, unequivocally and without qualification, that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism?

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., Health and Human Services Secretary Nominee: Senator, I am not going into the agency with any... SEN. BILL CASSIDY: Well, that's kind of a yes-or-no question, because -- so, if you're -- because the data is there.

And that's kind of a yes or no.

And I don't mean to cut you off, but that really is a yes or no.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY: If the data is there, I will absolutely do that.

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, this is what Kennedy says, is that he's open to arguments, but Democrats and Cassidy said it's not a question of if the data is there.

In fact, we know the data is there, at least what the data says so far.

There's a 2022 study looking at 19 different studies that shows there's no link that's known scientifically between autism and vaccines.

There's also studies looking at kids who were not vaccinated and saying no difference significance in how they were diagnosed with autism.

Now, there's something else notable in this hearing too, Geoff.

Three Republican senators who were in this hearing, you see them right there, backed up Kennedy's refusal to deny that link between autism and vaccines.

They said, why not be open to it?

One of them talking to afterwards, Tommy Tuberville, said, there probably is a link.

That is not scientific.

And in this hearing, where Kennedy was questioning science, he wants to disrupt what he says is people who are acting in bad faith, the truth is, Kennedy, who's written books on health, I have been reading one of them himself, is not really sticking to the science here.

And on vaccines, public health folks say that's dangerous.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there was another controversial moment today that centered on 9/11 and conspiracy theories?

Tell us about that.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

This centered, in fact, on sort of some past things that he said, including a post that he put on X last summer.

This is what it said, going back to last summer when he was running for president.

RFK wrote that, it's hard to tell what's a conspiracy theory and he won't take sides on 9/11.

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, asked Kennedy about that.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): You won't take sides on 9/11 and you're admitting, I have a hard time telling what is a conspiracy theory and what isn't.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY: Senator, I haven't investigated it.

If the things that I investigate, I take sides on, people are allowed to hold that opinion.

I'm not going to tell them they're crazy for holding that opinion.

I'm going to say, what is your evidence?

LISA DESJARDINS: So, this is two decades after 9/11, not denying conspiracy theories.

No one I talked to afterwards could defend that.

GEOFF BENNETT: So these three nominees today, RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, controversial by any normal standard, but we're not living in normal political times.

I mean, will they have the votes?

LISA DESJARDINS: OK, here's where we are right now.

It looks like Patel is doing well.

He's on track for confirmation at this moment.

Gabbard had a tough day today, and I think especially from Republicans, I'm hearing there is some talk of trying to convince President Trump to pull her nomination.

Now, Kennedy, on the bubble.

It really comes down to a question of Trump and the pressure he puts, how much he's committed to these nominees.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins, thanks, as always.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: For more now on the confirmation hearings of Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel, I'm joined by two leading voices in the intelligence community, Frank Montoya Jr., national security analyst and retired senior FBI official, and Jamil Jaffer, executive director of National Security Institute at George Mason University.

Gentlemen, welcome and thanks for joining us.

Jamil, let's begin with Tulsi Gabbard here.

What concerns did you have about her potentially occupying this role as the nation's top-ranking intelligence official going into the hearing?

And were those concerns answered after the hearing?

JAMIL JAFFER, Former Senior Counsel, House Intelligence Committee: Well, Amna, I think there's some challenges with some of the things that Tulsi Gabbard said in the past.

We know about her meetings with Bashar Assad.

We know about what she said about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

And, obviously, we saw today very tough questions about Edward Snowden and her views on him and whether he's a traitor or a whistle-blower.

And she did not, she did not affirmatively say that he was a traitor, even though a number of members of the Senate asked her that question.

So I think those were open questions going in.

I think she punted on some of those.

But on the toughest questions, the ones on Snowden, she didn't do what I think she needed to do, which is to come out and say affirmatively what the vast majority of the members of that committee believe, if not all of them, that he in fact is a traitor to the United States, having violated laws by disclosing classified information publicly along a variety of programs, many of which, almost all of which have nothing to do with the privacy and civil liberties of Americans.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, Jamil, just briefly, on those two examples, the meeting with Bashar al-Assad and the comments about Snowden, why do those two examples, in particular, sound alarm bells within the intelligence community?

JAMIL JAFFER: Well, look, obviously, if you want to be representing all of the 17 intelligence agencies and be coordinating them and be the president's chief national intelligence adviser, it's hard to have that position and also say to the intelligence community the single most significant disclosure of classified information in history is not a traitor.

He took all that information knowingly, knowing it was highly classified, disclosed it to the public, took a lot of it back to Moscow with him, where he now lives as a Russian citizen under the protection of Vladimir Putin, and all that's fine.

It's hard to be the chief spokesperson, chief coordinator of the intelligence community if that's your point of view.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, Frank, let's turn to Kash Patel now.

You saw, of course, he faced a lot of tough questions in that hearing, and I want to bring to you just a piece of news as well.

CNN is now reporting that at least six senior FBI officials have been ordered to retire, resign, or be fired from the agency by Monday.

Some of them, CNN reports, were notified of that while Mr. Patel was in his confirmation hearing.

You saw him face those questions about a potential campaign of political retribution here.

Do you have concerns about that after watching his hearing performance?

FRANK MONTOYA JR., Former FBI Official: Yes, to me, this is just more evidence that that's going to happen, that it's not going to stop with his nomination, and he's going to do what he told these senators that he would do, which was to act in accordance with the law.

They're just going to -- the White House is going to call the shots here.

They're going to just continue to take aim at who they consider their not just political enemies, but personal enemies in some respects.

I mean, you look at that -- the book that he wrote and the things that he has said on a bunch of these podcasts, where he's definitely targeting individuals because of personal disagreements.

And it has nothing to do with politics, in the sense that they were just doing their job.

They were just living up to their oath.

And then he says, well, that's what I'm going to do.

And yet these guys are getting moved around.

For what reason?

Because they don't agree with what -- a particular agenda?

They didn't take an oath of office to a person.

They took their oath of office to the Constitution.

And they're being punished for doing that.

AMNA NAWAZ: Frank, in terms of some specific steps he's proposed, though, he's talked about decreasing the size of the agency, sending FBI agents across the country to go be cops, as he put it.

How do you look at those steps?

How would they impact the FBI's ability to carry out its job?

FRANK MONTOYA JR.: If the effort is to make the organization more efficient in the execution of its duties, that's fine, but that's not what this is about.

These six individuals that have been told to either retire, resign or quit, that's case in point.

The reality of the situation is, the FBI is not broken.

It is not corrupt.

And the narrative on which these individuals are basing all of their actions, Patel or even the folks in Congress, in the Senate, the narrative that they're basing their decision-making on, it's bogus.

It's all based on lies.

And the reality is this.

If it weren't, then how come the bureau is still able to do the job that it does as effectively as it does?

I mean, did they not participate with the rest of the intelligence community in stopping an Iranian plot to assassinate Donald Trump?

The work goes on.

And yet all the focus seems to be on settling scores.

And there's no way, if he's focused on settling scores, that Patel is going to be able to lead this organization.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jamil, let me ask you to take a step back here, because, when you look at both of these nominees, the roles that they would fill in this Trump administration, their qualifications, their evolution of thought, their relationship to President Trump, what do you think their confirmations would mean for the larger intelligence community, how it works and how agencies work together?

JAMIL JAFFER: Well, look, I mean, obviously, these are nominees that the president believes in and supports as of today.

Whether he maintains his support for somebody like Tulsi Gabbard down the road, under pressure from the Senate, we will see.

But if both of these individuals are confirmed, in particular, Gabbard at DNI, I think you're going to see concerns amongst the intelligence community about whether they can trust somebody in that position who's defended a thief of government information, a traitor like Edward Snowden, somebody who said that the most -- single most critical intelligence community collection tool, Section 702, is something that should not be reauthorized.

She's changed her position on that in the last few weeks, but that was her position for a long time.

Somebody who's cozied up to a dictator like Bashar Assad, who used chemical weapons against his own people.

She's questioned the credibility of intelligence that demonstrates he used gas against his own people.

So these are hard questions.

And with Kash Patel, right, look, this is somebody who served in the Justice Department at the National Security Division.

He knows the space.

At the same time, he wrote a book entitled "Government Gangster."

He wrote a book listing a bunch of executive branch officials which he says are members of the deep state, including nearly a dozen members of the Trump administration itself, Bill Barr, Alyssa Farah, folks like that.

And so -- Pat Cipollone, who I know from the Justice Department.

These are people who served in the Bush administration, in the White House, the Justice Department, elsewhere.

And so you have got to say, are these the right kind of people that President Trump wants to put in place?

He said they are.

We will see what the Senate does about it.

But I do think, particularly with Gabbard, he's going to come under significant pressure to address that nomination.

AMNA NAWAZ: Frank, I have got less than a minute left.

What's your take?

FRANK MONTOYA JR.: Yes, more or less the same.

The thing is, yes, he's president of the United States.

He has the right to pick who he wants for these jobs.

But let's talk about qualifications, for instance, in a person like Kash Patel.

I served under four directors, and they were either federal judges or very experienced prosecutors, U.S. attorneys on top of that.

They had that experience.

This is a guy who, yes, he worked for the DOJ for, what, three years, but he was a junior prosecutor, at best -- a junior prosecutor, at best.

So the challenge is, what kind of experience does he have to lead an organization like this, where it's not just about criminal investigations, but it's those very critical national security functions that the bureau is responsible for?

It's a challenge.

AMNA NAWAZ: Frank Montoya Jr., Jamil Jaffer, thank you to you both.

We appreciate your time.

FRANK MONTOYA JR.: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: The day's other headlines start in the Middle East, where Hamas freed eight hostages and Israel handed over more than 100 Palestinian prisoners in a third round of exchanges.

Israel briefly held up its side of the swap after a chaotic handover in Gaza.

Video shows a crowd surrounding the van carrying several of the hostages.

One of them was visibly shaken as she was escorted through the mass of people.

Later, buses of Palestinians set to be released were seen leaving an Israeli prison.

Israel's prime minister said he secured a guarantee from mediators that future handovers would be done safely.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister: During the release of our hostages today, we all saw shocking scenes.

We made it clear to the mediators that we do not intend to accept any risk to our hostages, and I will add, whoever dares to harm them will pay the price.

GEOFF BENNETT: The hostages released today included Agam Berger, plus the German-Israeli nationals Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses.

Five Thai farmworkers were also released.

They had been working in Southern Israel when they were kidnapped by Hamas.

Israel's ban on the U.N. Palestinian aid agency UNRWA took effect today.

(CHEERING) GEOFF BENNETT: In East Jerusalem, outside of UNRWA's headquarters, far right Israeli activists celebrated with champagne toasts.

In October, Israel banned UNRWA from operating inside the country, saying the group had been infiltrated by Hamas, which it denies.

Humanitarian officials say the move could have a devastating impact on aid deliveries in the region.

A U.N. spokesperson says UNRWA was still delivering aid today, despite the ban.

Officials in Ukraine say a Russian drone attack killed at least six people in the northeastern city of Sumy overnight.

Nine others were injured.

Regional authorities say a drone slammed into an apartment building, blowing out a wall and windows.

Following the deaths, the city announced two days of mourning.

Ukraine's air force says Russia launched more than 80 drones overnight, but most were shot down or otherwise missed their targets.

Back in this country, a U.S. appeals court ruled today that a decades-old federal ban on handgun sales to adults under the age of 21 violates the Second Amendment.

The court found that the ban is inconsistent with the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that established a more conservative test for assessing firearm laws.

The original measure was adopted by Congress back in 1968.

Today's ruling comes from the same court that had upheld the ban as recently as 2012.

On Wall Street today, stocks posted modest gains after the latest reading on America's GDP showed solid gains last quarter.

The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 170 points on the day.

The Nasdaq tacked on about 50 points.

The S&P 500 also ended in positive territory.

NASA's two stuck astronauts were able to stretch their legs a bit, taking their first space walk together.

SUNI WILLIAMS, Starliner Test Flight Astronaut: All right, thank you.

BUTCH WILMORE, Starliner Test Flight Astronaut: You bet.

GEOFF BENNETT: Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore floated outside the International Space Station to perform maintenance work about 260 miles above the Earth.

It's the second space walk for Williams this mission, but the first for Wilmore, though he has done such walks on prior trips to space.

The pair were only supposed to be aboard the ISS for about a week when they arrived last June, but technical problems extended their stay.

They're now due back on Earth in late March or early April.

And British singer and actress Marianne Faithfull has died.

Considered the it girl of the swinging '60s, she was once the girlfriend of Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger.

Jagger and Keith Richards penned her breakthrough hit, 1964's "As Tears Go By."

She in turn became their muse, inspiring and even helping to write some of their greatest songs.

Faithfull also acted on the stage and on screens big and small.

Her life was marked by the highs of fame and the lows of drug addiction, even homelessness.

That journey was the focus of her memoir released in 1994.

Marianne Faithfull was 78 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Congo's foreign minister discusses the growing war in the country's east; and musician Neko Case reveals her difficult journey to indy stardom in a new memoir.

AMNA NAWAZ: Parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are under siege by a Rwanda-backed rebel group.

And, yesterday, Congo's president sent a clear message, vowing to fight back.

The M23 rebel group took control of Congo's Eastern city of Goma along the Rwandan border in an offensive launch last week, intensifying decades-long tensions and conflict between the two nations.

The latest violence has killed U.N. peacekeepers, overwhelmed hospitals, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and sparked fears of a wider regional conflict.

For more now, I'm joined by Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congolese minister of foreign affairs.

Madam Minister, welcome.

Thanks for being here.

THERESE KAYIKWAMBA WAGNER, Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So can you just share with us the latest from any reports you have received on the ground about the situation in Goma?

Has there been any change in the pace or the ferocity of the fighting there?

THERESE KAYIKWAMBA WAGNER: As you mentioned, we are faced with a dramatic situation.

A very dire humanitarian situation that we have been observing for the past months has been exacerbated by the de facto occupation of sovereign Democratic Congo territory by the Rwandan Defense Forces.

This has led to the breakdown of all health infrastructures.

It has led also to the suppression of water and electricity supply and main access routes.

Congolese citizens and civilians do not have access to hospitals.

When they do, they face the risks that hospitals are being shelled.

We also have the very troubling fact that, within less than a week, 17 peacekeepers, United Nations peacekeepers, were killed in fighting with the Rwandan Defense Forces and their militia, the M23.

It is an extremely preoccupying situation when it comes to the humanitarian aspect, but also the regional peace that is at stake.

AMNA NAWAZ: Now, you mentioned the Rwandan Defense Forces.

We should point out the Rwanda says that they are not backing this M23 rebel group.

Do you have verifiable proof that they are behind them?

THERESE KAYIKWAMBA WAGNER: Of course.

Of course.

First of all, I want to refer us to the report of the United Nations group of experts.

This is not a report that was drafted by the Congolese government.

This is a group of experts that have been appointed by the United Nations Security Council.

In December, they spoke of about 4,000 Rwandan defense troops present in the DRC.

We believe that, in the last spurt of attacks against the DRC, even more troops crossed over.

I also want to refer us to the two last meetings, emergency meetings, of the United Nations Security Council, in which all of the members of the united Security Council denounced the presence of Rwandan troops on the ground.

So we find ourselves in a situation where all the world is cognizant of the fact that Rwandan defense troops are on the ground.

Everyone is saying it.

The media, which is on the ground, is saying it too.

And the only voice that claims that this is not true is the Rwandan voice.

AMNA NAWAZ: For anyone unfamiliar, can you kind of briefly explain why this area in particular is of such strategic importance, why there's fighting there now?

THERESE KAYIKWAMBA WAGNER: So, the Rwandan Defense Forces have been occupying very strategic areas in Eastern DRC.

I want to speak about Rubaya.

Rubaya is mined in all of the region.

According to United Nations experts, Rwandan Defense Forces have used forced labor to force labor to force children, women, and men to mine artisanal mines to get coltan.

And in a month, the Rwandan Defense Forces exploit and transfer over 150 metric tons of coltan that are then shipped over to Rwanda and exported to global markets under the label of Rwandan minerals.

So we see that this is an endeavor that is economically driven and that has no compunction whatsoever to violate human rights, to displace thousands, if not millions of civilians, and also, again, to kill peacekeepers that have been sent by the United Nations to bring peace and not to be killed.

AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned the United Nations Security Council.

You said just this week to that council that Congo has been raising the alarm about this M23 group for the past three years.

What do you think that the U.N. or the international community could have done that they didn't do that would have prevented this situation from escalating the way it is today, and what can they do now?

THERESE KAYIKWAMBA WAGNER: So it is important to highlight that this situation we're facing right now, the imminent M23 crisis, is part of a larger history.

It is part of three decades of President Kagame being unpunished and uncontrolled by the international community.

This is not the first iteration of the M23.

I myself worked as a humanitarian in 2012 when the M23 took over Goma, again co-piloted by the Rwandan Defense Forces.

Now, looking at what could have been done, the first point was calling out Rwanda.

It took a very long time.

And we welcome the fact that it was the United States of America that were the first country in the United Nations Security Council to explicitly name Rwanda as the stakeholder or as the country occupying parts of the DRC.

And it took a while, but, gradually, we saw that other members of the council took on.

So action could have been taken earlier, but action can also be taken now.

First of all is demanding the full withdrawal of Rwandan defense troops from the DRC, second of all, imposing an embargo on all minerals that Rwanda is exporting to the global market under the label of Rwanda, well knowing that they are mined illegally in the DRC.

Third of all, Rwanda no longer deserves to contribute troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Rwanda has been depicting itself for the past years as a true contributing country, bringing peace to other countries, but we see in the DRC that Rwanda is a warmonger.

This should no longer be tolerated.

AMNA NAWAZ: If those actions aren't taken, what happens on the ground?

THERESE KAYIKWAMBA WAGNER: If those actions aren't taken, what happens on the ground is that the objective of Kigali continues taking shape.

So we are seeing now that the M23, this propped-up rebel group, is now claiming to want to march all the way to Kinshasa and topple a sovereignly elected government.

Rwanda is engaging in state-sponsored regime changed.

And it is very important to highlight that this would be throwing the entire region, if not the whole continent, decades back.

All the investments of the United Nations, all the investment also of partner countries, like the USA, risk to have been for naught because the region risks to be plunged in chaos.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is the Congolese minister of foreign affairs, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner.

Madam Minister, thank you for being here.

THERESE KAYIKWAMBA WAGNER: Thank you for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: Neko Case has won acclaim as both a singer and songwriter.

This month, she's out with a memoir that reveals her difficult journey to indie stardom.

Special correspondent Tom Casciato spent time with Case for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

TOM CASCIATO: Neko Case's new memoir is called "The Harder I Fight the More I Love You."

And a big part of her story is right on the cover.

The cover of your book is you as a little kid hugging a cat.

And then there's this big scary-ass monster drawn behind you.

NEKO CASE, Musician: The monster was kind of my buddy who protected me.

That was my rage.

I'm not supposed to have that rage, but that rage has saved my life so many times.

I'm not getting rid of that rage.

TOM CASCIATO: The roots of that rage are explored in painful detail in the book.

NEKO CASE: Well, my parents, they both were dealing with incredible trauma.

And there was a part of them that was numb and turned off, and they had a kid.

TOM CASCIATO: And that was you?

NEKO CASE: That was me.

TOM CASCIATO: And you spent a lot of time literally by yourself.

NEKO CASE: A great deal of time by myself.

TOM CASCIATO: She describes a childhood of neglect.

Her father, she says, barely spoke to her.

NEKO CASE: And then, if I was with my mom, my mom and my stepdad, they would leave around 6:00 or 7:00, and they would be gone until 6:00.

TOM CASCIATO: Here's how she tells it in her audiobook.

NEKO CASE: At the river, there was a fabulous swimming hole big enough for three people, but there was almost always only me.

I would go to my regular boulder, set down my towel, and immediately begin looking for bugs and animals.

TOM CASCIATO: Put a pin in that bit about the animals.

NEKO CASE: So I was only spending about three hours a day with other human beings, and then only my parents.

TOM CASCIATO: "There are stretches of time," she writes, "that add up to literal years that I don't remember, just because I was so sad."

Add to the mix uncertainty about who she really was.

NEKO CASE: I have never felt like a girl, but I was raised as one, loosely raised as one.

TOM CASCIATO: Sounds like you were loosely raised.

NEKO CASE: I was loosely raised, but I did try out being a girl.

I really resented it.

I was like, I hate dresses.

I don't want to wear dresses.

Get the dress.

I will get the dress off me, if you don't get the dress off me.

TOM CASCIATO: Adolescence brought violence that would scar her.

Young adulthood brought traumas of its own.

But it turns out there's beauty in this story, if you just hold on a bit.

If you could give a message to that little kid who was lonely and was neglected, what would you say?

NEKO CASE: I would say, don't worry, you're going to play rock 'n' roll.

TOM CASCIATO: Play rock 'n' roll she does, but Neko Case has a voice that can just as easily nail the lonesome in a Hank Williams cover.

"Rolling Stone" once called her a punk dropout who became indie's greatest singer.

She started out as a punk drummer and writes lovingly about punk acts that inspired her, like Flat Duo Jets.

NEKO CASE: The Flat Duo Jets are everything to me.

I just remember feeling like whatever the yearning was now had a face and a sound.

TOM CASCIATO: But she was influenced by a lot more than punk.

NEKO CASE: I was helped very much by Trio Bulgarka, three women who are Bulgarian who sing harmonies and they use a lot of drones.

That sound is really deep.

It's very beautiful, but also alarming almost.

TOM CASCIATO: When you're performing, do you ever want to be or strive to be alarming?

NEKO CASE: I'm actually really glad you asked that.

In our society and our culture, women tend to go for beautiful sounds.

I'm working on a new record right now, and I'm definitely trying to not be so worried about hitting a really good note or sounding lovely.

TOM CASCIATO: Her memoir too sometimes seems to strive not to be lovely.

It occasionally fails, especially in the parts about her lifelong antidote to loneliness.

Remember she mentioned seeking out animals?

I actually found myself making a list of the animals we meet in your book.

TOM CASCIATO: Buffy the dog, Bubba the dog, Stonia (ph), the dog, Scratsey (ph) the cat, if I'm... NEKO CASE: Shratsey (ph).

TOM CASCIATO: Shratsey the cat.

TOM CASCIATO: Cammy (ph) the cat, Frank the turkey.

This is just a partial list, mind you.

Norman, the horse.

NEKO CASE: Norman, sadly, we had to put him down last month.

He was my first horse.

And he kind of taught me how to let my guard down.

And he had a really great sense of humor.

He loved to do the thing where he wouldn't let me catch him.

He thought that was hilarious.

And then the second I would put my hand on him, he was like, OK, I just needed to get that out.

He was the smartest, one of the smartest... TOM CASCIATO: People?

NEKO CASE: ... persons.

He was a person.

TOM CASCIATO: Animals -- and you might include that monster on the book cover -- haven't helped Neko Case figure all of it out, just some of it.

NEKO CASE: The older I get, the less I know and I can't prove anything.

But knowing who you are is a really big deal.

I'm a gender-fluid person, for sure, and I do know that I'm part of the earth, and I am literally a mammal, and that is so comforting.

Not everything is so dire.

We're all animals.

TOM CASCIATO: Toward the end of the book, she makes a list of some of the things she's seen on the road, some inspiring.

NEKO CASE: Pelicans suddenly rising like a swarm of army choppers over a sea cliff in Santa Cruz.

TOM CASCIATO: Some, she found hurtful.

NEKO CASE: Hate speech billboards put up by Christians in Missouri.

TOM CASCIATO: Some spectacular, if worrisome.

NEKO CASE: Acres of migrating endangered cranes out in stubby fields and wetlands.

TOM CASCIATO: Some not exactly applicable.

NEKO CASE: Signs telling me to reverse my vasectomy.

TOM CASCIATO: And considering the trauma and confusion she's endured, she comes to a not entirely expected conclusion.

NEKO CASE: What a staggeringly beautiful world.

TOM CASCIATO: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Tom Casciato in New York City.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.