The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 30th, 2025: Plane Collides With Army Black Hawk In Deadly DC Crash & Trump Preps Guantanamo Bay For 30,000 Criminal Migrants

Episode Date: January 30, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:   First, tragic news out of Washington, DC, where an American Airlines plane carrying 64 people suffered a midair collision with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night, causing both aircraft to crash into the Potomac River. Then, President Donald Trump has announced plans to open a 30,000-person migrant facility at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba, as his administration gears up for mass deportations. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's Thursday, 30 January. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, tragic news out of Washington, D.C., where an American Airlines plane, carrying 64 people, suffered a mid-air collision with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday night, causing both aircraft to crash into the Potomac River. Then, President Trump has announced plans to open a 30,000-person migrant facility,

facility at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba, as his administration gears up for ongoing deportations. But first, our afternoon spotlight. More than 60 people are dead after an American airline's regional jet collided midair with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter sending both aircraft plummeting into the high-sea Potomac River as the jet was on final approach for landing at Reagan-Washington National Airport. American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, was on final approach to runway 33 when it struck a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter, Black Hawk, at approximately 9 p.m. Wednesday. According to Flight Radar 24, the flight, arriving from Wichita, Kansas, was flying at an altitude of roughly 300 feet when the impact occurred. On board were 60 passengers and four crew members. The helicopter carried three crew. The collision is the deadliest air disaster on U.S. soil since November of 2001. By Thursday morning, rescue operations had shifted to recovery, with Washington Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly,

confirming that authorities no longer expect to find survivors. As of now, 28 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage, 27 from the jet, one from the helicopter. The shattered fuselage of Flight 5342 was discovered in at least three large sections in the river. Among those on board were ice skaters, their families, and coaches returning from competitions in Kansas, including Russian-born former world champions. The Kremlin acknowledged the deaths of Russian nationals and extended condolences to their families, though a spokesman said there are no plans for a conversation between President Putin and President Trump over the matter. Trump briefed late Wednesday, thanked first responders for their efforts. American Airlines CEO, Robert Isam, flew to Washington overnight, telling reporters that

the airline is fully cooperating with investigators and assisting families of those lost. Isam noted that the PSA jet was on a routine descent into one of the busiest airports in the country when the Black Hawk entered its path, stating, quote, at this time, we don't know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft. According to CBS News, authorities recovered one of the aircraft's two black boxes. Reagan National suspended operations overnight, but reopened Thursday morning with airlines scrambling to adjust schedules. In a Thursday press conference, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just two days into his

role, suggested the disaster was preventable, noting both aircraft were flying standard patterns with no reported communications failures. Investigations now underway, led by the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth confirmed that the Black Hawk was conducting an annual night evaluation, which was piloted by an experienced crew and was equipped with night vision goggles. He added that the Defense Department is also actively investigating. The crash raises fresh concerns about ongoing challenges at the FAA, which has been without a permanent administrator since former Chief Mike Whitaker stepped down on 20 January when Trump took office.

Whitaker was the third permanent FAA administrator since 2017, despite the position carrying a five-year term. During a press conference on Thursday, President Trump did name a new acting head of the FAA. Coming up, as deportations continue across America. With the focus on those illegal immigrants with criminal records or deemed public safety threats, President Trump has announced plans to open a 30,000-person migrant facility at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba. I'll be right back. Fox News is now streaming live on Fox One.

When it matters most, turn to the voices you trust. We go beyond the headlines, bringing you the stories you won't hear anywhere else. Live coverage, sharp enough. Real perspective. At home or on the go. Stay connected when it counts. Stream Fox News on Fox One. Download today. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Trump plans to repurpose the Guantanamo Bay military facility in Cuba to house illegal immigrants,

as his administration plans for ongoing deportation operations. Trump said Wednesday that he signed a presidential memorandum ordering the Pentagon to prepare detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, historically used for holding terrorism suspects, to house as many as 30,000 illegal migrants. He touted the capacity of the Guantanamo facility. saying there are thousands of beds ready to be used to, quote, detain the worst criminal illegal aliens. That's according to a report from the New York Post.

Trump previewed the plan while signing the Lake and Riley Act into law, which requires the detention of any illegal immigrant in the U.S. charged with certain crimes, marking the first legislative win of his second term. Trump said, quote, Most people don't even know that we have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. Some of them are so bad we don't even trust their countries to hold them because we don't want them coming back. The president added, quote, It's a tough place to get out of. Trump said the move would immediately double America's

detention capacity paving the way for his administration to initiate their planned campaign of larger-scale deportations. Trump also said it would bring us one step closer to, quote, eradicating the scourge of migrant crime in American communities. Leaders in Cuba, however, well, they're not pleased with the development. The Cuban president called the move a, quote,

act of brutality while claiming the Guantanamo naval base sits on, quote, illegally occupied territory. For some background, the U.S. has a long-term lease that began in 1903 from Cuba's government for a naval facility at Guantanamo Bay. It's mainly been used since the early 2000s to house terrorism suspects, including those who planned the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. While there were as many as 700 terrorism suspects housed at the facility back in 2003, that number is now down to just 15.

A small number of asylum seekers intercepted at sea are also kept at the base, which covers roughly 45 square miles of territory on Cuba's southeastern coast. But the idea of using the base as a holding facility for migrants isn't new. The base did once function as a large-scale holding center for migrants. Between 1991 and 1996, during both the H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations, some 50,000 Haitians and Cubans passed through Guantanamo Bay as the U.S. sorted out asylum claims. Borders Tsar Tom Holman said Wednesday, quote, So we're just going to expand upon that existing migrant center.

He added that every facility at the base will maintain the highest standards and that detention at Guantanamo would be reserved for the quote, worst of the worst. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for 3,000. Thursday, 30 January. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at BDB at thefirstTV.com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile, the message for everyone paying big wireless way too much.

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