News Roundup and Comment

VCY America

News from around the world, viewed from a Christian perspective. It's Crosstalk's News Round-Up and Comment broadcast. Here's a sample of what Jim shared with listeners:--In a post on social media early Thursday, President Trump criticized the control tower workers and the crew of the Black Hawk military helicopter involved in the deadly mid-air collision of the helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342 over the Potomac River Wednesday evening. --President Trump ties Biden's DEI initiative to lower standards at the Federal Aviation Administration.--Jim provided audio from Pete Hegseth, Trump's secretary of defense, as he commented on why positions such as being an air traffic controller should be merit-based. --A preliminary FAA report indicated that staffing at the air traffic control tower was not normal at the time of the jet/helicopter collision.--The internal FAA report says the controller who was handling helicopters in the vicinity on Wednesday evening was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. A supervisor combined those duties sometime before 9:30pm and allowed one controller to leave according to a person briefed on the staffing who was not authorized to speak publicly. --President Trump named a new acting administrator of the FAA and signed a memorandum that called for an "immediate assessment of aviation safety," in the wake of the tragic plane crash near Washington, D.C.--Another plane heading to Reagan National Airport almost crashed into a helicopter the night before (Tuesday evening). --A Massachusetts man was arrested and charged Monday with trying to kill Trump administration officials.