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The Situation Room

Plane Crash in North Carolina; Trump Threatens NBC License; Government Admits Error in Crash; Brian Walshe Sentenced; FBI Deputy Director to Step Down. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired December 18, 2025 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:30:00]

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: New this morning, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino says he is planning to step down after about nine months on the job. His tenure has been marked by clashes with his boss, Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bongino has complained both publicly and privately about the tedious nature of the job and how it has affected his personal life.

So let's go live now to CNN's senior justice correspondent Evan Perez in Washington.

Evan, what more are you learning about his departure?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, the fact that the FBI director -- deputy director, has lasted just about 10 months in office really tells you a lot about what this era of the FBI has been.

And he's not a traditional deputy FBI director. Traditionally, as you know, the person who serves that job is from the career ranks. While Bongino does have some law enforcement background, he's a former Secret Service agent, He didn't come from the FBI.

So there's been a bit of a tumultuous time there at the FBI. One of the things he did, one of the first things he did was to change some of the physical fitness requirements for some new recruits at the FBI, which meant that women and men were still -- were going to have to do the same number of push-ups and pull-ups and so on.

And there's a lot of controversy that has been -- that has followed a lot of the moves in the FBI under Bongino. One of the things that has been clear though, Pamela, he really did not love this job. He's complained about it. And he more recently has indicated perhaps that he might go back to podcasting, where he made millions of dollars.

So that's what we're watching next. What does Dan Bongino -- if he goes back to podcasting after he leaves the FBI,what is that going to look like?

BROWN: Yes, that's a good question. And I also want to ask you about some new reporting, those early stumbles in the search for the Brown University gunman that led to the wrong person initially. How did FBI Director Kash Patel's post on social media play into that?

PEREZ: Well, his post came around 11:30 in the morning on Sunday. And even as that post was going out, investigators already knew that his cell phone, the cell phone for that person of interest, was not found in that location where the shooting occurred.

And if you see Kash Patel's post, he cites the use of cell phone tower analysis data, which pinpoints where a person is located. And so that's one of the things that was going on behind the scenes. There was a lot of doubt that this person of interest was actually the shooter, because, certainly, within hours, they also found that his DNA didn't match DNA found at the scene, the shell casings.

The shell casings that were found at the shooting didn't match the two firearms, the two handguns that were found in his hotel room. And so, within hours, they realized they had the wrong person. I will point out too this is not just Patel that were sort of over their skis, as one of the criticisms we have heard.

Local officials really wanted this to be true. And you heard from the mayor in Providence saying that the community could breathe a sigh of relief. Well, it turns out, 4.5 days later, they're still looking for the gunman who carried out this attack -- Pamela.

BROWN: Yes. All right, Evan Perez, thanks so much.

More when we come back.

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[11:38:09]

BROWN: Well, new this morning, Brian Walshe will be spending the rest of his life behind bars with no chance for parole for the 2023 murder of his wife, Ana.

The judge handed down the sentence after the court heard a victim impact statement from Ana Walshe's sister, who spoke about how the murder has devastated the entire family and left Ana's children without a mother to hold their hands and walk them through the milestones of life.

Brian Walshe insisted he didn't kill his wife, but found her -- quote -- "inexplicably dead" -- that's what he claimed -- in their bed on New Year's Eve.

I want to bring in Areva Martin, attorney and a legal affairs commentator.

So, Areva, were you surprised at all by the sentencing here?

AREVA MARTIN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: No, Pamela.

In fact, this was a mandatory sentence. The judge had no choice but to give him life in prison without the opportunity for parole. And with this sentence also comes an automatic appeal to an appellate court. So this ruling, as well as the conviction, will be the subject matter of an appeal.

But this has been such a really interesting defense that the defendant put forth, the notion that somehow he found his wife, as you said, inexplicably dead and panicked and dismembered her body, rather than calling 911, rather than calling for help, rather than doing what an aggrieved husband would do if you found your wife dead in her bed.

BROWN: Yes, I think a lot of us were like, wait a second, you found your loved one dead in your bed, you would call 911, presumably, and the authorities.

So from the very beginning, there were some big questions there. So he still, though, throughout it insisted he didn't kill his wife. But then he admitted to dismembering his wife's body and disposing of it in local dumpsters.

Did the defense ever have a chance in this case, Areva?

MARTIN: I don't think so. It was very clear that the circumstantial evidence was strong. We know that the body was never found because the body was actually dismembered and, as you said, dumped in trash bins.

[11:40:10]

But the circumstantial evidence, the fact that he was online looking up Web sites about how to dispose of a body, the fact that there was DNA on evidence that was found by the police, the fact that there was surveillance video of him actually dumping these trash bags.

So the case was always incredibly strong, but in our criminal justice system, a defendant has the right, a constitutional right, to proceed to trial and to have a jury of his peers evaluate the evidence. But this was always a predictable outcome of a case. And I think it proves that, even without a body, prosecutors can get a conviction and they can hold someone like Walshe accountable for his criminal acts.

BROWN: And jurors didn't know about his confessions to authorities until after they convicted him. Why was that?

MARTIN: Well, that is a part of our criminal justice system. The fact that he pled guilty to some of the other charges against him commonly would not be information that would be provided to a jury to prevent the jury from being persuaded, in any way prejudiced by those admissions as they weigh the case and the evidence that was before them.

This judge, rightfully so, did not want this jury making the conclusion that he was guilty based on his admission of guilt to those two other charges versus staying focused on the evidence that was presented by the prosecution with respect solely to the murder of his wife.

BROWN: And the defense promised jurors early on that they would hear from Brian Walshe himself about what happened on the night of his wife's killing. That never happened. How much do you think that impacted the jury's verdict?

MARTIN: I think it was a huge issue as you look at the evidence that was presented and the fact that he did not testify.

And whenever a lawyer makes that promise to a jury, that jury is looking for that lawyer to live up to that promise, to make good on that promise. So the case, the defense, the defense team, I'm sure lost tremendous credibility by failing to do what it promised to do, which was to allow Walshe to take the witness stand and to explain what happened on that night.

But in the absence of him testifying, in the absence of any explanation for why he acted the way that he acted, I think the case was pretty much probably a shut-and-closed case from the beginning.

BROWN: All right, Areva Martin, thank you so much. Happy holidays to you.

MARTIN: Thank you. Same to you, Pamela.

BROWN: Coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM: Almost a year after an in-flight collision right near the nation's capital killed dozens, the government makes a brand-new admission about who was at fault.

We will have more on that after this break.

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[11:47:18]

BROWN: Well, new this morning, the U.S. government delivers a stunning admission of failures leading up to an in-flight collision in January; 67 people were killed when an Army Black Hawk helicopter flew into the path of an American Eagle plane as it was about to land at Reagan National Airport.

Court documents filed by the Justice Department blame the helicopter pilots and an airport traffic controller.

Let's bring in CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean.

Pete, what more are you learning about this?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, remember Pam, this is not the final word here.

And the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation is still ongoing, and its final report on probable cause not expected until sometime next month. But this new development is a major concession from the U.S. government in the civil suit that was brought by the families of those who died on American Eagle Flight 5342.

The Justice Department now admits failures the night of January 29 by the pilots of that Army Black Hawk helicopter that was on a low- altitude training mission right next to Reagan National Airport. On top of that, the government admits failure by the air traffic controller who was attempting to alert the Black Hawk pilots to the regional jet nearby as it was about to land at Reagan National Airport.

This new court filing is very dense and lengthy, 209 pages' long, just filed in U.S. District Court. And here is the key quote: "The United States admits pilots flying PAT 25" -- that's the Black Hawk helicopters call sign -- "failed to maintain proper and safe visual separation from American Eagle Flight 5342."

The government also calls that a cause in fact and a proximate cause of the accident and death, which means it's now appropriate to hold the government responsible, clearing the way for families to seek damages now from the federal government.

This appears to lay a little less blame at the feet of the air traffic controller in the tower at DCA. But it does say -- but it does say, rather, the controller did not comply with the rules governing what's called visual separation. That is a specific phrase used between pilots and air traffic controllers.

It was used that night, where the pilot takes the responsibility to stay away from other aircraft. Still no response here from the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control in the United States. Still no response from the Pentagon.

Remember, 67 people were killed in which families call a totally preventable crash. They're calling this a win for them, though, but they're still seeking damages from American Airlines and PSA Airlines, which operated this regional flight for American Airlines.

In a companion court filing, American Airlines is now moving to have this case dismissed -- Pamela.

[11:50:01]

BROWN: And, Pete, this crash really loomed over this annual defense policy bill in the Senate.

We had a family member of one of the victims of that crash on the show to talk about that. And lawmakers unanimously adopted a bill aimed to guard against this happening again. Help us understand that.

MUNTEAN: It's called the ROTOR Act, and it just passed unanimously in the Senate, which is huge, because it essentially flies in the face of the provisions that were put in the National Defense Authorization Act that critics say really undercuts the needed reforms after this crash.

The ROTOR Act would mandate that military aircraft would use something called ADS-B, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, more often. Right now, they have huge leeway, the military has huge leeway to not use that system, which may have played a role in this crash.

Advocates call it closing the ADS-B loophole. Now this bill goes on to the Senate. And Senator Ted Cruz, who is a driving force behind this, along with Senator Maria Cantwell, they're the top Republican and Democrat, respectively, on the House committee that -- or -- sorry -- Senate committee that oversees aviation.

They're hoping to have this potentially on the president's desk maybe as early as this week, but it could be soon. Still some time and still some work here, some maneuvers left to do in Congress.

BROWN: All right, Pete Muntean, thank you so much for bringing us the latest reporting on that front.

And coming up: why President Trump is threatening NBC's license and how that kind of move could upend the broadcast business.

We will be right back.

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[11:56:19]

BROWN: Well, new this morning, President Trump is threatening NBC over a "Meet the Press" interview he didn't like.

Moderator Kristen Welker interviewed Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock on Sunday, and that interview prompted a lengthy social media post from the president, who said in part -- quote -- "Warnock spent the entire show using religion to try and divide the country."

And -- quote -- "The public airwaves, which these networks are using at no charge, should not be allowed to get away with this any longer."

Let's go live now to see CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter.

Brian, is the president threatening to revoke NBC's license to broadcast here?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right.

He's continued to do this all year long, threatening licenses of local stations, even though license revocations are extraordinarily unusual. They pretty much never happen.

What Trump actually wants here, he says he wants licenses to be charged for. He wants networks to pay for licenses. It would take an act of Congress to actually put that into effect. So this is one of those examples of Trump ranting and raving, complaining about news coverage he doesn't like.

And, ultimately, it's up to you, the viewers at home, to make sure that news outlets don't feel the chill in the air and change and soften their coverage as a result.

And, by the way, I do not see that happening on a daily basis. I think news outlets are working hard behind the scenes to cover Trump aggressively. But as always, he's trying to pressure news outlets using whatever leverage he has, Pam.

BROWN: Doesn't sound very democratic.

All right, Brian Stelter, thank you so much for that.

Well, breaking news right into CNN, emergency crews are responding to a plane crash right outside Charlotte, North Carolina.

So let's get straight to CNN's aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean.

Pete, welcome back. What do we know about this?

MUNTEAN: Well, this is developing by the moment, Pamela.

We know this crash happened, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, about 10:15 local time, so just over about two hours ago, almost two hours ago. This is in the Statesville Airport in Iredell County, North Carolina. That's north of Charlotte, west of Raleigh, general aviation airport with about a 7,000-foot-long runway.

This appears to be a private jet known as a Cessna Citation II. It is a straight-winged jet, seats about seven to eight people. Right now, we're standing by for a news conference. We have heard that this could happen about noon local time.

You can see the large response of emergency crews there. This is still developing, and so we're still getting information in, although we know the Federal Aviation Administration is now aware of this. And we can tell at least from the flight tracking data from FlightAware that a Cessna Citation took off from the Statesville Airport around 10:00 this morning and then made a left turn and then tried to appear to come back to the airport.

Again, all of this very preliminary, but this appears to be some sort of issue maybe on takeoff that necessitated the airplane to come back right away. You can see the map of Statesville there, the Statesville Regional Airport in Iredell County about three miles southwest of the town of Statesville.

Still a lot coming in by the moment here, although we know that there is a massive response by local law enforcement and firefighters, emergency responders there. And there's video popping online of this airplane engulfed in flames. We will bring you more as we get it.

BROWN: Yes, and the NTSB will be investigating this. Tell us how that might proceed.

MUNTEAN: If the NTSB investigates, and it would be likely if there were fatalities on board, although we do not have that confirmed at the moment, they would dig into the airplane, the pilots, and the environment.

The weather in Statesville not very good right now, known as IFR conditions, meaning pilots flying solely in reference to their instruments. You can see the foggy conditions there in the video that is coming in right now, which would have made this return to the airport, if that is, in fact, the case, even more challenging for the pilots on board this airplane. So, of course, they will be looking at the weather. And then the big

thing is, we will want to know any interplay between pilots and air traffic controllers, although this airport is known as an uncontrolled field, meaning there is no control tower at the airport.

Seems unlikely that we will get any sort of major instincts -- major insight into what happened over the radio from these pilots in this sort of doomed flight as it was coming back into the Statesville Airport.

BROWN: All right, Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

And thank you all for joining us this morning. It was great to have you along.

"INSIDE POLITICS" is next.