Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some urgent stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s happening nationally and around the world.
Details emerge concerning this week’s deadly midair collision over the Potomac, a trio of controversial Cabinet nominees face intense questioning on Capitol Hill, and shocking scenes appear during a chaotic hostage exchange in the Gaza Strip.
Also, a leading cybersecurity firm makes an alarming announcement about the new DeepSeek AI app, and even though he’s already been sentenced, President Donald Trump’s business records case isn’t over just yet—what are his lawyers planning to do next?
Recovery Efforts Underway After Deadly Midair Collision
President Donald Trump says that sadly, there are no survivors from the collision, which took place between a commercial jet airliner with 64 people on board and a U.S. Army helicopter with three service members on board.He said that officials are now involved in a recovery mission to find the remaining bodies of the victims. He also said that the accident was the result of what he called a combination of bad decisions that were made, and emphasized that the helicopter should have been flying at a different altitude.
Meanwhile, audio obtained from Air Traffic Control confirms that a controller informed the pilot of the helicopter of the position of the airplane prior to the collision. Additionally, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that the experienced helicopter pilots were using night vision goggles during the flight, which could have obscured their vision, making it difficult for them to see the landing lights of the other aircraft.
By the way, Trump said the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices of the Federal Aviation Administration, along with the weakening hiring standards for air traffic controllers, could be a factor in leading to the accident.
In response, former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg called the president’s comments “despicable.” He said that during his time in office, his department “put safety first,” and that during his tenure, there were “zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the cause of Wednesday evening’s crash.
Cabinet Nominees Face Tough Senate Confirmation Hearings
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee leveled multiple questions at Kash Patel, who’s Trump’s choice to lead the FBI, including asking him about the winner of the 2020 election. He was also grilled about a number of statements he made about shutting down the FBI headquarters and prosecuting former FBI Director Christopher Wray.Patel responded by saying that if he’s confirmed, there will be no politicking at the FBI, and that no actions will be taken in retribution. He also denies having an enemies list, vows to probe sex trafficking, and says he does not agree with commuting the sentences of people who commit violence against law enforcement.
Meanwhile, lawmakers also questioned former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who’s Trump’s pick to be director of national intelligence. She says that a number of reforms should be made in the intelligence community, including changing certain warrants for surveillance and reducing security clearances “to limit access to our nation’s secrets.”
She promises to lead by example; check her personal views at the door; and deliver intelligence that is “collected, analyzed, and reported without bias, prejudice, or political influence.” She also says she’s loyal to God, her own conscience, and the Constitution of the United States.
Meanwhile, lawmakers continue to grill Trump’s pick to become secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s vowing to “make America healthier” than other countries in the world.
Yesterday, he said that lawmakers are allowing their financial interests to influence their positions regarding public health policy, and that if he’s confirmed, he will reverse several significant health policies that were implemented under the Biden administration.
8 Israeli Hostages Freed Amid Chaotic Scenes
Hamas has just handed over three Israelis, including a pair of young women and an 80-year-old man, along with five Thai nationals in exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners. All eight captives had been held in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, and were released as part of the third exchange since the cease-fire was brokered earlier this month.Meanwhile, Israeli officials have filed a complaint to international mediators regarding the chaotic scenes associated with the release of one of the hostages, a 29-year-old female soldier who was led by Hamas gunmen through a large, threatening crowd.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the scenes “shocking,” and said they were “additional proof of the inconceivable brutality of the Hamas terrorist organization.”
He went on to demand that the mediators ensure that it doesn’t happen again and to guarantee the safety of the hostages. He also promised that anyone who harms the hostages “will pay the price” for doing so.
For their part, the Palestinians being released include a high-profile former commander of an armed West Bank terrorist group, along with 30 prisoners who have been serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis.
By the way, another three hostages, all men, are due to be released by Hamas tomorrow, in exchange for another group of Palestinian prisoners.
As part of this first phase of the cease-fire agreement, Hamas is set to release a total of 33 hostages in exchange for 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Meanwhile, the Israeli government, led by Netanyahu, is expected to negotiate the details of the second phase of the deal with Hamas in the near future.
Cybersecurity Firm: DeepSeek Data Exposed to Web
Researchers with a New York City-based cybersecurity company called Wiz say that a great deal of sensitive information from the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app DeepSeek has inadvertently been exposed to the open internet.You may recall that earlier this week, the China-based app prompted a market meltdown when it launched a free, open-source language learning model called DeepSeek-R1. The low-cost model has also raised national security concerns in Washington.
Wiz says that after DeepSeek became the most downloaded free app on the App Store, the cybersecurity company set out to assess the external safety of the chatbot and identify any potential vulnerabilities in the model.
It says that within minutes, it found a publicly accessible database linked to the chatbot that was “completely open and unauthenticated” and “exposing” more than a million lines of “sensitive data” to anyone who looked for it.
Wiz says that the exposure also allowed someone to fully control the database without any authentication process or defense mechanism. It went on to say the level of access posed a critical risk to DeepSeek’s security as well as to its end-users, including allowing bad actors to retrieve sensitive information such as chat messages and passwords.
By the way, the Wiz Research team says they immediately revealed the issue to DeepSeek, which promptly fixed the problem.
Meanwhile, the White House says it’s evaluating the potential national security implications of DeepSeek, and that President Donald Trump “believes in restoring American AI dominance.”
Trump’s Lawyers Ask NY Court to Overturn Conviction
Trump’s lawyers have just filed an appeal to overturn his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records.They say that the “misuse of the criminal law” by the Manhattan district attorney to target Trump sets a dangerous precedent, and they’re asking for the case to be dismissed once and for all.
They also say that the appeal is a necessary step toward protecting New York’s reputation as a global business, financial, and legal center.
By the way, the president is managing his appeal with a new legal team, after he recently appointed his two previous attorneys to positions in the U.S. Justice Department.
Meanwhile, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg now gets a chance to respond to the latest challenge, while Trump’s legal team can submit additional details regarding the grounds of the case.
To refresh your memory, the charges relate to business record improprieties and payments that were made during Trump’s 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination for president, and he was found guilty by a jury in May 2024.
Earlier this month, Judge Juan Merchan issued the sentence, which included no fines, jail time, or probation; however, the convictions stand on the president’s record, making him the only president in the history of the nation to have a felony conviction.
Just about time for us to wrap things up, but before we go, a few more stories we’re watching very closely here in The Epoch Times News Brief newsroom:
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Friday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and we’re always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from rock star Jon Bon Jovi, who said: “Map out your future - but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.”
Bon Jovi (Jon, not the band) is best known as the founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was formed in 1983. He has released 16 studio albums with his band as well as two solo albums.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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For now, it’s imperative that we all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
