"This isn't another 9/11": DHS Sec. Mullin says there's no safety concerns amid ground stop

That's breaking news. We're following on that nationwide ground stop. We're going to the White House where Secretary of Homeland Security Mark Wayne Mullen is addressing reporters. Let's listen in. You know, you just can't rule out anything at this point. That's a good point. We're going through that process, and we're going to find out what happened. And when we do, we'll take the appropriate actions to make sure it doesn't happen again. While you're investigating, are there any extra precautions that are... What's going on for the president to keep him safe while you are still investigating? Well, there's no fear to the public. I want to make sure we say this again. There's no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for your loved ones. This isn't another 9-11. I just can't repeat that enough. People are making that assumption because that's the last time we had a nationwide ground stoppage. This is a telecommunication outage. This is much different. And just following up on Caitlin's question, there are reports that the FAA was rolling out a new AI traffic control system today. Has there been any link between that? We're looking at that. That word. That's part of something that obviously through CISA at DHS, Yes, we are. we're taking a look. We're working with our counterparts throughout all agencies. Are there planes in the air that FAA is unable to communicate with right now? No, no. It's just at a different level. The clarity is my understanding. So I'm not trying to get ahead of myself on this one. My understanding is that we can still communicate. It's just that it's at different levels and the clarity that we can get to. But there's redundancy in most communications. As you can see, there's still planes landing, and so there's still communications going on. We, at an abundant of caution, is the reason why we decided to ground everything. Let me go here. Thank you, sir. This is a ground stop for the United States. Yes. Is this affecting other countries as well? Not that we're aware of. There's two areas that we know that are not affected. I don't think I'm at... The ability to share those right now, but there's two areas inside the United States that are still able to communicate just fine. Mr. Secretary, I don't understand that. What does that mean? Can you describe who is helping in investigating the root cause of it as far as what agencies? Worth it. Every agency that has an asset that is involved in this from the communications side, FAA, DHS, State Department, we're all working. together but that's what we do right and I don't want to get say that this is a crisis but it is because we're doing we're you know we had to do a nationwide ground stoppage it's what the government works well at that's what we're here for and so we are well positioned. And communicating very well, the president took a lead in this immediately. And he gave us the assets and the communication to move forward in a fast way. That's what leaders do, and President Trump's the best at leading us. I haven't got you, go ahead. You say this is not a 9-11 style event, but if it is a widespread telecommunications issue. It could in theory be a cyber attack related to some sort of terror, a version of terror, but the modern day cyber version. You can't, this isn't the same comparison to 9-11. That is... That's a road I won't go down, but people are making that assumption because it's a stoppage. Do we know what has caused it yet? No, we're going to go through it, but I'm not going to make assumptions. As I've said multiple times, it's very difficult to make assumptions. We want to always deal with facts, and we're going to deal with facts, and as we get them, we'll roll them out to you guys. All right? Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. We're Terry Duffy here at the White House, sir. We've been listening there to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen, from the White House, getting us up to speed as to what exactly is happening here with this nationwide ground stoppage affecting all airports, incoming and outgoing flights. And right now, he says this is a telecommunications situation. He said, quote, this is not another September 11th. And he seemed not to want to talk about that, insinuating that this was not a cyber attack, but in fact, something related to their own telecommunications within the FAA. Saying there are several times he does not want Americans to be afraid. But But as far as any details, All right, let's get a check in here with Keith. Jeffries, he was a former TSA director out in Los Angeles. And Keith, we hear from the secretary here, but obviously Americans, last time something this significant, there was a smaller one in 2023, but it harkens back to 2001, to September 11th, and clearly people are trying to figure out what's going on here. In recent days, it seems as though AI had been used as a tool for some airports to try and reroute some of these flights, and there's questions now if that new tool could have led to the situation we're in. We're in right now. Yeah, well, certainly as the secretary said, speculation is gonna get us nowhere, right? Americans do have the right to be concerned and they're expressing their concern as they should. The reality is, until we know more of the facts, there have been some significant events leading up to this that would cause concern. What Americans should know is for the FAA to make a decision to ground all flights from taking off, but those in the air that can land until they figure out this communications issue, that's for the benefit of the safety of all the traveling public. So until we know more, you have to commend the FAA for taking quick, swift action based Based on this telecommute... Telecommunication problem that they're having and let's figure out what's going on to make the skies safe again. So we know that FAA technicians, according to Secretary Duffy, are working right now to try to figure out exactly what caused this. What is your understanding of where that process even begins when you have this substantial of an issue? Yeah, I'm certainly not qualified to know exactly what the FAA would do a deep dive into except to find out where it originated from, if there is a communication problem, what that trickle-down effect may be, all of those significant events. But I'm sure they've got their best and brightest working on it as we speak. You are familiar with operations at Los Angeles International Airport, a massive airport in our country. When something of this level happens, what does that look like of operations at a place like LAX, like BWI, Dulles here in D.C.? I would imagine this is an entire trickle-down effect, which could take days to get back online. Yeah, you're spot on. We used to say even out just with LAX alone, if something like a ground stop happened at LAX, we used to say, use the phrase, when LAX sneezes, the world catches a cold. So you compound that with all these other large category X airports and every airport across the country and a ground stop. This will have a significant event on air travel. When something to this magnitude occurs, what is it that pilots in the air are hearing in the cockpit? And traditionally, what would they relay to their passengers? Because obviously, you have folks in the air who presumably have access to their phones, and they're seeing this news, which is probably going to concern a lot of folks. What is that communications process like in real time in the air? Yeah, so the pilots would be focusing on the transportation of those passengers that they're carrying, keeping them advised that there's some technical problems or communication problems. They'll keep them posted as time goes on. As soon as those pilots get cleared to land and at what airport they're cleared to land at, they'll keep the passengers informed. And we're taking live pictures right now from Reagan National Airport, where right now, just like every other airport across the country, things right now are at a standstill, to your point, with the exception of those inbound planes that are being approached on a case-by-case basis to land. Keith, to your point, safety is paramount. That is the number one priority when you talk about it up in the sky. And we heard that from the secretary, but as to answers, it seems as though to this point, at this hour, and now we're going in In to the first hour of this ground stop. No one knows what has caused this. Yeah, and I know that that creates a huge concern. I've received numerous calls even before I came on your show that there's folks that have their loved ones at the airport trying to travel and they want to know answers. Certainly what the secretary said that I would think everyone should lean forward on and certainly consider, let's not speculate. They'll figure out what happened. They will advise the public as soon as they know, but speculation is only going to create more anxiety for others. As soon as there is an all clear given, I'm certain that they'll pass that along too as the investigation continues on to what actually happened. Keith Jeffries, we appreciate your insight. Thank you for coming on. Thank you.