01 28 26 Colo AG Phil Weiser talks about website to report ICE activity also ABC's Sam Sweeney NTSB findings on mid-air collision

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More than a year after that deadly collision between a regional jet and Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, exactly a year ago tomorrow, federal investigators are pointing to ignored recommendations for a $400 GPS that could have prevented the crash. NTSB chair, Jennifer Omidy. We must do everything in our power, even Russell Feathers, to get our recommendations implemented, or this will happen again. 67 people died in that crash. when the helicopter and American Airlines plane collided at the Reagan National Airports. The bulletin of... atomic scientists have reset their doomsday clock to 87 seconds to midnight, advancing at four seconds. It's now the closest it's ever been to midnight. The organization says our three biggest challenges are nuclear weapons, climate change, and biological threats. The symbolic representation of how close humanity is to destroying the world was first introduced in 1947 and set at seven minutes before midnight. And Budweiser already giving us a look at its ad for the Super Bowl. The beer company released its 60-second Super Bowl commercial online. It features a Clydesdale and a bald eagle as Leonard Skinner's Freebird plays in the background. The company said it knew it had to rise to the occasion as its Budweiser's 150th anniversary and America's 250th birthday. NBC announced back in September it sold its Super Bowl ads inventory out earlier than ever. I'm Monica Nelson. You're up to Dayton, Colorado's Morning News. Let's take a look at the latest. Business and Money News and Keenan Dixon joining us. Keenan, when I saw this, I'm not going to lie, I'm a little skeptical. But I'm open to the idea I'm just a little skeptical with this big change for a big event coming in Denver. First off, why are you skeptical? End of October, outside, smaller setup, I think. Yeah. I mean, I would feel like the Levitt Pavilion is going to be a lot smaller than the convention center. But if it's like this year, this past October, it'd be perfect. Exactly. And what we're talking about is the Great American Beer Festival is moving, but it's staying in the Mile High City. The event will move outdoors now to the Levitt Pavilion in Denver's Ruby Hill Park. The Brewers Association says moving away from the Colorado Convention Center isn't just a venue change, but an evolution to create an outdoor festival where you can gather with your friends and celebrate craft. beer in a completely new way. Tickets for the October 10th and 11th Great American Beer Festival will go on sale in June and hopefully it is warm enough that time of year. Artificial intelligence continues to take jobs from humans and it's spreading to social media now. Pinterest is preparing to pivot towards AI with plans to reduce its workforce. The digital pinboard company will lay off less than 15% of its staff as it moves to AI-focused roles. Pinterest is also set to reduce office spaces.

with the total restructuring charges estimated at around $35 to $45 million, and plans are expected to be completed by the end of September. I'm at Matt and Zen. UPS is planning to cut 30,000 jobs this year as it winds down its partnership with Amazon. Most of the cuts are expected to be accomplished through attrition with a voluntary separation program offered to full-time drivers. The latest cuts come after UPS eliminated 48,000 jobs and a belt tightening move in 2025. And the company is also retiring all MD-11 aircraft in their fleet. All of the same model cargo planes have been grounded by the FAA since November. When one of them crashed near Louisville's airport killing three crew members and a dozen people on the ground, CEO Carol Tom says UPS is getting nearly 20 Boeing 767s in the next 15 months to replace some of those retired planes. And two social media giants in court this week over allegations their platforms are intentionally addictive. Meta and YouTube are accused of deliberately programming their platforms to be addictive to young users harming their mental health. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify during the trial now being held in Los Angeles Superior Court. Snap and TikTok have already settled out of court with the key plaintiff in the case. The trial is expected to last about two weeks. I'm Rory O'Neill. You're up to date on the latest business of money news. Let's take a look at your early Wednesday morning drive. We head to the KOA Traffic Center and say good morning to Jonathan Field. Hey, good morning to see you. Happy Wednesday, often running in good shape. Roads are dry. We're looking at a fast track anywhere you're traveling with very little traffic out here right now. I-25 included all the way across the city. Panion to the airport, 15 minutes on your drive time. Below turnpikes looking good. Basically, it is just a real quiet start for us. Mountain roads look great. It's dry from here all the way to veil. No hang-ups whatsoever. if you are heading west. We'll keep the advised, Jonathan Steele on K-Wa, 8 at D.A.m., and 94-1 of him. Well, the changes are beginning, and it's not just the expected roster turnover, but also new coaches. Broncos' offensive coordinator Joe Lombardo has been fired as the team addresses concerns with their slow starting offensive issues. Lombardi wasn't calling the plays for the top seat in the ASC. It was the head coach. Sean Payton feels like that he's not the problem with the offense and that Joe Lombardo is, so take that how you will. K-O-A Broncos insider, Benjamin Netanyahu Albright, says obvious candidate and current past game coordinator, Davis Webb, perhaps may hesitate on taking the job. Offensive coordinator would be a promotion for Webb, but I don't know, like, do you take that job without play-calling ability? I mean, you're going to get a pay bump and a title bump, but Sean Payton's still going to be the play caller unless he gives that up, which, again, most people are not expecting.

Webb is considered a strong candidate for the Raiders head coaching job interviewing with them this week. He also interviewed with bills, but they chose to promote offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach. And as the offseason enters its third day, the Broncos begin the process of preparing for next season. When it comes to attracting free agents, General Manager George Payton says there's a lot of positives. I think players want to come here for a number of reasons. I think number one is ownership. That's the number one. And you can see what they've done, what they're doing, what they continue to do, and all the resources and leadership they've shown. You know, I think quarterback makes a big difference. He says they'll take the next week or so to evaluate their roster and determine where they need. to get better than put together a plan for the draft and free agency. The Nuggets lost to the Pistons last night at Ball Arena 109 to 107. Jamal Murray had 24 points and 10 dimes, but he missed two key free throws down the stretch. I just got to be better. You know how to go an opportunity there twice. I wanted to redeem myself. So it was my night, I'd say I'd be better. I'd be better. Just all throughout the gate. The Nuggets remain at home for the next three games, hosting the Nests tomorrow. Six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick will not be a first ballot Hall of Famer, despite his role in orchestrating, one of the best dynasties the sport has ever seen. ESPN reports Belichick said after the news came out, quote, Six Super Bowls isn't enough? What does a guy have to do? I'm Keenan Dixon on K-O-A, home of the buffs, Broncos and Rockies, and K-O-A sports today at three. Colorado's morning news. K-O-A. A news time 516. A judge is limiting some of the media coverage in the trial. The suspect accused of starting a massive fire in an apartment that was under construction in Denver earlier this month. 38-year-old Tony Xavier Becerra appeared in court for a hearing yesterday. He was arrested after surveillance photos allegedly showed him leaving the lead sale drive construction site just minutes before the fire was reported. The judge decided that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom, but no audio of the suspect can be recorded or used. Investigators say it could take several months before they determined the cause of the fire that destroyed the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Netherlands back on October 9th. The ATF will test evidence that a lab in Maryland, alongside observers from the Netherlands Fire Protection District. Results aren't expected until later this year. The Justice Department says it still plans on releasing millions of documents connected to the late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. It just can't say exactly when. A law passed last year required the department to release all of the Epstein files in December, but only about 125,000 pages have been released so far. There are still millions being reviewed for what the DOJ says is to make sure the identities of abuse survivors are protected. In a letter from the department to judges on Tuesday, officials said they expect to complete the review in the near term.

I'm Mark Mayfield. Today, Texas is set to carry out the first execution in the U.S. this year. Charles Victor Thompson is scheduled to be put to death for the 1998 murders of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. Thompson was in the news again in 2005. When he escaped jail during a retrial, he was caught days later. And the arrest in Minneapolis was a hot topic as President Trump hit the campaign trail yesterday, trying to help Republicans keep their majority in Congress. President Trump reiterated his support for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, following the shooting of a second protester in Minnesota. He also called his recent conversations with Minnesota's governor Tim Walz productive. The meantime the president also says he wants an honest investigation into the quote, very sad death of 37-year-old Alex Freddie, adding that he'll be watching over that probe himself. That's Foxx. Kevin Cork. A new portal to report ICE misconduct. We'll hear from Attorney General Phil Weiser coming up next. Take a look at your early Wednesday morning drive. Here's Jonathan Steele in the K-OA Traffic Center. Yep, still looking real good on the highways out here. There's certainly some icy spots off the freeway system, side streets in particular. But a dry track on the freeways here. Turnpike's 25 minutes, Denver Boulder, I-76 West, in from 85, back into the I-25 interchange, about six minutes. Same for 270, both directions, building nicely. No delays to the airport, 225's wide open, and all routes in between just look great this morning. 70 through Highlands Ranch along the foothills also. And foothills drive is not too bad. There is some construction work at the bottom of Floyd Hill, but they're not blocking any lanes if you're heading in that way. And like I said earlier, mountain roads look great all the way to Vail. Jonathan Steele on K-O-A-8 at 8.m. And 941FM. K-O-A news time 520. Gina contact on Colorado's morning news. A new tool on the Colorado Attorney General's website shows how residents can report misconduct by federal immigration agents. It can be found at COA. g.gov slash file dash complaints. Ross Kininski and I had an opportunity to speak with Attorney General Phil Weiser with more on this new report portal. We have a complaint system set up for a number of complaints that we handle complaints by consumers, patterned and practice complaints, Medicaid fraud complaints, that we're able to use that system so that when you have complaints about ICE officials and they're different kinds that could happen. Obviously. The tragedies we saw in Minnesota where you're talking about physical harm and the potential for criminal investigation, there's already one such investigation in Colorado from an incident Durango. You've got concerns about due process where someone's taken without due process of law and not given access to a hearing. Arrest in courthouses is another area that is illegal. And then there's concerns about the general way they're operating, wearing masks and others. Those are ones who are more likely to send on to federal counterparts. So we want to make sure that people know. We are watching. We are aware. We are ready. And we're prepared to take the appropriate action. So you mentioned the incident in Durango. Was that one that was reported through this portal already? And then what's the process of going through the investigation from there? We set this up recently after getting close to 180 complaints. And I'm not sure, Gene, if that specific incident was reported, it might have been. It's now being investigated by the Cato Bureau investigation. That's the first step to make sure we get all the facts.

The local district attorney is the one who will be charged with filing up and we're prepared to work with that district attorney, and that's a role we often play in complex cases. It is going to be important that we take these cases seriously. I mean, one of the painful, and to my mind, just... unacceptable parts of what we're seeing right now is this idea that there'd be no accountability. Obviously, the vice president's statement of absolute immunity is not true as a matter of law. It's offensive. We need accountability. We need to make sure that nobody is above the law. And by setting up this complaint system, we're making that clear and we're putting caught on a position, so we'll be ready. Phil, as a matter of law... Does the state, let's say that something were to happen here, similar to what just happened a couple of days ago in Minneapolis, would you or a district attorney have legal authority to prosecute a federal agent if you believed that there was probable cause and you could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the action that resulted in the death was unlawful? Yes. And one important point to note, just yesterday in Minnesota, the Attorney General Keith Ellison went into court to preserve and get access to evidence necessary for in Minnesota just that sort of proceeding to take place. Obviously, the federal government DHS is on the other side of that case. They may try to resist the collection of evidence. They may even try to suggest that there is a defense against state prosecution. But there have been such prosecutions in the past. And Russ, just to take this point out a little bit, if you're an FBI agent and you come home and you're wearing your uniform, you're on your badge, and you take your gun and you shoot your wife in the knee as part of a continuing pattern of domestic violence, you could claim, well, I was... An FBI agent, I've got absolute immunity. That is an abhorrent claim. It has no place in the law. If you do that same thing on the middle of the street to someone that you don't know, it is also a violation of our criminal law. Unjustified violence has no place in civil society, and it's important to not be allowed. I mean, I don't think that's an awesome comparison because clearly shooting your wife in the knee when you're mad at her has no plausible relationship to doing your job. Oh, your point's fair. The defense that could be made in a case like this was I was doing my job. And that's a defense that can be made in lots of cases where someone is on the job and said that what they're doing is justified. But if the facts show that there was no justification, there was no basis, there's no professional purpose to it, and it was. unjustified violence, at that point, it is prosecutable. That's Attorney General Phil Weiser. You can find that full interview, including our conversation that continued with the now 51 lawsuits filed against the Trump administration. It's all at c.way, Colorado.com.

Jonathan Steele joining us with a look at our drive from the K-OA Traffic Center. Yes, a nice quiet, calm drive out here so far. 85 coming in from Henderson, the Brighton area. I'm just starting to see a little increase there, and it actually looks slightly slow coming into the I-76 split there right at 104th Avenue. Not that it's in a delay mode, but just seems a little unusual because it is kind of slow through there because freeways are clean and green, as they say, we've got I-25 in from 120th to downtown to Colfax at roughly 12 million. minutes, 10 minutes between downtown of attack, C470 to 15-minute commute between Ken Carroll and I-25 in all of the routes again at the post at speed limit. Jonathan Steele on K-O.A. 8.D.m. and 94.1 FM. K-O-A news time 530 on Colorado's morning news, 8.50 a.m., 94-1 FM and on the I-Hurt radio app. Good morning. I'm Gina Gondack. Fox 31 pinpoint weather today, plenty of sunshine warming up into the low 50s this afternoon, dipping down into a low around 19 degrees overnight tonight. And then tomorrow, little cooler into the upper 40s. Right now it's 26 in Denver. Colorado Democrats on a mission. We are here united to call for the resignation of Kristi Noem. Congresswoman Brittany Pedersen joined Diana DeGette, Jonah Goose, Jason Crow, and both of Colorado senators to demand Kristi Noem's ouster. If she doesn't resign, Congressman Crow says she needs to be impeached. They have built a force to be a rogue agency, operate with lawlessness. Senator Michael Bennett agrees but says the entire Homeland Security Department needs an overhaul. We must constrain ICE and CPP and DHS, including prohibiting the detainment of children, requiring warrants. and banning agents from wearing masks. He and Senator John Hickenlooper say they'll vote no on any funding bill that includes money for ICE. Since the appropriations bill includes money for other agencies, its failure could result in another government shutdown. Our social media poll question for this morning, do you believe DHS Secretary Kristi Noem should resign? You can engage with us on our social media platforms. The Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance also condemning ICE for the latest deadly shooting in Minnesota, Graham, the Memorial Pastor. Patrick Demmer says leaders are lying about what happened. They are perpetrating, pontificating, and articulating to cover up. And excuse these murders. He was one of several faith leaders gathering outside the ICE detention center in Aurora yesterday afternoon, calling for the removal of ICE agents in every American city. Scary moments at a town hall in Minneapolis, where Congresswoman was speaking out against ICE last night. ABC's Jay O'Brien has more on the attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Ilhan Omar was calling for, as she has in the past.

ICE to be abolished. She also said that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be removed from her job. And as she was saying that, that man seemed to charred the podium. Those in the crowd say that he sprayed her with something. The man was immediately detained by what looks like private security. Witnesses say the liquid smelled like vinegar. The man is under arrest and facing assault charges. Now, this comes as we learned two immigration officers fired their weapons, killing VA nurse Alex Prettie during a protest in Minnesota over the weekend. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem accused Prattie of domestic terrorism. And Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller called him an assassin. Stephen Miller releasing a new statement last night saying agents may not have been following protocol. As for Kristi Noem, at least two Senate Republicans have joined Democrats calling for her to be fired. That's ABC's Lionel Moise. In Englewood, you may have noticed a different kind of protest taking place last night. This one in front of the Sheridan School District's Board of Education meeting, teachers and other staff members picketing along Federal Boulevard upset about the lack of a contract. And we just don't feel like we're being listened to, and so we figured it's time to make some noise. President of the Sheridan Educators Association, Kate Bierster, says they want the district to reduce class sizes and recognize classified staff like paraprofessionals. The superintendent tells Denver 7 that he's listening to the teachers and reaching out to them via email, but the teachers said that they've had no input about the latest contract offer. Voters will have their say on whether a series of zoning code changes will go into effect in Lakewood. The Lakewood City Council decided to hold a special election on April 7th to vote on those changes. The council had previously approved zoning modifications to allow more diverse types of housing in a move to lower home prices. But opponents say the measures will change the character of the older neighborhoods and won't actually reduce home prices. They forced the special election by collecting more than 10,000 signatures last fall. A Denver judge limiting the social media coverage of the trial for the man accused of deliberately setting a fire in an apartment construction site. 38-year-old Tony Xavier Becerra appeared in court for a hearing yesterday. He was arrested following the January 2nd fire at a construction site on Leedsdale Drive. Surveillance photos showed him leaving the construction site just minutes before the fire was reported. The judge decided that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom during his appearances, but no audio of the suspect can be recorded or used. Thank you. The University of Denver marking International Holocaust Survivors Day by announcing a new position. D.U. Center for Judaic Studies is announcing a new, fully endowed professorship in Holocaust and anti-Semitism studies. Provost Elizabeth Lebois says the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz magnifies the importance of the job. We are here as a reminder that democracy survives only when people choose to act with courage. D.U's Holocaust Awareness Institute has been fighting in.

anti-Semitism since 1983. Connor Shreve, K-OA. The NTSB pointing to what it calls systemic failures that caused the deadly crash on an American airline's flight in a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac last year. Controllers had been sounding the alarm about traffic at Reagan National for years, and during a lengthy NTSB board hearing today, investigators slammed the FAA for ignoring the warnings. How is it that no one, absolutely no one, In the FAA did the work. Investigators saying the air traffic controller told the chopper to pass behind the plane, but because of a transmission issue, the chopper crew never heard the command. At ABC's Gio Benitez, 67 people died in that crash. We'll have more on the hearing that took place yesterday coming up in about 15 minutes. And classic rock fans can look forward to a remixed version of an epic album. Proving everything old is new again. Aerosmith's 1973 self-titled album is being reissued next month, remixed, remastered, and, of course, on vinyl, just like the old days, a four record set. Co-founder Stephen Tyler and Joe Perry have newly mixed the original recordings and tapes alongside producer Zach Zerveni and Steve Berkowitz. The epic track, Dream On, wasn't a hit at the time until it was discovered by fans two years later. Wayne Cabot, ABC News. You're up to Dayton, Colorado's Morning News. Take a look at the latest business and money news and maybe some weather news that is becoming money news as well. Keenan Dixon, I mean, Keenan, the snow has been so bad, but we've never been in such desperation when it comes to the snowpack, and especially the ski resort's struggling. Yeah, and you and I are both epic passholders, and I kind of wish we were icon passholders because of this. Icon passholders can essentially get paid for hitting the slopes now. Yeah, you'll have to deal with the worst snowpack since 1987 and warm temperatures. The company that owns ICON Pass, Altera, is offering $20 in mountain credits for each day they ski at ICON resorts between now and February 25th with up to... $60 in credits. That money can be used at restaurants, rental shops, stores, and steamboat and winter park, and ski resorts in other states. The offer comes on the heels of the slow start to the ski season, cutting into critical revenue from lodging food and drinks, rentals, and other boosts to the local economies when people are on the mountains. Now, Tara doesn't report visitor numbers, but Epic Pass owner, Vail Resorts, is saying there's been a 20% drop in visitors and close to a 16% loss in rentals. revenue from food sales, all because of this very slow start to the ski season. It's not too early to file those income tax returns. The state taxation division encourages filing online, saying it reduces processing time and errors. Those filings can be done via the state's revenue department or through accepted tax software programs. Filing by snail mail is still available. Colorado also offers low or no-cost help in filing taxes at tax.colorado.gov. Yale University is giving free tuition to students who come from families making less than $200,000 per year. The move is set to go into effect during the 2026-27 academic year, giving those who make less than the number tuition scholarships, while those who make less than 100,000 will have all costs eliminated. The school says in the announcement that half of American households with school-age children would be eligible. Budweiser is already giving us a look at its ad for the Super Bowl.

The beer company released its 60-second Super Bowl commercial online. It features a Clydesdale and a bald eagle as Leonard Skinner's Freebird plays in the background. The company said it knew it had to rise to the occasion as its Budweiser's 150th anniversary and America's 250th birthday. NBC announced back in September it sold its Super Bowl ads inventory out earlier than ever. I'm Monica Nelson. You're up to date on the latest business of money news. Taking a look at your Wednesday morning drive. Here's Jonathan Seale in the K-Wa Traffic Center. Yep, still very quiet out here this morning. Just watch out through some of these construction zones, in particular, the Piccadilly interchange there, just west of B470 along I-70. The crews are working. I don't see any backup, certainly not yet. The volume is extremely light out here. Westbound I-776, that ramp to southbound 25, just beginning to slow a little bit. Another project that's been underway for quite some time, and it does tend to hold up the drive a little bit. Santa Feud. at Mississippi. This is the southbound side where the left portion of the road is blocked, and down south, of course, county line remains closed between Clarkson and University for well up until April. So several more months there's a lot of alternate routes in the area. Sometimes it is a little congested coming out of Highlands Ranch. Jonathan Steele on K.O.A. 8.50 a.m. and 94.1 FM.

Changes coming to the best Broncos team in a decade. The team fired offensive coordinator, Joe Lombardo, as they addressed concerns with their slow-starting offensive issues. K-O-A sports host, Brian Edwards. Yeah, I was a little surprised that the Broncos moved on from Joe Lombardo. I think in large part because Sean Payton has typically kept his coaches the ones that he's worked with. I mean, Joe Lombardo was with him for 17 years. K-O-A Broncos insider Benjamin Netanyahu Albright says obvious candidate and current past game coordinator, Davis Webb, might hesitate. Tate on taking the job because Sean Peyton still calls the plays. Offensive coordinator would be a promotion for Webb, but I don't know, like, do you take that job without playcalling ability? I mean, you're going to get a pay bump and a title bump, but Sean Payton's still going to be the play caller unless he gives that up, which, again, most people are not expecting. Webb is still considered a strong candidate for the Raiders head coaching job. Interviewing with the team this week, he also interviewed with the bills, but they chose to promote offensive coordinator Joe Brady to head coach. Six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichette. will not be a first ballot Hall of Famer, despite his role in orchestrating one of the best dynasties the sport has ever seen, ESPN's Dan Graziano. They should be embarrassed. There's no reason not to put Bill Belichick in a hall of it. You're going to tell me SpyGate and Deflategate. This is a voting body that has for years insisted that it only focuses on what happened on the field. Are you going to hold Tom Brady out over SpyGate and Deflate Gate, too? ESPN reports Belichick said after the news came out, six Super Bowls isn't enough? What does the guy have to do? The abs were locking up a key member of their defense with a long-term deal. Colorado signing defenseman Sam Malinsky to a four-year contract extension. That's reportedly worth $19 million. The 27-year-old is in the midst of a breakout season in which he already has set career highs with 21 assists and 24 points through 50 games. He's second among the team's blue liners and assists behind reigning Norris trophy winner, Kil McCarr. Malinski has 11 goals and 38 assists through 149. career games. And the abs are in Ottawa tonight, continuing one of the best starts in NHL history through 50 games with 79 points already. Just four points off the pace set by the 1943 Montreal Canadiens. Puck drop is at 5.30 tonight. I'm Kenan Dixon on K-OA, Homo the Buffs, Broncos and Rockies, and KOA Sports today at 3. Colorado's Morning News. K-O-A news time 547. One person is in critical condition after they were rescued from the ice at Sand Creek Park in Aurora. First responders were called to the pond yesterday evening after a witness reported an adult and three dogs walking near the ice and then called 911 when they saw a hole in the ice and a dog in distress. One person and one dog were pulled from the water. All three dogs were being cared for by animal services. The Aspen Skiing Company mourning the loss of one of their employees in a skiing accident last week. 48-year-old Rohan Verplank of Crestabute died on January 22nd on the Lower Creekside run at Aspen Snowmass. The Pitkin County Coroner's Office is working to determine the cause of death. And the Humane Society of Pikes Peak region says they've received 44 calls of pets being left out in the cold from Friday through Monday morning in El Paso County. No citations were issued, but officers did provide warnings and education on the dangers of the cold weather. Repeat violators can lead to animal cruelty charges. A recap on NTSB's hearing of the mid-air collision. That coming up next. Taking a look at your Wednesday morning drive first. Let's go to the COA Traffic Center with Jonathan Steele.

Yeah, we're starting to see a little bit of traffic forming up north, in particular the 270 and I-76 ramps. And not really a big backup, but certainly a little slow there. Coming through Commerce City, though, does look good on the eastbound side of 270, leading out to I-70, which is about 10 minutes west from Pena back to I-25. Now, we are seeing a little bit of a slowdown developing also out of Thornton along I-25 southbound. This is just down past, though, maybe the Thornton Parkway or so, but it picks up rather quickly making your way to downtown. white open to the tech center and again, the foothills and the mountain roads look great this morning. Jonathan Steele on K-O-A 8.50m. and 94-1-0. K-O-A news time 549. Gita Gottec on Colorado's morning news. We must do everything in our power, even Russell Feathers, to get our recommendations implemented, or this will. happen again. NTSB Chair Jennifer Omidy says there were deep underlying systemic failures and system flaws that led to the mid-air collision of a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet above Washington, D.C., almost exactly a year ago, killing 67 people. The NTSB held a hearing yesterday, sharing some of the preliminary data. Joining us on the K-Wa Commons Spirit Health hotline from their transportation unit is ABC News correspondent Sam Sweeney. Sam, thank you so much for joining me this morning. If you can start by maybe explaining a little... little bit. Obviously, this is radio and not television, but they showed some of the cockpit visual simulations yesterday talking a little bit about what you can see and what demonstrated and contributed to this collision. Yeah, there is a lot of questions following this crash. How did the helicopter not see the airplane? How did the airplane not see the helicopter? And they showed a simulation of what the pilots likely saw. And the airplane really blend in with the city light. Same with the helicopter. It looks like a little dot that blends in with the city light. It's pitch black. And this airplane is coming in for a landing. The helicopter crew is wearing night vision goggles. The control tower says, do you have the airplane in sight? And the helicopter says, yes, we do. But there were about five or six planes lined up on the approach to land at Regan National Airport. So they likely saw another airplane that was lined up. And then when the tower said, go behind that plane that was coming in, that they ultimately collided with, that transmission. didn't get through to the helicopter crew because another pilot was talking at the same time. So they never heard that message to move. Their altimeters were faulty. The army never told them that it could be plus or minus 100 feet. So they likely thought that they were 100 feet below. But what the NTSB said was a primary factor in this crash is that for some reason that they don't know why, the FAA approved helicopters to fly within 75 feet of commercial airplanes landing at Reagan National Airport, which is insanity to think about.

You know, they could fly anywhere else, but why would you have a helicopter fly directly underneath an airplane that is on final approach and be within 75 feet? That should have never happened, and that is one of the emergency recommendations that the NTSB put forward, and the FAA did take immediate action. So there are no longer helicopters flying on that route. Sam, when we talk about what we saw yesterday, obviously the NTSB chair was very, very vocal about everything that's been happening as of late. Did it feel like it focused more on... past history and some of the unaddressed issues at Reagan? Or was it specifically focusing more on this collision? It focused on everything, but what she made the point of is that there were so much data. There were so many warnings. The air traffic controllers were screaming from the hilltops for years that there was going to be a situation like this. They said there were too many aircraft flying into this airport, around this airport. The helicopters were flying too close. Something needs to change. There was almost a close call that was similar to this in 2013. And a helicopter working group was formed to come up with changes. Everything that they recommended was ignored. These controllers for years who said they're understaff, overworked, their stress, nothing has changed. All of the warnings were ignored. 80 pilots a year were saying that they were having dangerous close calls with helicopters at Reagan. Nobody was looking at those reports. There were 15,000 reports of loss of separation incidents at Reagan since 2021. 15,000, nobody was looking at that data. So the question is, if this is happening at Reagan, it's likely happening at other airports as well. And FAA needs to start looking at their data so they can figure out. changes before something like this happened somewhere else. Now, the FDA has said, okay, we reduced the hourly plane arrivals at Reagan. They've increased air control staff. You talked about the distance and the fact that they don't have helicopters and airplanes in the same area now. But is it not enough? Are we not seeing the recommendations at NTSB proposed? Are those not things that are being put into consideration at Reagan? Now that the recommendations are formalized, they will begin the process of implementing them, and hopefully they do implement them all. One of the biggest ones is that since 2006, the NTSB has been telling the FAA to require all aircraft to have what's called ADFB in. It is a GPS device that can be purchased for roughly $400 per aircraft that would have prevented this crash. These devices all talk to each other, and they would have alerted the crews of both the airplane and the helicopter about a minute out that they were on a collision course. But the FAA for years has said that those devices aren't necessary. I think that was... Now the... Go ahead. I'm sorry, Sam. Now the PSB is recommending you have to have those. Yeah, I think that was the hardest headline for people to see that $400 GPS device possibly could have prevented this crash of what we saw.

Sam, when do we expect the next hearing to take place? This is it. That was the final hearing. They voted on the probable cause. They will release their final report in two weeks. 500 pages long, and there are 19,000 supporting documents for this. The evidence and the investigation is thorough. It was one of the most complicated, difficult investigations in NTSB history, but we have the answers now, and we can prevent this, but the FAA and the other agencies and the federal government need to take action and implement these recommendations so this doesn't happen again. Transportation Unit with ABC News, it's Sam Sweeney. Sam, thanks for your time this morning. Thank you. K.O.A. News Time, 559. Wrap it up the show here on Colorado's morning news. Ross, sometimes when you're talking at 5 o'clock in the morning, you find yourself adding syllables to simulization. I heard the simulation. I like it. I mean, if George W. Bush can do it, you can do it. I thought of strategy just yesterday. Strategie, right. Right. Which a lot of people think he said he actually didn't. That was from Saturday Night Live. He did say a lot of things. So you'll just be our George W. Bush. Sometimes words just come out and you go, what? I was just on to stop there and go, what? It was actually kind of funny because I heard you say simulation. And then you went off the air. And then you were like. looking at yourself. Like, did I just say that? It was pretty funny. Oh, man. It was pretty funny. All right. We've got a ton of stuff to do on today's show. Actually, Gina booked aviation expert Steve Cowell, and you just heard Gina talk some about this in the news already. But I'll tell you this NTSB hearing on that midair crash at Reagan National Airport. This hearing yesterday was one of the most unbelievable criticisms of government by government that I've ever seen. We had a lot more on that. the show as well, of course. Keep it here for Rotten. R. O. Frost on the news with Gina and producer Dragon in Broncos gear for the third day in a row.