News Wrap: DOT investigating Delta over treatment of passengers during tech outage

Amna Nawaz:

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says his department is launching an investigation into Delta Air Lines over its treatment of passengers following last week's global tech outage.

Authorities will look at whether the airline has been complying with laws around flight delays and cancellations. Delta has canceled more than 6600 flights since last Friday, far more than any other airline.

Long lines, unclaimed bags and stranded passengers.

Woman:

This is 1:15 in the morning in the Atlantic Airport

Amna Nawaz:

As frustration and tensions run high inside Atlanta's International Airport, where some have been stuck for the last four days.

Dwayne Allen, Passenger Stuck in Atlanta: Look around. There's bags everywhere. And there's still families just laying on here on the ground since Friday. So this is ridiculous.

Amna Nawaz:

Delta Air Lines, based in Atlanta, is struggling to restore service to normal, canceling another 400 flights today. That is 10 times more than the next worst performer since the outage.

Yesterday, Delta accounted for nearly two-thirds of all flight cancellations worldwide. More than half of the airline's I.T. systems run on Microsoft, more so than other airlines, leading to issues even locating and rescheduling crews.

Passengers across the country have spent days trying to reach their destinations.

Caroline Kozarsky, Atlanta Resident:

Communications have been very scarce. Say, we have gotten text messages about updates to gate changes and flight departures, but they have been very scarce. The app, I think it's back up to running at some degree.

It's not as bad as yesterday, but it's hard to get a hold of a representative. I contacted Delta. The wait time was 12 hours to get a hold of an agent.

Amna Nawaz:

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg said his department has received hundreds of complaints and says Delta must inform its customers that they're entitled to a refund if they choose not to travel.

Delta says it's issuing transfers and travel vouchers. But the bad news isn't over yet. Delays and cancellations are expected for several more days.

Also today, federal aviation authorities are looking into Southwest Airlines after a series of safety-related incidents, most recently a jet flying as low as 150 feet over water while still miles away from its destination of Tampa Bay Airport.

In a statement, the agency said — quote — "The FAA has increased oversight of Southwest Airlines to ensure it's complying with federal safety regulations." Southwest said today it is cooperating with the FAA investigation.

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez will resign on August 20. Pressure had been growing on the 70-year-old Democrat to step down after he was convicted last week on all 16 criminal counts at a federal trial in New York.

Following the verdict, Menendez had remained defiant, telling reporters he would appeal. But he dodged questions about whether he would resign. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, also a Democrat, will select someone to serve the remainder of Menendez's term, which ends in January.

Thousands of people have evacuated Canada's Jasper National Park to escape wildfires threatening the area. Blazes are burning on both sides of the town of Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. Authorities gave residents and park visitors five hours to clear out overnight. Evacuees say they fled West through smoke and ash, hitting bumper-to-bumper traffic at times.

By day, eyewitness video captured flames consuming trees and smoke billowing into the sky.

Local officials in Ethiopia said today that at least 229 people have died in recent mudslides triggered by heavy rains. Children and pregnant women were among the victims in a remote part of the country's south. Many of the victims were killed on Monday morning as they tried to help survivors of a mudslide from a day earlier.

At least five people have been pulled out alive. Landslides are common in the country's rainy season, which is expected to last until mid-September.

Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have agreed to form a government together. The two groups issued a joint statement during meetings in Beijing. But they provided no details on how or when the government will be formed. Hamas and Fatah have been bitter enemies since a bloody civil war in the Gaza Strip ended in 2007. Previous agreements between the two groups have failed.

Israel remains opposed to any postwar government that includes Hamas and they swiftly denounced the agreement, as did the U.S.

Matthew Miller, State Department Spokesman:

Hamas is a terrorist organization, something that we obviously made clear before October 7.

But when it comes to governance of Gaza at the end of the conflict, there can't be a role for a terrorist organization. Hamas has long been a terrorist organization. They have the blood of innocent civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian, on their hands.

Amna Nawaz:

All this comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington, where he will deliver a joint — an address to the joint session of Congress tomorrow. Then, on Thursday, he will meet with President Biden at the White House, as well as with former President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The Army has disciplined three Reserve officers for dereliction of duty over last year's mass shooting in Maine. Last October, Reservist Robert Card killed 18 people before taking his own life. In a report released today, the Army detailed multiple failures in Card's chain of command, including — quote — "procedural breakdowns" in Card's medical care from the military hospital to the civilian hospital where he was committed.

But it cleared the Army of blame. Instead, the report recommends that the Army Reserve review and update its mental health policies and procedures.

A district court judge in Iowa has ruled that the state's near-total abortion ban will take effect on Monday at 8:00 a.m. local time. The law passed last year bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. A judge had blocked it from being enforced, but the state's Supreme Court ordered last month that the hold be lifted.

In response, Iowa's Republican Governor Kim Reynolds issued a statement saying — quote — "Today is a victory for life."

On Wall Street today, stocks ended a tad lower, as investors waited on earnings reports from some big tech companies. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 50 points on the day. The Nasdaq slipped 10 points, bringing it just below the 18000-point mark. The S&P 500 also ended slightly lower.