0 >> senator padilla. >> i think i had a female agent in the room at the olympic training center as well, but i'm not entirely sure. >> i feel like we all had the same people. >> if i recall, my direct communication was with a male fbi agent. >> right, in the room. >> okay. senator padilla? >> i want to start by thanking chairman durbin and all those who have made this hearing possible. to the panelists, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. i admire and respect each one of you for choosing to participate today, for sharing your testimony with us. today is not easy. i recognize that you each had the option of respectfully declining the invitation to be here, but you didn't. i hope that you understand that your presence here is not just so important to the members of this committee and to the senate as a body, but also speaks volumes for the countless victims of abuse that are out there listening or watching or will listen or will watch. i appreciate the conversation about mental health that was prompted by the questions from senator booker. my wife is a very active mental health advocate. so she has trained me well to be cognizant of those issues and ask important and timely questions. ms. biles, i hope you might have heard about some of our amplification of your courage from the most recent olympics to take care of yourself first. that took a lot at that moment. just going to offer a few comments. i think most of the questions i would raise have been raise body -- by my colleagues. while the criminal cases have been closed, we cannot and will not ignore the missteps that enabled his rampant misconduct. the power structure that shielded him has no place in america, not today, not in our future. and if we're to achieve the highest ideals of our nation, right, we talk about fairness and equality so often, then we won't just ask why. we cannot give up until we get the answers as to why this man was allowed to use his position of power to abuse for so long. we won't just ask why. we commit to getting the answers to why the initial investigation into these matters was bungled. lastly, we commit ourselves to building a justice system that holds powerful people, learning from this particular case, but holds other powerful people accountable for their actions. so, again, my main message to you is just thank you. through your participation and what we will do, we hope to better protect future generations. >> thank you, senator. senator ossoff. >> to all of you for being here and being so direct with us and enduring this experience, i just want to assure you that i've listened and heard what you're demanding. the burden shouldn't be on you to see that there is not impunity in this case. personnel at the fbi, jay abbott and his subordinates, steve penny, usa gymnastics, the u.s. olympic and paralympic committees, the burden is ours in the u.s. senate to see that there is a full investigation, that there is personal accountability and institutional accountability for abuse, enablement of abuse, neglectful and improper law enforcement conduct and i think compelling evidence of potential obstruction of justice and official corruption as well. so thank you again for your testimony. i'll make sure that each of you and your families and representatives have contact information for me and my office and continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that justice is done. thank you. >> thank you, senator ossoff. ms. biles, ms. maroney, ms. nicn nic nichols, ms. raisman, thank you for your testimony today. it will make a difference in the lives of many people witnessing it. you all were gold medalists today in the cause of justice. thank you for joining us. you're excused. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> hello, everybody. i'm john king in washington. if you've been with us, you've been listening to draw matic testimony on capitol hill today. emotional and infuriating details from four star u.s. gymnasts. they say the fbi gravely, grossly mishandled its investigation into the former usa gymnastics team doctor larry nassar, who abused them and hundreds, hundreds of other girls. following this emotional testimony today and the investigations and with me are gen jeanne. you had these great american athletes, global icons, if you will, talking in heartbreaking personal detail about the trauma and what they believe not only the betrayal not just by the u.s. olympic committee, but by the fbi. >> the betrayal by so many. they were brutally, brutally honest, emotionally vulnerable as they so amoaptly described w had happened to them. the facts are horrendous. the fact that the fbi in indianapolis field office and as it was said by senators coast to coast new what was happening but covered it up for more than one year. but simone biles said that back at the largranch once it became known that larry nassar was abusing some of the young gymnast, it was going around that she was one that was being abused. they didn't tell her, they didn't ask her not until after 2016 in rio did she say someone confronted her. a a it was 14 months after she spoke with someone at the fbi that they ever questioned her further on all of this. it was michaela maroney who was gymnast number one in the inspector general's report who with so much specificity talked about how she was violently sexual assaulted by larry nassar before and after the london olympics, shortly after she had gotten her medal and it went on from there internationally. john. >> we're still showing live pictures in the committee hearing room, senators talking to these american athletes. they are gold medalists, international icons, survivors of horrific sexual abuse. paula reed, we may hear from these young women momentarily. what was stunning is that, yes, larry nassar is in prison for 150 years plus. he will spend the rest of his life in prison, but these women and others sitting behind them who did not testify believe justice is not even close to being served in this case. they have questions about the olympic committee, questions about the fbi. it was stunning to hear each after she made her allegations, even after she knew the investigation was underway that there were other young women, including some sitting in that hearing room who went to dr. nassar because they thought it was cool to have the same doctor as the olympic athletes and those girls were not warned even though the investigation was well underway. >> there's very few points of bipartisan agreement in this town, but you see both sides of the aisle agree that the handling of this investigation was a national tragedy. when you're looking at abuse on this scale, pedophiles, people who sexually abuse children on this scale, it takes a village to enable that, to cover something like this up. this really was about the system that protected larry nassar, that enabled him to continue this abuse even as claims were being brought. simone biles really did make the point, as did some of the other women, that this isn't about him, this is about the system. they said point-blank they want to see criminal prosecutions. we know the office of the inspector general made some criminal referrals, but at this point those referrals are not being acted on. we do not anticipate any criminal prosecutions of those fbi officials named in the report and of course the fbi director and the inspector general himself will be testifying about this shortly. >> you just saw the four gymnasts leaving the hearing room. it does not appear they're going to speak to reporters. this hearing will continue. the committee has questions for the justice department inspector general who looked into fbi conduct and the like. some of the senators were asking what else do you want from us? among the answers were, federal prosecution, not just state prosecution, and even these gymnasts saying that, yes, some safeguards have been put in place, but questioning whether they are working effectively. >> reporter: it's very interesting because simone very quietly said we want a federal prosecution. here's what happened. the inspector general's report actually made criminal referrals to the attorney general's office. it was confirmed today in the instruct r introductory statements that they refused prosecution. because of that, could there be a limit on some that can be prosecuted because the inspector general was able to get some interviews from fbi officials because the attorney general said they would not be process kiting prosecuting this case. however, jay abbott the special agent in charge of the fbi office in indianapolis, he voluntarily spoke to the inspector general. he still can be federally prosecuted along with if more information would come out, if there would be a criminal investigation, more information of a criminal nature that could extend potential criminal charges in this matter. >> for those of you who may have joined us at the top of the hour and did not listen to the 90 minutes of testimony, these are young women you have seen at the olympics, you have seen in the world championships, you have seen them on the balance bar and the beams. today they sat and recounted just horrific, horrific personal tragedy. listen. >> to be clear, i blame larry nassar and i also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse. >> today i ask you all to hear my voice. i ask you please do all that is in your power to ensure these individuals are held responsible and accountable for ignoring my initial report, for lying about my initial report and for covering up for a child molester. >> this conduct by these fbi agents including the special agent in charge who are held in high regard and expected to protect the public is unacceptable, disgusting and shameful. >> if we don't do all we can to get these facts, the problems we are here to address will persist and we are deluding ourselves if we think other children can be spared the institutionalized tolerance and normalization of abuse that i and so many others had to endure. >> paula reed, it is stunning when you listen to it. you think about it as a parent, sexual assault, sexual abuse is a chronic problem across the country, but these women were stars. they were going to be olympic athletes. they are supposed to be more protected and yet the people who were supposed to protect them, these young women were saying were complicit in their mistreatment and a coverup. >> absolutely. this looks horrible for the fbi, because not only were some of these initial complaints mishandled. there was then an alleged attempt at a coverup and then you have criminal referrals they're not acting upon. it's unclear what the fbi and the justice department's message is to these survivors of sexual assault. we're going to hear from the fbi director shortly. they don't have a lot to say for th themselves right now. this story is a travesty for the fbi. they have a lot to answer to. >> they have a lot to answer for. let's put it in the most personal terms. this is michaela maroney testifying for the united states senate. the fbi does have questions to answer, including to this american hero. >> let's be honest. by not taking immediate action from my report, they allowed a child molester to go free for more than a year. this inaction directly allowed nassar's abuse to continue. what is the point of reporting abuse if our own fbi agents are going to take it upon themselves to bury that report in a drawer. they had legal legitimate evidence of child abuse and did nothing. if they're not going to protect me, i want to know who are they trying to protect? >> it is clear from the testimony they believe that there were too many men involved in this and that the men were not taking them seriously and that competitive pressures, that maybe there were people on the olympic committee that maybe had a too cozy relationship with the fbi that did not want to blow this up and hold dr. nassar accountable because of the impact on competitiveness, right? >> reporter: there are so many questions as to why would you, according to the report, intentionally cover this up? we know from the report that steve penny, the head of usa gymnastics along with jay abbott, the head of the fbi in indianapolis met at a bar. jay abbott started talking about nassar. then he said, you know, i'm about to retire. i'd love a job with the usa olympic and paralympic committee. that was the conversation. but could all of this be born because he wanted a job? there was another. the special supervisory agent was the one that interviewed michaela maroney and he also covered it up. what were the conversations between them that we don't know about? because the attorney for these victims believes there was a conspiracy here. that is a very serious allegation, it is a loaded term, but what were the conversations so that at least two fbi agents worked toward the same result? . >> flhopefully we get some absolutes to those questions when the justice department testifies. when you talk to people at the fbi and the justice department, can they tell you with certainty that the roots of that corruption, potential conflict of interest, all of those roots have been ripped out, or is there still a problem? >> no. we don't even fully understand the roots of the problem, exactly why they were engaging together in this same pattern of behavior. why did it take a year and a half to write down a victim statement? and when you did so, you didn't even transcribe it correctly. no one can say with confidence that the roots have been pulled up that this will not repeat itself. it's not just the fbi. this is something we've seen in churches, in boy scouts and at other universities. >> one of the things that happens repeatedly in this town and elsewhere is as time passes, the urgency of these questions lapses. i hope that is not the case in this case. let's hope the brave testimony we heard from these four athletes today keeps the pressure on. we will continue to follow this, as again, the justice department inspector general is going to face questions from this committee. we'll stay on top of that. also ahead for us today, california governor gavin newsom fends off a recall in landslide fashion. what happens when we welco change? we can make emergency medicine possible at 40,000 ft. instead of burning our past for power, we're back to capitol hill. i told you just moments ago the hearing was -- >> generally familiar with the nassar story shortly after his arrest in 2016. and i remember even then being appalled that there were so many people who had failed to do their jobs and keep these young women safe from that predator. but after i became fbi director and when i learned there were people at the fbi who had also failed these women, i was heart sick. i'm grateful to inspector general whorowitz for his team' work. i want to be crystal clear. the actions and inaction of the fbi employees detailed in this report are totally unacceptable. these individuals betrayed the core duty that they have of p protecting people. they failed to protect young women and girls from abuse. the work we do certainly is often complicated and uncertain. we're never going to be perfect, but the kinds of fundamental errors that were made in this case in 2015 and 2016 should never have happened, period. as long as i'm fbi director, i'm committed to doing everything in my power to make sure they never happen again. the fbi cannot carry out its vital mission of protecting the american people without trust. in this case, fbi agents, certain fbi agents broke that trust repeatedly and inexcusably. to pretend otherwise would be yet one more insult to the survivors. failures like the ones that happened in this case threaten the very confidence we rely on every day to keep people safe. so i want to make sure the public knows that the reprehensible conduct reflected in this report is not representative of the work that i see from our 37,000 folks every day. the actions instead of the agents described in this report are a discredit to those men and women who do the job. i have found that the agents and officers who investigate crimes against children and sex crimes are among the most compassionate and fiercely dedicated out there. i suspect a number of you on the committee have had the same experience on your end. i am grateful to the woman who came forward today. there is no more important work in law enforcement than helping victims of abuse. it is essential that we do everything we can to ensure that victims continue to come forward with confidence that their reports are going to be thoroughly and aggressively investigated. a big part of that is accountability and holding our folks to the highest standard our work requires. when i received inspector general's report and saw that a supervisors agent in indianapolis had failed to carry out even the most basic parts of the job, i immediately made sure he was no longer performing the functions of a special agent. i can now tell you that that individual no longer works for the fbi in any capacity. as for the former indianapolis special agent in charge, the descriptions of his behavior also reflect violations of the fbi's longstanding code of conduct and the ethical obligations for all fbi employees, especially senior officials. that individual has been gone from the bureau for about 3 1/2 years, having retired in january of 2018 before any review launched. i will say it is extremely frustrating that we are left with little disciplinary recourse when people retire before their cases can be adjudicated. people who engage in that kind of gross misconduct have no place in the fbi. i can also assure you that the fbi's response is not limited to dealing with those who failed so profoundly back in