It does appear to be a personal issue with an individual, the hijacker, who does remain on board. As abby said, along with seven other passengers still on board. Fox friends will continue to follow the story as it develops throughout the day. Thank you for joining us. Bye. Excellent job, ladies. This is a fox news alert. A man hijackings an egypt airplane from alexandria to cairo claiming to be wearing a suicide bomb belt. That plane now on the runway in cypress with several to four passengers and three crew on board. Seven overall, four passengers and three crew on board. There are a lot more when this thing started. Exactly why was the plane hijacked . Were starting to put some of the details together. John huddy is live in jerusalem. John, the president of the country of cypress says that its not terrorism. Sounds like a personal issue. Nonetheless, this guy who
hijacked the plane had a bomb on his chest, right . Reporter again, and let me be very clear about this, steve, ainsley, brian. There have been a lot of conflicting reports. Initially it was said according to officials that this guy had an explosive belt. Now were hearing that may or may not be the case. I want to emphasize that. Apparently the guy said he had an explosive belt and demanded that the flight go to istanbul. Then the captain, according to officials, said there wasnt enough fuel, so they landed in cypress. Let me quickly highlight the information that we do that is confirmed, and this according to egypts Civil Aviation minister who had given a press conference earlier. Not sure if thats ongoing. Seven people remain on board ms181, the egypt air flight. He said four staff, three passengers. Among the staff, the captain, Flight Attendants captains or
pilots, rather, the captain, first officer, the Flight Attendants and an air marshal. As far as the passengers on board, we dont know their identities, and the Civil Aviation minister there in egypt would not give their nationalities. We know there are a number of american and brits on board. We dont know the nationalities of the three passengers and why they in particular were kept on board. Weve seen the video, the images of most of the passengers getting off the plane, walking calmly, seemingly on the tarmac to the terminal there in larnaca at the airport on the ground. As far as the identity of the hijacker, there have been, again and i want to be clear about this because i dont want to speculate. We have to be careful, there have been conflicting reports about his name. Earlier, egyptian officials said that hes 27yearold ibrahim
samaha. Were hearing now that may not be the right person again. I want to be clear about that. Earlier, also egyptian officials said he had dual egyptian american citizenship. Were waiting for some more concrete information about that. Again, this guy said that he had an explosive belt on, demanded to go istanbul. Instead, landed in larnaca. We know the Egyptian Airlines and the airport it flew out of has been under increased scrutiny after the russian plane blew up en route to russia. The egyptian officials said theres no way someone could get a bomb past our screening process. However, theyre treating it like it is a bomb. Do you think this is some cyi situation overall, or do you think there might be something here that the guy has a bomb because it wouldnt have got then far since it happened at 1 45 eastern time and still going on now, if he actually
didnt prove to the seven left that he has a bomb . Reporter well, thats a great question, brian. Thats certainly the concern. I dont want to speak for egyptian officials. I dont want to speculate too much. Again, this guy said that he had an explosive belt on. So in a situation like it, obviously as weve seen in the past, they have to take it very, very seriously, particularly when you have a plane full of passengers. Negotiations, we know that egypt air has been negotiating with him, and he released most of the passengers. Still, seven people, four staff, three passengers, remain on board. Okay. And just to be clear, the plane took off, and it was once it was flying somewhere, thats when the guy approached and said, okay, ive got a bomb. Lets go to first wanted istanbul, but the captain said, we dont have the gas for that. High about cypress . How about cypress . It was mid flight when the hijacking took place. Reporter thats correct. It was mid flight. It took off around 8 15 local time on the ground in egypt. It left from the alexandria airport, small airport. Bound for cairo. Its a very short flight, only about 30 minutes. As you said, about midway through, he said he had a bomb, demanded the flight go to istanbul. The captain said, according to officials, he did not have enough fuel. So it landed in cypress, as mentioned. Again, waiting for more information about the identity of this guy. Thank you very much. Lets bring in stuart baker, former nsa general counsel and assistant secretary for policy at the department of homeland security. Thank you very much for being with us this morning. Its a pleasure. I want to touch on what brian had mentioned about security. I understand security there in egypt is extremely lax, at least for domestic flights. How does a passenger get on board with a bomb allegedly . That strikes me as pretty unlikely. It would be a Real Security lapse on the part of the
egyptian authorities. One we havent seen even for domestic flights in egypt. So its a possibility that this is just a a scam, that the guy came on and then later insisted he had an explosive belt. So we shouldnt exclude that possibility. Do you know what the security process is in egypt for domestic flights . I dont know what it is for domestic flights. In general, the processes are pretty startedized around the world because you cant get approved as an National Airport if you dont follow tsas procedures. Sure. You know, this is a little different scenario because weve already heard its being described as not being terrorism related. Theres some suggestion that it is personal, and apparently the guy had an exwife on this island if it is that guy that we think it is. You know, our protocols are set up to screen for terrorism. But not the lovelorn. Reporter yeah. I think thats true. This does not have the same aura
as the hijackings and bombings of airliners that weve seen in the past. So its quite possible that hes just making it up. He got on the flight, distraught, decided to do something dramatic. We dont know whos left on board. We know theres seven left. At one point they said they had eight americans, four brits, two dutch, two belgians, french and italian, and two greeks and one syrian. So it looks like a real mix of nationalities. Having said that, if youre running an american airport, in charge of security, do you do anything now as we start our flying day . I would say a little bit of additional caution is appropriate, but given the way this seems to have turned out, im not sure ill be watching for another example of international terrorism, al
qaedainspired. Additional caution is appropriate. But my guess is this is going to turn out to be a domestic drama. Stuart baker, thank you very much for joining us live now. Eight minutes after the top of the hour. To recap if youre just waking up, this egypt air flight was mid flight. It was going from the Northern City in egypt of alexandria to cairo, the capital city. Mid flight, a guy tells the Flight Attendant, ive got a bomb. And id like to go istanbul. Theres a conversation, and at one point, the captain says, well, we dont have enough gas to go istanbul. And the guy goes, well, how it cypress . Were learn how about cypress . Were learning more about perhaps why cypress. If it is the person we think it is, he had an exgirlfriend on the island. As soon as they landed, he threw down a note through the window right there. It was in arabic, asked her to come to the airport, and apparently she was carted off to the airport. He asked for political asylum. He asked for a translator once he was on the ground. Police vehicles, he asked for them to be moved away from the plane and for the letter to be delivered to his exwife. A couple of names, omar e el gamal. Another name that weve been badgered about who this could be, is he a doctor of veterinary medicine . Were not sure. We know this, the best news to happen so far is out of the 80 on board, there are only seven left. To get all those new people off safely is fantastic news. Now weve got to worry about the final set. You can see the passengers there on the ground. There were 55 passengers on board, five crew members. Were told the last report was that four foreigners were still on board, plus the three crew members. A total of seven people still on the plane. This is the first time ive ever seen the official notification that theres been a hijacking by an airline that tweeted it out. Egypt air tweeted, yep, essentially, weve been
hijacked. Someone in the Foreign Ministry of egypt said he is not a terrorist, hes an idiot. Anyway, it is a fluid situation, there are so many details we dont know right now. Particularly the motivation. Why would somebody in the era of isis hijack a plane if it wasnt for terrorism . I think well find out. The idiots pulled off a hijacking that lasted over four hours. What does that make Egyptian Airlines if theyre calling him an idiot . If you look t if you look at the map, alexandria to cairo, not very far. They diverted and flew north to cypress. In those situations, as a pilot, do you listen to the demands of a terrorist . Depends if hes got a bomb. Were not calling it terrorism, even though the act of hijacking a plane is considered terror. We dont know if hes affiliated with a terrorist organization. In the olden days in the United States before 9 11, if
somebody said, okay, take me to havana, you went to havana. That was it. So if the guy says hes got a bomb on board. You do what he says. Pretty much. That looks like what happened. Well keep you post. Its a fluid situation. Meantime, shes been covering it all morning. Heather childers with more news. You mentioned the distance, egypt to cairo. Only supposed to be a 30minute flight. A lot of changes happening there. We have a new development for you. A Stunning Development with this. Did you hear about this the fbi managed to break into the iphone belonging to San Bernardino terrorist sayid farouk without the help of apple. The lawsuit was filed against the tech giant when apple refused to help citing privacy concerns. Tim cook reiterates the companys stance is the same, apple believes deeply that people in the United States and around the world deserve data protection, security and privacy. Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk. A manhunt reignited for the suspected accomplice two of suicide bombers at the brussels airport. After officials freed a man that they thought was that man in white, as hes become known. Seen on the Surveillance Video here. Faycal cheffou. He was released on lack of evidence. And chaos in the heart of washington. Police forced to open fire on a man they say pulled a weapon inside the capitol, placing the entire building on lockdown and putting it into a state of panic. [ mussel awffled audio ] layer dawson, once disrupted a meeting by shouting bible verses from the gallery. Officers say he pointed a pellet
gun at officers who then shot at him. Hes in critical condition. And hes charged with assault with a deadly wbr id wbr7900 weapon. Police say that this was not an act of terror. And Geraldo Rivera making dancing great again . Vladimir, hi, its donald. That was huge it was huge its like can you hold on for a second . Melania . Hilarious. Geraldos donald trumpthemed salsa dance brought in the lowest scores on dancing with the stars last night. And he was eliminated. Geraldo and edita. Come on. Giraldo and his partner will join us live in the 8 00 hour on fox friends. That was awesome still lost, how does that happen . He did a great job. b
good try. Absolutely. Thanks. Coming up on this tuesday, wbrid wbr8500 she knew this comment about Foreign Policy would be controversial Hillary Clinton, a lot of you might disagree with me, im going to put her in the positive category. Your responses for Jillian Turner have been pouring in. Shes here to defend her stance next. Shes walking my direction. I recognize her. You focus on making great burgers,
or building the best houses in town. Or becoming the next highlyunlikely dotcom superstar. And us, well be right there with you, helping with the questions you need answered to get your brand new business started. Were legalzoom and weve already partnered with over a million new Business Owners to do just that. Check us out today to see how you can become one of them. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. Gegiving up all the thingsan she loves to do. It should just mean, well, finding new ways to do them. Right at homes professional team thoughtfully selects caregivers to provide help with personal care, housekeeping, and of course, meal preparation. Oh, that smells so good. Aw, and it tastes good, too. We can provide the right care, right at home. She knew yesterday at there time this comment about americorForeign Policy might be controversial i think of all the republican candidates, john kasich has offered the most indepth, comprehensive security plan. Its a tossup me between neutral and negative because hes the wild card of this race. We have no idea what hes liable to do. I think that was all the candidates, i would feel perhaps most comfortable that he would take counsel of military advisers. Hillary clinton, a light of you might disagree with me. Im putting him in the positive to category. Does he even have a plan to combat radical islam . Bernie got burned yesterday. White House Counsel staff more for the bush administration, Jillian Turner, has heard from a lot of you on social media and email. She got stung pretty good by some of you. Shes here to respond. Good morning. Hi, good morning, steve. What do you think the veers who reached out to you good morning to you wrong . Its not a matter whoves right and whos es wrong. Were all talk whos wrong. Were all talking about our perspectives. We share in common the National Security interest of this wonderful country. I welcome the feedback. I welcome the criticism. On some of this, i knew i was sitting myself up a bit for some harsh words which i got. I knew a lot of people would take great issue with me putting Hillary Clinton in the positive category when it comes to fighting terrorism because of her record. I stand by that decision because i feel that she would be an improvement on president obama in some context. You gave positive comments to cruz and kasich and clinton, trump you gave a neutral score and Bernie Sanders you flunked. I did, unfortunately. Lets look at the email that you received. First up, Gillian Turner may
have a lot of experience in dealing with questionable candidates. But again, her experience comes into question when i hear her put hillary into the positive slot. Again, i put her in the positive slot. Its not because i think shes a perfect candidate or ideal candidate. Its the context is that i believe her approach to counterterrorism would be a vast improvement upon president obama who has tended to recede in the face of the threat. Whereas Hillary Clinton has advocated action from the getgo. Many others, one in particular, donald trump has the most indepth National Security plan. Kasich thinking in the past, according to robert watson. Email me. I have yet to see this indepth National Security plan. He released some stuff over the weekend. He was interviewed and said he has this new grand National Security plan. s not on paper anywhere. I would really challenge viewers to if they see something in the media, they read something in a newspaper, on line, tweet it at us. Well take look at it. Im very happy to provide
feedback. All right. Thank you very much. Thanks, steve. Coming up, hackers crippling Computer Systems at a Major Hospital chain. So what did the hackers want, and how is this cyberattack affecting patient care . Dr. Samadi next. Plus, paul ryan has a message for George Clooney stop emailing me. What headache . What bad shoulder . Advil makes pain a distant memory. Nothing works faster stronger or longer than advil its the worlds 1 choice. What pain . Advil. This is my retirement. Retiring retired tires. And i never get tired of it. Are you entirely prepared to retire . Plan your never tiring retiring retired tires retirement with e trade. Plan your never tiring retiring retired tires retirement [alarm beeps] the intelligent, allnew audi a4 is here. Aint got time to make no apologies. In a few hours, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will announce his endorsement for the republican president ial nomination. One week before the states primary. Walker signaled last week that he will endorse texas senator ted cruz but has yet to make it official. All three republican candidates are campaign flooding wisconsin today. That should be very close. House Speaker Paul Ryan has a
message for george y quit emailing me. He says hes demanded to pony up 33,000 for the Hillary Clinton fundraiser. I dont think hell pay or go. One of two expensive dinners the Hollywood Star is throwing. One in Southern California, one in northern california. Heres ainsley. Hes welcome to email me. Yes. Please. Take it. All right. Hackers crippling Computer Systems at a