0 i was never prompted. >> senator padilla? >> i think i had a female in the room at the olympic training center, but i can't say for sure. >> i feel like we all have the same people. >> if i recall, my direct communication was with a male in the room. >> okay. senator padilla? >> good morning. i want to start by thanking chairman durbin and all those who have made this hearing possible and 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. coming here today was not easy. i recognize that you each had the option of respectfully declining the invitation to be here. but you didn't. and 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, and so she has trained me well to be cognizant of those issues and ask important and timely questions as well. miss biles, i hope you heard about our amplification of courage to take care of yourself. it took a lot. it took a lot at that moment. just going to offer a few comments. most of the questions that i would raise have been raised by my colleagues. do want to make it clear that mr. nassar's criminal case has 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 going to achieve the highest ideals of our nation, we talk about fairness and equality so often. 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 to thank you. through your participation and what we will do, we hope to better protect future generations. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, all of you, for being here and being so direct with us and enduring this experience. just want to assure you that i have listened and heard what you're demanding. the burden shouldn't be on you to ensure there is no impunity in this case. the fbi, jay abbott and his subordinate, steve penney, usa gymnastics, 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's 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 in this case as well. so thank you again for your testimony. i'll make sure that each of you and your families' 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 osoff. miss biles, miss maroni, miss nichols, thanks for your testimony today. it was historic and it will make a difference in the lives of many people who are witnessing it. you don't have to wait for the judges to put numbers up on the board. you all were gold medallists today in the cause of justice. so thank you for joining us. you're discussed. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> harris: a live look inside the senate judiciary committee hearing that's been going on on capitol hill is where olympic gymnasts are testifying on the fbi sex abuse investigation into disgraced usa gymnastics national team doctor larry nassar. the justice department found in july that the fbi made fundamental errors in its sex abuse investigation of nassar. in a bombshell move today, the agency fires the actual agent who conducted that probe. you're watching "outnumbered." i'm harris faulkner. we stuck with this. this started before the faulkner focus. we stuck with this. emily, there were times when we were gripped with fear and tears for these young women and what they've gone through. what is the legal ramification of what we're seeing today? >> emily: just to give background for viewers. absolutely. this is heartbreaking to watch. i can't imagine how heart breaking it was for these young women to experience. this was essentially a catastrophic failure of an investigation conducted by the fbi. the probe opened technically in 2015 and it took months to interview some victims. maggie nichols testified today there was a failure to interview her for more than a year after her complaint. during the time of what was essentially a complete abdication and dereliction of duties on two fbi agents in particular from this field office. more than 100 additional victims, more than 100 additional young women i should say, became victims of larry nassar. as the young women testified today as well, this investigation's lack of follow through, of policy and protocol was compounded by dragging in usa gymnastics and the olympic committee's failure as well. so these girls were told, for example, by the olympic committee, stay quiet, don't go to the press because this will interfere with the fbi investigation only to have learned, as they testified, there was no fbi investigation to begin with. one of our viewers says one of the agents resigned in 2019. one was sort of moved to an administrative position. but in another important take away is the fact that at the time, the inspector general declined or confirmed that there were declination to prosecute these two. this probe was a failure and now what is the resource going to be? >> harris: what is going on at the fbi? i have to say this. i can't hold this in. kayleigh, across now two presidents. you know christopher wray. i know you don't know him well. i said if you know the director of the fbi too well, you're probably being investigated by him. you know him. what is happening? >> kayleigh: he is going to deliver a scathing statement. a lot of what we heard -- >> harris: he's coming up next. >> kayleigh: look, a lot of his accounting is going to have to be before his tenure. 2015 is when the claims were brought to the fbi. this is when comey was the fbi director. she said it took 14 months for them to even contact her. also mikayla maroni. the fbi eventually opened an investigation in 2016. still before christopher wray's tenure. he came into the fbi in 2017. he's going to have to account for a lot of what his predecessor did. >> harris: he's had four years since then. >> kayleigh: he will have to account for that. >> harris: many, many more victims. we've seen james comey on the hill so many times. i think he's written books about it. the fbi has problems all the way down the line. they fire these two agents today. does that make a difference in holding the fbi accountable? >> no. i don't think. not from protocol perspective. not from the american public. certainly not from these women testifying today. keep in mind the investigation, the oig investigation, uncovered that these agents had outright lied to the fbi to cover up their willful -- >> harris: is that criminal? >> emily: yes, it is. not only declination to prosecute. not only for their actions but they lied. we've seen people prosecuted for longer for less. right? that's also a slap in the face. here we're obviously seeing the senate committee just portray their deepest condolences to these young women and this is a reprehensible investigation. what we need is action. at the end of that oig report they also decided to change policy moving forward for the fbi when there were allegations of sexual abuse of minors that include mandatory reporting every 30 days. part of that aspect here that was so tragic, frankly, it was the long periods of just zero communication between these agents who they were supposed to be investigating and their headquarters. people expecting accountability from these guys. putting protocol aside, that doesn't account for this situation, right? and for these women relaying their trauma. >> harris: couple things there. each senator had about a minute to talk. not everybody -- they stopped asking questions because these women aren't on trial. the fact that they've come forward with so much to say is heartbreaking. look how much information they had to share. look at what they went through. they could still be talking. but, you know, there were times, senator ted cruz, senator corey booker, it was like there was no party but one party, the american party. and everybody was grieving and offended by this. you saw klobuchar talk about maggie nichols. you saw cornyn talk directly to simone biles. he feels for all of them but particularly so proud of biles. so much that was shared. i gotta ask, is wrag? the horowitz in trouble? somebody's got to pay for this. >> emily: somebody has got to pay for this. allie said one statement that stuck out to me. we knew of the six accusers. he said one of the athletes was abused on film giving our abusers unfettered access to children. that should have been a priority. you sense the palpable visible pain that maybe this could have been stopped if we had our foot on the gas back in 2015. there needs to be accountability. i want to praise these young women, their courage, their strength. it has to be incredibly painful to do this on a national stage, to come forward with this. to relive it. their courage should be commended. these young women are impressive. >> harris: they're amazing. all the courage that it takes to do the seems so supernatural when they're flying through the air. emily, at one point allie said when asked, i think senator durbin asked, if you wanted us to go further and do a next step, what would it be? she said you need to look at the connections between the usag that runs all of everything. the u.s. olympic and paralympic committee and the fbi. do you know what word came to mine? an actual case of collusion. is that what we're looking at? that's what she wants to do. she wants to know that when those piece got together, that's really when the problems began for the gymnasts because there were penalties for speaking out within those organization and committees and participation. but then an investigation that they were promised was going on was not happening. did they collude with each other? >> emily: that fits in perfectly with what kayleigh was saying. keep in mind, allegations, formal complaints about this monster, go as far back as 1997. allegations of his abuse began in 1994. as far back as 1997 a parent raises concerns to the head, to the assistant professor at msu. in 1998, another student athlete raises concerns. nothing happened for the university. we know he molested 6-year-old for five years. her father ended up killing himself. the ripples of this are absolutely unending. the point is that it goes back to the mid '90s when people in decision making capacities and positions of authority failed to take reports seriously. so you're right, that it goes far beyond the fbi and the absolutely reprehensible conduct of these two former agents that do not deserve to have that title, a title of honor attributed to their names anymore. it goes back to all of those communities. msu, and a whole bunch of organizations that you are supposed to trust your child's safety with. or at least think they would uphold a protocol of reporting allegations of abuse, reporting it up the chain. notifying the reports. we learn that those let down all of those women. there are hundreds of victims that could have been prevented. >> harris: so what you're saying is, what we're watching today is so critically important because, while there may not be people thrown in jail the way that we would like to see it, or there may not be, you know -- i don't know what you would even offer. think about the coaches that also have been thrown into this, that were running reputable programs. and the young women who then left them as young, young, young, 6, 7-year-olds, to then move into a higher level, and then the exposure to dr. larry nassar and that usa team. think about having raised in your gym a child in your care and coaching, and then to watch this happen. i mean, you talk about collateral damage. there is so much. i do want to say what we're setting up for now. so the director of the fbi, christopher wray and the office of the inspector general, represented by the ig himself, horowitz, will be next, inside that senate judiciary committee. and as they begin to get set, i do want to quickly -- we'll have to go very fast when they walk in the room and start talking. i want to quickly, kayleigh, get your thoughts about what you want to hear from those two. >> kayleigh: we're going to hear a backward looking account of what happened. we anticipate reporting a scathing statement from wray. i think there needs to be a forward look. one of the senators brought forward a very important point. is the fbi equipped to handle sexual abuse cases? you came into a really bad system. what have you done since then to make sure this never happens again? >> harris: we're looking at live shots. did you hear the resume and all the national titles of the women? mikayla maroni, people know her from the geico commercials. allie. these are young women who have been part of our just incredible talent of athletics for years. you saw simone biles walking. you see them with the opening statement of the director of the fbi, christopher wray. let's watch. >> this morning, ms. biles, ms. maroni, ms. nichols, ms. raiseman, who were among the many nassar hurt. i'm deeply and profoundly sorry to each and every one of you. i'm sorry for what you and your families have been through. i'm sorry that so many different people let you down over and over again. and i'm especially sorry that there were people at the fbi who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed. and that is inexcusable. it never should have happened. we're doing everything in our power to make sure it never happens again. now, before i became fbi director, i was generally familiar with the nassar story. shortly after his arrest, in 2016. 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 that there were people at the fbi who had also failed these women, i was heart sick and furious. i immediately ordered a special review by our inspection division to try to get to the bottom of it. that review led in part to the inspector general's own review. i'm grateful to inspector general horowitz for his team's extensive and independent 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 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. and as long as i'm the 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. and 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. 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 in this report are a discredit to all those men and women who do the job the right way, with uncompromising integrity, the way the american people rightly expect and deserve. throughout my career as a prosecutor and now at the bureau, 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 women who came forward today so that i can say to everyone that there is no more important work in law enforcement than helping victims of abuse. it's work that's got to get done right, every single time. 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. big part of that is accountability in holding our folks to the highest standard our work requires. when i received the inspector general's report and saw that the supervisor special 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 the 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. now 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, i will say it is extremely frustrating that we are left with little disciplinary recourse when people retire before their cases can be adjudicated. but let me be clear. people who engaged 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 2015. to make sure that something like this never happens again, we've already begun fully implementing all of the inspector general's recommendations. that includes strengthening our policies and procedures, strengthening our training to firmly under score the critical importance of thoroughly and expeditiously responding to all allegations of sexual assault or abuse. because, as i said a moment ago, the american people are counting on us to get this done right every time. and finally, i'd like to make a promise to the women who appeared here today, and to all survivors of abuse. i am not interested in simply addressing this wrong and moving on. it's my commitment to you that i and my entire senior leadership team are gonna make damn sure everybody at the fbi remembers what happened here in heartbreaking detail. we need to remember the pain that occurred when our folks failed to do their jobs. we need to study it. we need to learn from it. that is the best way i know to make sure that this devastating tragedy is never repeated. so thank you, mr. chairman, ranking member grassley and members of the committee for the opportunity to testify today. i look forward to your questions. >> thank you. inspector general horowitz. >> thank you, chairman durbin, ranking member grassley, members of the committee. i also want to begin my testimony by recognizing the many courageous gymnasts who came forward to report larry nassar's abuses and by thanking ms. biles, ms. maroni, ms. nichols and ms. raiseman for their compelling t