🔴 2026 NOAA outlook shows below-average hurricane season | LIVE

Añadido: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Rear Admiral Chad Kerry. Rear Admiral Kerry serves as the 20th director of Noah's Commissioned Officer Corps and as assistant administrator for Noah's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. In addition to leading the Noah Corps, one of the nation's eight uniform services, Rear Admiral Kerry oversees Noah's fleet of 15 research and survey ships and 10 specialized aircraft, including the AY's hurricane hunters. Please join me in welcoming Rear Admiral Chad Kerry.

[00:00:39]>> Thank you, Kim.

[00:00:40]Welcome to Noah's Aircraft Operations Center, home of Noah's hurricane hunters, which you can see directly behind me. These flying meteorological data collection machines are one of the most important tools we have to better understand hurricanes. The data collected using Noah aircraft improve hurricane track and forecast intensity forecast by as much as 20%. This year, the P3 are celebrating 50 years of service thanks to the talented professionals that operate and service them as well as our stakeholders that support us. Despite their age, they are equipped with state-of-the-art technology inside and out, making these aircraft highly capable tools for observing hurricanes. An additional aircraft that's not here with us today, but is part of the observation suite is the high altitude hurricane hunter, which is a Gulfream 4. The Gulfream flies at 45,000 ft, flying above and around hurricanes to observe and detect weather systems such as steering currents that affect the cyclone below.

[00:01:43]The P3s behind me fly at about 10,000 ft through the eyewall of a hurricane using turborop engines, a long-standing proven technology in one of the world's riskiest flight environments.

[00:01:54]The aircraft carry a suite of specialized instrumentation used to help us better understand and forecast hurricane intensity, structure, and the hazards that impact the communities in the path of these storms.

[00:02:07]For example, the P3's tail Doppler and lower fuselage radar systems scan the storm vertically and horizontally, giving scientists and forecasters a real time three-dimensional look at the storm that no other aircraft can obtain. These are the only aircraft in the world equipped with tail Doppler radars.

[00:02:25]Wing tip sensors measure water and ice content within hurricane rainbands that work to improve rainfall forecasts. And at the same time, additional instruments are capturing ocean surface winds, precipitation structure, 3D winds, and ocean wave heights in better detail than ever before.

[00:02:43]Noah's ability to adapt the Hurricane Hunter aircraft configuration and test new instruments helps us deliver even new, more valuable information to the forecasters while also being a flying test laboratory for rapidly evolving technology.

[00:02:57]One technological advancement to note is deploying uncrrewed aircraft from these P3s into the storm environment. These drones launched from the P3s can dwell for long periods of time in the vertical profile, collecting essential lowaltitude data on tropical cyclone structure. Last year, for the first time, one achieved a record setting 120 minute flight duration and provided the first ever video from an uncrrewed aircraft system from inside the storm from the ports around the Gulf and East Coast. Noah also deploys autonomous uncrrewed marine systems to intercept these storms and gather critical ocean observations. All of the data collected by our aircraft and uncrrewed systems is provided to the meteorologists at Noah's National Hurricane Center. This real time data allows them to constantly refine the forecast, helping them to keep people safe, allow communities to prepare and minimize unnecessary evacuations.

[00:03:57]While technology continually advances, the most valuable resource that operations rely on today is our dedicated team of technical professionals and Noacore officers. They are crucial for operating and maintain our aircraft and they are part of Noah's team that is dedicated to serving the public. Today's annual hur Atlantic hurricane outlet is one of the many ways the agency offers to encourage the public to prepare ahead of and throughout the hurricane season. I would now like to introduce our next speaker.

[00:04:26]This individual has been a scientific leader in weather prediction for most of his professional career. Please join me in welcoming Noah's 12th under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmospheres and the Noah administrator Dr. Neil Jacobs.

[00:04:46]Thank you Admiral Kerry for that introduction and also thank you for hosting this event.

[00:04:51]I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the team here at AOC, the hurricane hunter pilots, the crew, the maintenance folks that maintain these planes.

[00:05:03]We're here to announce Noah's 2026 hurricane season outlook. But before I get to the numbers, I want to recognize the incredible efforts and expertise and dedication of the Noah's workforce.

[00:05:14]Noah's home to the world's leading scientists, model experts, and meteorologists. Their work ensures public safety, national security, and enhancement of the US economy. In the National Weather Service, we have forecasters that issue accurate forecast across the country 247 for all types of severe weather. I know we're talking about hurricanes today, but they're working all year long, winter storms, tornadoes, floods, uh wildfire events.

[00:05:46]All the models that we run run at INSEP, the National Center for Environmental Prediction. This includes the National Hurricane Center.

[00:05:54]I'd love to thank the National Hurricane Center for their excellent work, particularly last year where they set a new record in forecast accuracy for intensification.

[00:06:04]Hurricane Melissa was accurately predicted to rapidly intensify before the storm even developed.

[00:06:12]We also have Noah research. This is where the numerical weather prediction is developed. These are the folks that develop the models. We have the hurricane analysis and forecast system or halft which is going to be our flagship model this year for cyclone intensity.

[00:06:27]They also work on cutting edge development of instruments. This includes the drones and the gliders.

[00:06:34]We're now getting into the world of running uh artificial intelligencebased forecast models. This work's being developed there too. as well as the work at hurricane research division which advances our understanding of rapid intensification of these storms.

[00:06:49]We have the national ocean service which develops the coastal and ocean models obviously essential to understanding sea surface temperature and air sea interaction. They also manage the ocean observing systems ensure the waterways and the ports are open after a storm.

[00:07:07]We have NZDIS, the branch that handles Noah satellites.

[00:07:12]We have geostationary satellites, which are the GO, which you're probably familiar with with the visible satellite imagery of these hurricanes and also the infrared. But we also have low Earth orbiting satellites with JPSS.

[00:07:24]This is where the microwave sounders come in. This is the data that drives a lot of the numerical weather prediction models.

[00:07:33]We also have the marine aviation and operations as well as the Noahacore, the folks which you see here today. They're in charge of the ships, the planes, all the data collection, not just for hurricanes, but also fisheries management among other things. Behind me, we have the two P3s, Kermit and Miss Piggy, celebrating their 50th anniversary of flying into storms. These are 8 to 10 hour flights. They have the tail Doppler radar, which you just heard about. They deploy dropons.

[00:08:05]We also have a high altitude jet, and we'll bringing another two online here soon.

[00:08:11]These are planes that fly over the storms and deploy instruments through the storms. All this data goes into the computer models to better generate our forecasts.

[00:08:23]I'm incredibly proud of the amazing work that these public servants do for our country.

[00:08:30]Okay, on to the numbers.

[00:08:34]For the Atlantic hurricane season, Noah is predicting a below normal season for 2026 with roughly a 55% chance of being below normal, a 35% chance of near normal, and a 10% chance of above normal.

[00:08:55]This equates to 8 to 14 name storms with winds at or above 39 mph.

[00:09:02]Of these, three to six hurricanes with winds at or above 74 miles an hour and 1 to three major hurricanes, that's your category 3 to five, with winds at or above 111 miles an hour.

[00:09:18]In the central and eastern Pacific, we're expecting a 70% chance of above normal activity. The eastern Pacific, we're expecting 15 to 22 name storms, 9 to 14 hurricanes, 5 to nine major hurricanes, and in the central Pacific, we're expecting 5 to 13 tropical cyclones.

[00:09:40]These percentages are based on multiple factors that represent a probabilistic distribution which includes a lot of information. But even though we're expecting a below average season in the Atlantic, it's very important to understand that it only takes one. We have had category fives make landfall in the past during below average seasons.

[00:10:02]What's driving this forecast is largely an El Nino event.

[00:10:09]There's a 98% chance of El Nino conditions occurring later this season and an 80% chance that this El Nino will be moderate to strong in the Atlantic.

[00:10:21]The El Nino increases the vertical wind shear which disrupts the outflow at higher levels makes it harder for development of the eastern waves coming off of Africa to strengthen into storms.

[00:10:33]However, in the central and eastern Pacific, the El Nino reduces the vertical wind shear, essentially the opposite of the Atlantic, which is why we're expecting above average season in addition to the warmer sea surface temperatures there.

[00:10:48]We have several new observing systems that we're bringing online this year. As you heard about earlier, we have uncrrewed aircraft systems. We tested these over the last couple of years with black swift drones used operationally this year for the first time in the halves model.

[00:11:05]The tests that we ran in the experiments last year showed that the inclusion of this data from these drones increased the intensity forecast accuracy by roughly 10%.

[00:11:16]We also have uncrrewed surface vehicles and submersible gliders.

[00:11:22]In addition to the observing systems, we're doing a lot of work on the modeling front. We're introducing an AI based version of the GFS as well as an AI global ensemble forecast system, the hybrid GES. We also have a new AI based hurricane forecast model that we've developed in partnership with Google Deep Mind, which we used experimentally in last year's hurricane season.

[00:11:47]There are also advances in the physicsbased models. The unified forecast system has been testing an experimental highresolution seasonal forecast system.

[00:11:57]We also have the office of water prediction which will be rolling out highresolution flood inundation mapping which couples to the hydraological forecast. This provides the emergency manager's visualization of predicted inundation at the street and neighborhood level.

[00:12:16]The hurricane center has some new communication products as well. They're implementing a new version of the forecast cone which was tested last year. This cone includes tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings in inland areas.

[00:12:32]We're also issuing new products and services in support of storm surge forecasting for the Hawaiian Islands.

[00:12:40]Lastly, the hurricane center is testing an experimental version of even a newer cone. Since 2007, the cone has been based on absolute track air. But this new experimental cone accounts for forward motion and directional or lateral uncertainty. This is a much better way to independently visualize uncertainty in both direction and timing.

[00:13:06]For the official forecast guidance, go to hurricanes.gov.

[00:13:12]June 1st is almost here.

[00:13:15]Be ready. Have a plan. Listen to your state and local emergency managers.

[00:13:22]Preparation is essential. You can learn more at ready.gov.

[00:13:27]For more on storm preparedness, I'll now welcome National Weather Service Director Ken Graham.

[00:13:39]Thank you Dr. Jacobs. Um some great information there for everybody and some big highlighting some some big improvements um going forward. So it's very exciting time. So just thank you and thank you Admiral Kerry as well. So just saluting this incredible team uh behind us and I just wanted to definitely echo what Dr. Jacob said just saluting the employees of Noah just an amazing group. I think I don't know every day I seem to be more humbled and humbled to be at the helm of the weather service and just looking at the whole crew here in blue and others supporting this mission. We can't do it without you. So just a big a big thank you.

[00:14:13]Great to be here at AOC. Um just an amazing place, a lot of operations, but I I definitely want to thank somebody that's here on stage. Um this is our lead seasonal hurricane forecaster, Matt Rosen Crayons. these numbers, right?

[00:14:27]They're just not, you know, just generated by random. There's a lot of science that goes in uh to these numbers every single year. So, I want to thank Matt and your team uh for everything that you've done. And also congratulate Matt because this will be his uh last seasonal outlook as he's going to our lab to train the next generation of Outlook um scientists, which is absolutely amazing. So, I'm glad to have him in the test bed train the next generation. So he's he's absolutely amazing and he's here with his dad. His dad put it put your hand up there. So congratulate both of them here for such a great job and all these years of service.

[00:15:06]So seriously being being able to train the next generations to use things. But on behalf of Noah, the weather service, and quite frankly the American people, thanks for your service. Just absolutely amazing amount of work over the years.

[00:15:17]So it's great to be here. Um and and I really salute u the aircraft operations folks. Wow. Um, I got to fly in to Hurricane Helen. Um, and one of these, I'm not sure which one behind me. I didn't look where they were parked, but it was an amazing experience, but just an incredible U mission. Uh, heroes, honestly, they go towards the storm so we can get people away from the storm.

[00:15:39]It's quite simple as that. So, what you all do is just amazing. We can't do it without you. So, there's never been we've never been more prepared for hurricane season as we are now. Uh, Dr. Jacob's highlighted some of the new models, the new technology, the service improvements. So, it's absolutely amazing, you know, looking at the new cone from the National Hurricane Center, just saluting everyone there, you know, always progressing, always going forward, just being able to have the inland effects, just, you know, just the cone doesn't stop, you know, the impacts don't stop at the coast, the impacts go away inland. And we've seen that over and over and over again, including most of the fatalities end up being inland as well. So as a result, you know, looking at a cone that highlights all those inland threats is a big step forward for the public to understand uh what these threats are. And Dr. Jacobs also talked about the experimental cone. I mean it's you almost got to retrain yourself a little bit because we always talked about the last five years of error and you know you know 67% of the time the center stays in the cone one third out anyway. We got to retrain ourselves.

[00:16:38]It's okay. So having this new cone I think is a big step forward to actually represent about 90% of the possibilities of where the center could be I think is a big leap forward. So kudos on to that new representation of it. Um I do want to announce as as well with the flood ination mapping that Dr. Jacobs mentioned um by the end of September we'll have 100% of the country covered.

[00:17:00]This was a long effort and and and a lot of you in the media know this is a gamecher and I hear it from the states.

[00:17:06]I hear from the counties, I hear it across the board across the country.

[00:17:09]They said, "Hey, this is a gamecher for us to be able to represent what could flood um in in a storm or even even a thunderstorm or a hurricane or whatever it may be." So, that is a huge step forward and and you heard the forecast for the Pacific. So having those ex those services for Hawaii for the first time ever for the first time ever uh we're going to be able to issue storm surge watches and warnings for Hawaii for most of the islands the main islands of Hawaii just like we do for the mainland uh Puerto Rico as well and the US Virgin Islands. So that is a big leap forward as we we really look at potential tropical surge flood mapping and all that for the Hawaiian Islands.

[00:17:46]So just really excited about that. The other tool that that is new, and this one's exciting as well, getting some really good feedback on this one. It's the urban rain rate dashboard. So, it's a new tool that that we're really launching this year to look at urban, you know, urban areas, cities. There's 60 cities represented. And ahead of time, you'll be able to see what the dangers are from flooding, actually look at uh the information in those urban areas that are particularly dangerous uh for uh flash flooding as there, you know, the runoff isn't there. So you can get flash flooding really quick in these urban areas. So please check out uh all of these these new products and services um and everything into this season. It's exciting. So look, preparedness um we got to do it early.

[00:18:28]I don't know. It's a nice day. Hangar doors are open. Now's the time to start thinking about your hurricane preparedness day. The sun is shining.

[00:18:35]Let's get it done. So early preparedness is absolutely everything. Period. End of story. Um the actions that that you take today really get you ready for the hurricane season. So we're ready, right?

[00:18:45]We're ready. So, we need to get the American public ready as well. And and don't let words like below or average.

[00:18:52]Um, don't let all those words change the way you prepare. And Dr. Jacobs, you said it just takes one. And you go back in time. I can think of some of these.

[00:19:00]Betsy was a September storm in 1965. And in Louisiana, still talks about Betsy.

[00:19:07]You think about 1983 is an August storm.

[00:19:09]Alicia still talking about Alicia. 1992.

[00:19:13]Andrew was an August storm as well. So even in in below average, even if you have a few storms, uh they they could be they could be big ones. So we got to be ready. The other I'm going to repeat this every single time I do this is the fact that, you know, I think not just officials, but the public thinks the big storms are going to come across the Atlantic. You're going to see them.

[00:19:33]You're going to have weeks notice, plenty of time. That is not the case.

[00:19:37]And and this stat hit me when I was at at NAC. Um it hit me, I never forgot it, and it still hits me today. Looking back in time uh at our records, every category five that's made landfall in this country was a tropical storm or less three days out.

[00:19:53]So they rapidly intensify. They get here quick. So everybody, you know, you think you might have a week on your timeline.

[00:19:58]The reality is you may only have days.

[00:20:01]That's why that preparedness early is absolutely everything. And I will repeat that in this position, next position, retirement. I don't care what it is over the next 20 years. I'm going to keep repeating that stat constantly. The other one too is especially a season like this, you know, there'll never be a hurricane just a we'll never make that a name. There's no such thing as just a cat one, just a tropical storm, just a cat 2. That is absolutely not the case.

[00:20:25]It doesn't matter what it is. You got to look at the size, the forward motion.

[00:20:30]Little wiggles matter on on the impacts.

[00:20:32]Even the smallest storm, if it's slow enough and big enough, it's going to create catastrophic flooding and storm surge. All right. There's no such thing as Hurricane Justa. We've got to make sure the public pays attention to every single one of these systems and the actual impacts. Not the category, not the name, but the actual impacts associated with that storm. And that includes the tornadoes, heavy rain, damaging winds, um even the high surf and rip currents as as well, including the storm surge. So, flooding, we got to talk about flooding. I mean, we just got to keep repeating over and over the dangers of flooding. So you look at the last 10 years, over half of the deaths are are flooding and a lot of those are inland and and most of those are in vehicles.

[00:21:13]So we know what's causing the fatalities. So we've got to get the word out. We got to get the preparedness out.

[00:21:18]Need everybody's help to be able to do that. So, being able to look at where you live in a flood zone and be prepared for that and where you got to go in the evacuations, getting ready, um, getting your home ready, look in that evacuation plan, and and I I don't think the public totally realizes six inches of fastmoving water will knock you off your off your feet. You know, 12 inches will carry most cars away. And even people that think, I got some big giant SUV, well, guess what? About a couple feet of water will wash that one away, too. It doesn't matter. So, we've got to keep reminding people of these things. Turn around, don't drown. We've got to keep uh reminding everybody of that. Develop that evacuation plan now. And I think the big thing is please, you heard it already said by Dr. Jacobs, please listen to those local officials.

[00:22:02]A lot of people say they don't evacuate because they don't want to sit in the traffic or travel two 300 miles when the reality is that they only have to go 10 or 20, 30 miles inland. Please listen to the local officials. You have to understand uh what you have to do ahead of time and have that plan. begin planning early and being able to do that. Check on your neighbors. Check on your family. Make sure to have that preparedness kit for weeks ahead of time. Make sure you got days, if not a week, of supplies ahead of time. Right now, there's no lines. Stock up. Stock up now. That's what I would do. It's a perfect time to go get that information.

[00:22:33]The non-p perishable food, medicine, the last winter storm event really, really opened my eyes on something. There were a lot of fatalities for people that didn't account for medicine and diialysis.

[00:22:45]We have to remind people over and over, you're not going to have access to those things for a week or more after a storm.

[00:22:51]They have to be prepared for these things. So, especially any special needs like that, we got to remind them, be ready because those are preventable if we can get them ahead of time. And also make sure we account for the pets. Too many heartbreaking stories after these events, seeing the pet pets wandering around. Got to account for the the pets going forward. So, planning on no electricity for weeks. Make sure to have that the radio, the flashlight, the Noah weather radio. still the greatest tool.

[00:23:15]Have it. We got it. It'll alert you.

[00:23:17]It'll get the information uh when you need it. A couple of places to get information. The National Hurricane Center. Go to hurricanes.gov. Get the latest. That's part of the story. Maybe the biggest. Have the latest information. That forecast changes.

[00:23:29]There's something called uh with there's an old term when you look at the first forecast, you lock onto that. There's some social science that says that.

[00:23:37]Can't lock onto that for that first forecast. You got to pay attention to it. It can change with time. So, got to go to hurricanes.gov, get the latest. Go to weather.gov, the forecast offices across the country. Getting the information out uh going forward is huge. And also ready.gov. We'll hear more about that here in a little bit with uh FEMA and leisto.gov information on so to espanol. So there's information to get in in uh Spanish as well for the Spanish speaking community. Listen to those local officials. And I'm going to wrap this up. Um look, even after the storm is still dangerous, you need the media's help, right? People think the storm's passed. I'm all safe. You're not, right? The indirect fatalities associated with these tropical systems usually exceed the direct. What a statement. So the they exceed the direct. So that's everything from down power lines, displaced wildlife, that's, you know, contaminated water, gas leaks.

[00:24:31]It's it's it's this is harsh, but it's real, and I say it every time. you know, after a storm's not the time to read how to use your um your chainsaw for the first time. These are the realities of what we deal with. We see the we see what hurts people and and that we need the media to keep reminding people generator safety. I will also scream and yell as loud as I can about the generator safety after Hurricane Laura with a what 18 foot storm surge. Mike, we lost more people to generator safety than we did the storm surge. We've got to keep reminding people to use generators safely outdoors, away from your windows. So, we're ready, folks.

[00:25:07]We're ready more than ever at Noah for the hurricane season. We need everybody to be ready as well. I'm going to give uh give a chance for for FEMA here to hear from FEMA. So, we have we're lucky and fortunate here, excited to have region 4 administrator uh from FEMA, Rob Ash.

[00:25:34]Hey, good afternoon folks. Uh I'm really excited to be here today to spend a little bit of time talking to you about FEMA and what we're doing in preparation for the upcoming season. I'll start first by saying that uh the partnership that we have with Noah uh with the the hurricane center. Those are extremely important uh partnerships that we maintain all year long. when we work closely together, but we really start to ramp up during this time. Some of the things that you heard here today uh talked about in terms of uh changes in technology and the ability to see a little bit further out are really important to us at FEMA because it gives us the ability to start our planning process uh much further than we used to do just uh 3 to 5 years ago. Uh so now uh we start looking at storms that are coming off of the coast of Africa 144 hours out at a minimum. uh we start watching them well before then, but we really start looking at planning and getting ready uh that far out. And that's the the whole the whole organization, and I'll talk a little bit more about that. The um we also make sure that we don't lose sight of the rapidly intensifying uh storms that you just heard about. Those are the ones that are really scary because we don't have as much time to prepare, but we have greater awareness now and we can start earlier on those. And so it does give us an opportunity to begin that work within FEMA, across other federal agencies, and definitely with our state partners.

[00:26:57]I'll talk a little bit about uh what we're doing at FEMA. And I do that in terms of kind of three tiers. Um at the at the highest level, the national level, uh we start with the guidance that we get from Secretary Mullins, and and it is clear to us that he wants us to be focused and ready for this upcoming uh hurricane season. Uh at the next level, we have FEMA headquarters at the national level, if you will, where uh my boss, Bob Fenton, uh has a a variety of a variet variety of things that uh are on the menu now for us uh to be able to prepare at the national level. And that's not just uh us say here in region four, but it's also other regions that are impacted by hurricanes.

[00:27:35]Region six, region three, even region 9 uh which has responsibility for Hawaii and the and some of our territories.

[00:27:43]So we're working at multiple levels to make sure that we're focused and we're ready within this region, region four.

[00:27:50]Our focus is the same as it is every year. We have a very deliberate process that starts months out uh in terms of the things that we need to do in order to be ready as a regional team. Uh that team includes our state partners.

[00:28:04]Nothing that we do is not uh without our state and our tribal partners. So we work very closely with them. Uh we have a series of exercises of rock drills or rehearsal of concept drills that allow us to uh anticipate uh prepare and identify gaps in our resources so that we can make adjustments uh when the time comes.

[00:28:32]The uh the last thing that I say is is that emergencies are or disasters are locally executed. They're uh state managed and they're federally supported.

[00:28:42]So FEMA understands that we have a a vital role in ensuring that we're going to be there for Americans on their worst day. But we also understand that we we don't uh supplant the state and we have tremendous partners across uh this nation uh who who are ready and who have the ability to go out and take care of their their citizens. So, one of the things that I definitely want to make sure that uh that we do as I transition to a close here is uh make sure that uh folks understand it is important to to listen to and heed the advice that is given by your local authorities. They're closest to your specific uh area.

[00:29:17]They're the ones that are able to understand uh the details of what's happening uh inside of your county, inside of your city. So, please start there. Make sure that you heed the advice and the warnings that you get from them. Uh you will get plenty of uh of early warning from other places. Uh you'll get assistance from FEMA in terms of things that you can do uh to be ready for the storm. You've just heard ready.gov and it's an excellent place to start. Uh and it allows you to look and see what are some of those things that you need to start doing in preparation.

[00:29:46]And in terms of preparation, there's preparation for yourself inside of your own home, but also uh preparation where you're looking to see are there elderly uh family members or friends that you might need to think about. Do you have others in your community that might be at risk in the event that there's a storm? So, we want to make sure that we're kind of thinking about not just ourselves, but the others because response starts at the local level first, and sometimes that first responder might be the neighbor next door. Uh I want to echo the comments about uh what happens after the storm passes and so we shouldn't be so quick to kind of uh want to get out of the house because sometimes the conditions just don't allow it. One of the biggest threats that we have are down power lines and what we need to do is make sure that we give enough time for the local authorities uh to get out and make sure that things are safe. uh make sure that rescue operations that need to occur are not going to be hampered and that we're able to uh have that uh three to five days of uh perishable food and water so that if we are in a position where we have to be at home uh we have what we need. Uh the final thing I'll I'll close with again uh we have tremendous uh state partners and and we work very closely with them in preparation of a storm. the the things that you've heard today about the increases in our ability to forecast are really going to assist us. Uh this FEMA team is uh focused on making sure that we're doing the things that we need to do uh to prepare for this season and we're excited about the opportunity to continue to work with our partners here today.

[00:31:24]Thank you, Rob. Before we move on to the Q&A portion of our news conference, I would like to reintroduce Matt Rosen crayons, Noah's lead hurricane seasonal forecast uh forecaster. Thank you, Matt, for all your work over the years. And now we will open up the floor to questions and answers. For reporters in the room, please raise your hand and a member of our team will bring the mic over to you. For those of you joining us virtually, a reminder, you may ask a question by using the Q&A feature in the virtual platform. My colleague Marissa Anderson will read those questions from our experts. If possible, let us know who your question is directed to. We will do our best to answer all the questions in the remaining time available. And now we'll kick it off with the first reporter question from the room.

[00:32:13]What you got? Yes, sir.

[00:32:17]>> My question is for Hi. Uh, my question is for Dr. Jacobs.

[00:32:32]You mentioned the use of AI starting to play more of a role this year. Where do you see that going in the coming years and how much uh of a difference do you think it will make as we move forward?

[00:32:46]So we're looking at AI in several different areas. Uh when it comes to the full prediction of weather, we are looking at and operationally running end toend artificial intelligence-based prediction systems which are trained on historical reanalysis. The important thing to know is that a lot of those the historical reanalysis still uses a physics-based model to assimilate data.

[00:33:09]So whether we're talking physics based or AI based, these are all initial value problems. So we're never going to get away from the need to observe the atmosphere with these instruments. We're also using AI in the physics-based models to optimize some of the computations. So these physics-based models are millions of lines of code and some of these parameterizations you can replicate with machine learning. It all it does is replicate it, but it does it on a fraction of the compute. So there's a lot of efficiencies to be gained there. And then going further upstream, we're using AI as far as doing analysis and quality control on the observing systems themselves. So from from the entire value chain, uh we're looking at using AI in different ways.

[00:34:00]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:34:05]>> Hi there. Uh Laurel Blanchard, Fox 35 News. uh from last year, what are the lessons learned kind of going into this season? Because last year, of course, we saw the rapid intensification of Melissa uh a couple of P3 missions actually had to abort mission because of the intensity of that storm. And you mentioned in the 2026 outlook that it only takes one storm and rapid intensification is possible. So, what are the lessons learned from 2025 that you're taking into 2026 season with that in mind?

[00:34:35]>> Ken, do you want to take that one? Okay.

[00:34:41]>> You know, you you brought up Hurricane Melissa, and I I think I was thinking about it, Mike. I don't know if we ever talked about it, but you know, you you think about, you know, going to Jamaica with that storm and how it rapidly intensified. I mean, you talk about it only takes one. So, move the Bermuda high over the Atlantic. How far, Mike?

[00:34:59]What do you think? four, three, four, 500 miles um to the west and and then all of a sudden the storms curve a little closer to home. So you don't have to change a lot of the the parameters to be able to to get those storms in here.

[00:35:12]So that's why we always say, you know, just make sure um to make sure everybody has that that early plan. So that's one of the biggest lessons learned is we just can't let our guard down. And I think, you know, just back to the some of the social science, you you got to be able to remind the public, you know, you have a season that that that that wasn't as as busy or they hear the words below or, you know, we don't have a storm, you know, you can't predict when in in the season. But if it's a late start, then people let their guard down. So, the biggest lesson for me is just fortifying our messaging of that early preparedness that everyone has to be ready because it doesn't have to be a scramble at the last minute. Everybody has a plan.

[00:35:49]>> Yeah.

[00:35:49]>> Thank you.

[00:35:51]Ken, hang on a second. I'm gonna I'm gonna get you again. Sorry, buddy. I'm gonna try to save you a couple of steps.

[00:35:57]Tony with Western Orlando. Uh, very very interested in FIMS floodation inundation mapping. You know, we've had a couple hundred year storms now come across central Florida. How do you see this being used and intricated in the in the daily forecasting, whether it be the local weather service offices or the hurricane center?

[00:36:14]>> Yeah, it's it's a game changer. That's what you're hearing from emergency managers across the country because visualization is everything. It's one thing to have a a flood warning out.

[00:36:23]It's a you know we traditionally in river flood forecasting we use something called an E19. So it's based on on history. What it was was at this level on the river you will get this flooding you know the farm gets inundated or this this address this building. But those are for one point. So each one of those was at the actual flood point. So think about that. I don't live at the flood point. So traditionally that's the way we've done that. So to be able to have a a depiction an image that that goes beyond those flood uh points because that's where the gauge is is is a gamecher because now you can actually see visibly. So this step is going to be this will flood this isn't flood. The next big thing that we're it's going to take time to get there. It's huge computationally and it's also you know a complicated science. You know eventually the next step will say what's the depth.

[00:37:11]So it's one thing to say flood not flood. That's huge. We'll take it because you can save infrastructure. You keep infrastructure out of the the waters. You can do evacuations and guess what? Roadways. Because that's that's one thing that we have to talk about.

[00:37:23]The the bigger the storm, a lot of times it's the earlier earlier storm surge, earlier rain. You cut off those evacuation routes well before landfall.

[00:37:32]So, we have that's why the early early evacuations, early preparedness is is everything. So, that's the next big thing. So, it's a game changer to be able to see that. And here's the last thing, days ahead of time. So you're you're not saying, "Oh, we have a a flood warning. We're dealing with it in real time." You can get ahead of the game to see something like that several days ahead of time. People have a chance chance to do something.

[00:37:55]>> Yeah.

[00:37:56]>> Thank you.

[00:37:56]>> Yep.

[00:38:00]>> Other questions from the room?

[00:38:02]>> Yes, sir.

[00:38:07]>> Yes. Hi, Andrew Shipovski with Wink News. We've seen terms already thrown around like super nino and what does that mean and what should that mean to to some of the the forecasters here?

[00:38:20]>> Matt, you want to take that one?

[00:38:25]>> Yeah. So, in our official definitions, uh we're we're looking at a moderate to strong Elino and that'd be one degree centigrade in the middle of the Pacific.

[00:38:34]Um for a moderate a strong event would be one and a half degrees. Um so the super alino we don't use that term officially right we have our robot our definition we've been using for a long time um so but in those impact events from El Nino when they do get strong you reduce that wind shear all the things that Neil and Ken talked about right you reduce that windshare you make it harder for those storms to develop but it also does mean that some of those storms that do get closer to the coast can hit that warmer water can hit a pocket of low shear and then they can take off so that's why being prepared for them despite that high shear environment Yes, ma'am. Over here.

[00:39:16]>> Uh, this question could be for anyone.

[00:39:17]Uh, Britney Gomez from Weatherbug. Uh, I live on the Florida West Coast, grew up here, and Milton Helen were huge storms for the West Coast. People have lived here 30 plus years and have never seen anything like that in terms of the storm surge. And a huge problem that we faced was a lot of people didn't want to leave their homes on the coast because I've been through this storm. I've been through that storm. I I can handle it.

[00:39:40]I'm not leaving my home. So, what is your message on those people when it comes to not only this hurricane season, but ones going forward where we get hurricanes and people don't really get the perspective of where they are relative to the storm impacts because we've had many storms impact the Florida West Coast, but none of them with the storm surge numbers that we saw for Milton and Helen.

[00:40:02]>> Yeah. Ken, do you want to take that one?

[00:40:06]>> Yeah. And I I just appreciate that question because it gets into, you know, the P you've heard me mention social science three or four times. And you know what we have to we have to do a better job making sure that we it's one thing to say, hey, get ready for hurricane season, but we you have to understand the specifics of why does a person choose not to evacuate? And there's real reasons. I mean, they will cite my pets. I don't want to leave the pets. Well, there's there's you work with the local community. You work with emergency management. There's solutions to that. There's there's others that I'm going to wait for the next forecast because it hasn't happened a while.

[00:40:39]Maybe it'll change. Maybe, you know, just crossing your fingers does doesn't save your life. So, you have to be able to to to be ready. The other part is there's the visualizations historically of evacuations, long lines of of of traffic and not knowing where to go. Again, I'm, you know, urging everybody and and I spent, you know, four years in in Florida, so I I I talked to a lot of people and I hear these things. They vision that, but that's not the real case. They don't have to go far. So, if you're on the west coast of Florida and you have one of these storms, that storm surge is is very coastal. Now, the wind, right, you have to get think about the safe place for the wind and you have the rainfall part of it. But the deadly part, the actual highest chance of fatalities is that that storm surge part of it. You don't have to get away very far. So, where do you go? 5 10 20 miles. That's what we got to keep educating people on.

[00:41:30]They don't have to go to Atlanta. If you live in Fort Myers, right? Go go go go go stay somewhere maybe in Orlando.

[00:41:37]You'll be okay. So, that part of it just it's it's more than just preparedness.

[00:41:41]It's the specifics of identifying why somebody doesn't evacuate and get to that. The other part is some something's going to happen to my home, right? These are real things that people say. So, we got to educate them. Yeah, that might happen, but it's not worth your life.

[00:41:53]And it's very difficult. And then there's the other part of it too. Some people can't. So, you know, the reality is we we spend a lot of time up here talking about have a preparedness kit and do different things. There are some folks that may not be able to afford that or some some people that are worried about evacuating because they they got to spend money in the hotel.

[00:42:09]So, that's where they have to get with the local emergency manager, see where those shelters are, and there's a lot of resources out there, but they they have to ask if that sort of thing. and and the medicine. I'm telling you that winter storm really hit me hard with some of the the loss of life associated with medical the dialysis was was significant loss of life there. So I think there's an education though if you are have special needs there are resources but do that now don't do it during a storm because everybody's busy right do it now find out what those resources are. Yeah.

[00:42:39]>> Yeah.

[00:42:43]>> Hey Ken, good to see you. Chris with WPBF I've got three challenges. Yeah, >> we've got new people that have infiltrated South Florida in our area.

[00:42:50]That's a challenge. I've got complacency with older folks that have been in our area. And I've got Milton tornadoes that we had the the most deadly and historic outbreak that we had in my viewing area.

[00:43:02]>> Do we have to go back to the basics and go back to square one to educate these folks? Because you have those newbies that have never been through a hurricane season before and don't know what to expect. Yeah, I I even poked fun of myself up here for repeating things. You can't repeat it enough. So, yeah, every every single time when you you all out and the media is out there, the weather service is out there, Noah's out there doing the preparedness, going to schools, going to, you know, reaching the folks that that need us the most.

[00:43:31]Yes, you have to go go with the basics because let's face it, everybody in here, we know a lot about this, don't we? I don't I don't think we assume um some of some of the ground floor of knowledge all the time with with some of the folks we're talking to. Does that make sense? I mean, we we say all these things, but you do have to go back to the basics. So, you have the new folks in in and you know, from all over the country that come here for the experience their first hurricane season, and the the population keeps growing, so you have more and more of them and and of course the elderly. So, I I think the other thing too is I encourage I I got to say this the right way. I encourage us to be in the right places to to reach the right audiences for preparedness because often we we speak to groups. They're pretty weather savvy.

[00:44:14]Does that make sense? Are we at the homeowners associations? Are are we talking to the the people with pets? Are we talking to uh the elderly? Are we talking to the new people? How do we find venues to to really identify those people that need us the most? Does that make sense? So, I think we need to do better at at those type of things. And we're not alone. It's the media, it's weather service, it's FEMA, it's the emergency managers, uh, state level across the country and county and parish level um, as well. So, we know I guess the last thing is we we knew who was losing their lives in in in hurricanes for decades. It was storm surge. We went after it.

[00:44:57]We went after it. We went after the people that are losing their lives. So, we have a storm surge watch and warning.

[00:45:02]We have inundation mapping. And guess what? It's no longer the leading cause of fatalities. It's more rip currents.

[00:45:08]It's inland flooding. So, when we know who's losing their lives, we know where to attack. Does that make sense? And that's where we need to focus.

[00:45:18]>> Great. Yes, ma'am.

[00:45:23]>> Thanks, Dinaver USA. Today I have a question probably for Ken and for Matt and it's kind of a multi-art question.

[00:45:30]With the such warmer than normal temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico or excuse me the Gulf of America, what does that mean for this hurricane season given that the Gulf can be a wild card when there's an El Nino? So if you could talk about what we can expect from the Gulf given the El Nino and I think people don't maybe don't realize that it could be different than what they see in the Atlantic development region. And on top of that, this extreme rainfall that we've seen come up through the Gulf into the inland states that really probably don't think as much about hurricanes as we do on the coast. What's the message to those people who live in, you know, northern Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky about what they can see from these oncoming landfalling if we, you know, even if we get just one?

[00:46:16]>> Go for it, Matt.

[00:46:21]>> Yeah. Yeah. So, the Gulf is even still warm from last year. We didn't have any storms in the Gulf. Um, that does contribute to the overall outlook because we look at the entire temperature of the Atlantic. Um, but you're right, most of the effects of El Nino are deep in the tropics. So, you won't have those long runups, those long storm tracks. You could get those storms in the Gulf that have the short awareness times. So, that's why this, you know, early preparation now is really key, right? Do it now. Again, you know, Ten said there's beautiful white clouds out in the sky right now. So, do it now. Um but the Gulf you can end up with more of those storms um kind of sorry um at different times of the year right normal um June and July is when you get those most of the Gulf storms um but then you can have them throughout the season especially during El Nino seasons where you have that you know that's where the pocket is more favorable compared to the entire Atlantic >> just just to really double down on the inland message. Please print it. Please print it in bold. Please increase the font. Um, you don't have to be along the coast to be in danger from the impacts of a of a tropical system. And we've seen it over and over. I I could I can name how many storms. You can go over and over. I look at Hurricane Camille even back in the 60s. Most of the fatalities were in Virginia. That was a strong storm. And you look at storms that hit from the Gulf Coast into Louisiana, but then we lose people in Virginia or New York City. Remember that? So you think about the inland dangers that these dangers are hundreds to even a thousand miles well inland. So we've got to keep reminding people you you can think you're inland Tennessee, Virginia, uh the northeast United States. Even a distant storm uh with a landfall a thousand miles away can cause some big impacts. So we need everyone ready and and I think people feel pretty immune inland. U you look at go back to Helen. Just go back and look at some of the pictures. Go look at some of the impacts there. Um and and the other part I guess relates to several questions.

[00:48:14]We've got to remind people just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it's not going to happen this time or next time because every storm is completely different.

[00:48:26]>> All right, we're going to take some questions from those participating virtually as well. I'll turn it over to Marissa Anderson for a couple of those readouts.

[00:48:34]>> Thank you, Kim, and thanks to everyone online for their questions. And I may paraph paraphrase or combine some questions in the interest of time.

[00:48:44]Given the likelihood for a strong El Nino, is there a stronger chance for landfalling storms in the Mid-Atlantic to New England?

[00:48:53]>> Matt, >> so we are expecting that, you know, moderate to strong El Nino. Um, but this forecast does not contain landfall information right now. Uh, that's an active area we're researching. I have a summer intern coming in to do some really high, you know, high-tech, high-speed work on it. Um, and using the high-res seasonal forecast system, we're going to be able to dig into that data.

[00:49:18]Um, but there is, you know, that's that's not something we can do now. So, Mid-Atlantic, uh, Northeast prepare just as if one could make a landfall, right?

[00:49:25]Especially, you know, in those in those seasons where it could be busy in that area.

[00:49:31]>> Matt, I have another question for you.

[00:49:34]When was the last time you favored a below normal season and how does this year's 55% compare to past years?

[00:49:42]>> So the last time we had forecast for a below was 2015. Um during the last uh kind of you know big strong you know moderate to strong El Nino where that Nino value got to about 1.9. Um so that was the last time we started with a May outlook for below normal. um 55% right like that's we run hundreds of model simulations millions of compute hours looking at statistics that go all the way back to you know even the mid1 1800s for some of these um so when we run all those simulations run all our calibrations on it right and there's AI based calculations in there for part of them um it's that's what we come up with um we've had years where we've had stronger probabilities and lower probabilities there's a good bit of uncertainty from the West African monsoon this year is that going to be very supportive or is that going to be more of an a less supportive phase? Can some of that counteract um the detrimental effects to storms from the El Nino? Right? So, we've calculated all those uncertainties in there and that's why we come up with the 55%.

[00:50:41]>> I have another question for you, Matt.

[00:50:44]Is the season probability referring to the likelihood that the season is above, near below normal season activity?

[00:50:54]So this the 55% chance of below that's season probability right like we talk about the the category with the most probability. So 55% chance of below. So we'll say a below normal season but yes it refers to the entire seasonal activity June 1st to November 30th uh for the entire Atlantic basin not any specific subportion of it or any specific period of time.

[00:51:19]>> All right and we'll take one more question.

[00:51:23]Since El Nino is strengthening as the hurricane season goes on, could that change the distribution of storms?

[00:51:37]>> Uh so one things that we have noted right in the statistics of this are that during El Nino years you get less storms in November. Um but that's and then less storms overall. um those are the associates or lino timing within a season. Is is it most of them going to come during August or September or anything like that that it doesn't really give you any information on that.

[00:51:57]So you've got to be prepared now for that season, right? You could end up with an early season storm and then not much later and then the total is the same, right? So it's taking that really taking that time to do it now um and prepare. So that's all we have time for today. Uh for those with additional questions, feel free to reach out to our public affairs team at nws.pa noah.gov and they will help get those questions answered for you. Thank you to our speakers, Rear Admiral Chad Kerry, Noah administrator Dr. Neil Jacobs, National Weather Service Director Ken Graham, and FEMA acting region 4 regional administrator Rob Ash, and Noah's lead hurricane season forecaster Matt Rosenr. A reminder that the news release from today's announcement is available at noah.gov and a recording of the event will also be added to that news release later this afternoon. That concludes today's press conference.

[00:52:53]Thank you for joining us and have a great day.

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[01:35:18]Hello Two minutes.

[01:36:28]There's a lot There it is.

[01:41:04]Good morning to you all. My name is Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the National Fraud Enforcement Division at the Department of Justice. I am joined today by a lineup of committed public servants who are devoted to protecting the financial security of America.

[01:41:23]Today, we are announcing criminal charges against 15 defendants in Minnesota for fraud schemes that targeted over 90 million in taxpayer dollars.

[01:41:35]Let me be clear upfront about something.

[01:41:39]This is not the end of our work in Minnesota. This is not the end of the beginning of our work in Minnesota. This is the beginning of our work in Minnesota.

[01:41:52]The fraud here in Minnesota is shocking.

[01:41:57]Our cases today involve seven different state- managed Medicaid programs that have been systematically pilferred by fraudsters who treated Minnesota programs as their personal piggy bank.

[01:42:14]One of the programs has been completely shut down because there's no money left.

[01:42:19]It's all gone.

[01:42:21]That was Minnesota's state-run housing stabilization services program designed to help the homeless find and maintain housing. It was estimated in 2020 that it would cost only about $2.5 million a year to fund this program. But it ended up costing almost 50 times that much, over $104 million by 2024 due to fraud.

[01:42:47]And because of all the fraud, Minnesota had to shut the program down in 2025.

[01:42:53]And now these services no longer exist for these vulnerable homeless populations.

[01:42:59]The same trends exist for other Minnesota run taxpayer funded programs.

[01:43:04]An autism program that cost the taxpayer 600,000 just six years ago skyrocketed to over 400 million. And to be sure, that number is not driven by supply and demand. It is not driven by health care or charity. It is fraud.

[01:43:24]To tackle this crisis, and it is a crisis in Minnesota, earlier this year, the Department of Justice surged 11 strike force prosecutors from across the country to be here on the ground fighting the rampant fraud targeting our taxpayer funded programs. and large numbers of agents from our partners at the FBI, HHS, HSI, IRSCI, and others joined our prosecutors to rapidly unmask fraudulent actors in Minnesota. These agents and prosecutors have been working around the clock to root out the criminals stealing taxpayer dollars, and I am proud of all they accomplished in such a short time.

[01:44:08]Their hard work made today possible.

[01:44:12]Make no mistake, today's charges are unprecedented. They include the highest loss amount ever charged in a Medicaid case in Minnesota and the largest autism fraud scheme ever charged by the Department of Justice. The common theme throughout these cases is fraudsters exploiting vulnerable programs and vulnerable people to enrich themselves no matter the consequences to the programs or to the people. For example, one defendant is charged with defrauding the integrated community supports Medicaid program. This program is designed to help individuals with disabilities live independently.

[01:44:55]One patient was supposed to be receiving 24-hour care through this program, but he was actually being serviced by a fraudster and received no services. This patient was later found dead.

[01:45:10]Meanwhile, the architect of this fraud scheme was billing Medicaid as if he was providing care to this patient. The defendant even submitted a claim of over $400 for services he never provided the day before this man died.

[01:45:28]In another example, two defendants have been charged for defrauding a program designed to offer medical services to those with autism spectrum disorder. As alleged, the defendants paid kickbacks to parents who brought their children to autism centers, diagnosed children with autism regardless of medical necessity, and build for autism services that were never actually provided. In one final example, two defendants have been charged in an over 22 million fraud scheme involving the individualized home supports program. This program was meant to support disabled individuals who wanted to live in their own homes.

[01:46:10]Instead, these disabled individuals were used like lottery tickets by these defendants to generate millions of dollars, which these defendants used to expand their real estate holdings, purchase luxury vehicles, and splurge on expensive jewelry.

[01:46:28]We will not full stop tolerate this greed and deceit. We will not let fraudsters bankrupt Medicare and Medicaid the same way that they bankrupted the housing stabilization services program. As mentioned, this is just the beginning. With the support of President Trump, Vice President Vance, acting attorney general Blanch, Chairman Ferguson, and the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz and his team and the entire federal fraud fighting apparatus, the Department of Justice will continue expanding our reach across the country to pursue all fraud, no matter how large, no matter how small, no matter how hard. Since April 1st, DOJ's fraud division has announced over 450 fraud enforcement actions nationwide, representing billions of taxpayer dollars. And this week already, we're delivering results coast to coast with a trial conviction in Brooklyn involving a 40 million drug distribution and fraud scheme and a trial conviction in Los Angeles invol involving a 40 million Botox injection fraud scheme. To continue our to expand our reach, we are announcing today the expansion of the healthc care fraud Midwest Strikeforce to Minnesota and the hiring of 15 additional prosecutors dedicated to combating Medicaid fraud nationwide.

[01:47:54]These additional resources will ensure that the DOJ's fraud division will be better equipped to stop fraud and hold criminals accountable. My message to the Minnesota community and to all of America is this.

[01:48:09]If you see something that seems too good to be true, tell us.

[01:48:15]In some areas, such as in the daycare prosecutions we announced today, a culture of fraud has taken root where child care centers even offer kickbacks to parents to enroll their children. If something sounds good to be true, it is.

[01:48:34]Do the right thing. Speak out. Help us win the fight against fraud. And now my message to the fraudsters is this. Eat, drink, and be merry today because your days of frolicking and freedom are numbered. We are doing everything we can to find you. And when we do, we will prosecute you. and we will claw back every dollar you have stolen from the American people. We will not rest until every fraudster knows that the cost of stealing from the American people is far higher than any scheme is worth. Thank you all for being here. I'll now turn the podium over to Secretary Kennedy.

[01:49:22]>> Thank you, Colin.

[01:49:24]I um Hey, everybody. I want to start. I I thought I was going to have a slide here. I want to call your attention to this which is in your Okay, here it is.

[01:49:38]Which is in your packet. This was the cost of the early intervention development program in 2020.

[01:49:49]It was 38.1 million. This is what we expected to be paying every year.

[01:49:57]instead this year hit 442 million. And that is I'm showing you that because that's the magnitude of the fraud and the damage that we're talking about today. And I want to thank Todd Blanch who couldn't be here today. Colin McDonald and everyone at the Department of Justice for leading this effort. I want to thank also the FBI who you're going to hear from in a little while.

[01:50:22]the HHS Office of Inspector General, CMS, and and especially Dr. Oz, the White House anti-fraud task force, and Vice President Vance, and the investigators and law enforcement personnel whose relentless work made today's action possible. Today's arrests represent the largest autism fraud bust in American history. This was not a paperwork error. It was not a technical violation. This was organized threat, organized theft that exploited the most vulnerable children in America, deceived families, stole taxpayer dollars meant to help children with autism with autism access legitimate care and support.

[01:51:07]Investigators uncovered brazing schemes that build taxpayers for non-existent services, fraudulent diagnosis, and fake care while criminals enrich themselves at public expense. Every fraudulent autism diagnosis has steal time, care, and resources from the children for whom this program was for whom this program was denied and who desperately need this care. Families with autistic children already face enormous challenges navigating therapies, specialists, and support systems. Fraud makes those barriers even steeper. America is facing a real autism crisis today. Approximately one in every 31 children is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Medicaid finances a significant share of autism related services nationwide and spending has risen dramatically over the last decade and a lot of that spending is because of fraud. When criminals exploit these programs, taxpayers lose billions and v vulnerable children lose their access to care. Healthc care fraud now cost the United States tens of billions of dollars every year. Some estimates place the broader cost of healthc care fraud and improper payments at a hundred billion dollars annually.

[01:52:36]That fraud drives up health care costs for all Americans. It weakens public trust. It drains taxpayer resources and threatens the long-term stability of both Medicaid and Medicare.

[01:52:49]If we fail to confront the fraud aggressively, these programs will not survive for future generations in the form Americans rely upon them today.

[01:53:00]Under the leadership of President Trump and Vice President Vance, this administration is carrying out the most aggressive anti-fraud African-American history. And I want to be clear, this is an extraordinary bus today because these kind of operations usually take many years, sometimes a decade that this was executed with a precision and speed that is unprecedented in the history of law enforcement.

[01:53:27]And it's unprecedented now, but under Vice President Vance's leadership, and President Trump's direction, we are going to normalize this speed. We're restoring accountability, strengthening oversight, prosecuting criminal networks, and protecting the integrity of our public health systems. We will not allow criminals to treat children as billing opportunities while American taxpayers foot foot the bill.

[01:53:57]This administration will continue rooting out fraud because every stolen dollar is a dollar taken from a child, a parent, a senior of a family who desperately needs help. We're going to protect these programs and protect vulnerable children and restore integrity to American health care system. And now I want to introduce the United States Attorney Rosen.

[01:54:28]Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And uh my thanks uh where you go to Colin McDonald uh who uh has led the Department of Justice's National Fraud Prosecution effort with a tenacity and an effectiveness that is really inspiring to all of us who are on the team. Here in Minnesota, we have the unfortunate distinction of bringing to na being the place that brought to national attention the fraud committed against governments across the United States. Governments that uh turned the other way either deliberately or negligently while it was happening under their noses. The numbers that we have here in Minnesota are enormous. But I'm happy to tell you that we have more prosecutors prosecuting fraud, more law enforcement reinforce uh resources, investigating the fraud, and we are identifying and investigating and prosecuting fraud at a pace that is unprecedented here in this state. I am happy to report to you all, although I imagine many of you know that just a short time ago uh this morning, uh Amy Bach, cornerstone operator in the Feeding Our Future fraud, was sentenced by Judge Brazzle to 500 months in prison. That's 41.6 years. uh while feeding our future uh while the f while that that fraud in and of itself was breathtaking the truth is feeding our f and feeding our future is only a start and we believe it's only a small fraction of the fraud that is actually ongoing here in the state of Minnesota and I can say so Kennedy and Dr. as it's my pledge to you that we're going to do our best to def uh to deter future thefts from your department and from your agency to recover as much of the losses as we possibly can and to put the thieves here in Minnesota into prison. And with that, uh I give you Chairman Ferguson.

[01:56:39]Good afternoon. When President Trump said he wanted an all of government approach to fighting fraud, he meant it.

[01:56:45]He wants us to stop fraud by preventing money from going out the door and he wants fraudsters swiftly brought to justice. And that's why he created the anti-fraud task force and put president Vance or Vice President Vance in charge of it to coordinate both arms of the anti-fraud campaign. Today is about bringing justice to the fraudsters at an unprecedented pace. And the whole country owes tremendous gratitude to the acting attorney general, to assistant attorney general Colin McDonald, to the US attorney Rosen, to the deputy FBI director Reya for today's indictments, and also to the healthc care fraud strike force that was sent here in Minnesota. And I just want to reiterate what was said earlier, having met some of the prosecutors today, the work done at the speed at which it was done is unprecedented. And because of Attorney General Blanch and Colin McDonald, this is going to become the new norm for American fraud prosecutions.

[01:57:39]We saw last week an example of keeping money in the agency. Thanks to Director or Administrator Oz and Kim Brandt, the task force helped keep billions of dollars in HHS rather than going out the door to fund fraud. And this week, the other arm of the pincher becomes apparent with fraudsters who took money from the American people getting their just desserts.

[01:58:00]That is all about restoring deterrence.

[01:58:03]And restoring deterrence is important for two reasons. First, this is how we have to save these programs. Fraud is going to bleed our social programs dry.

[01:58:14]All of these programs are made possible by the most generous country in the world and the most generous people in the world, Americans, turning over trillions of their