In today's newsletter: Trump administration officials have forced out several FBI executives and Jan. 6 prosecutors. No survivors are expected in an air ambulance crash in Philadelphia, the aircraft company said. And a son searches for answers decades after his father's disappearance.

Here's what to know today.

Trump administration officials have forced out all six of the FBI’s most senior executives and multiple heads of FBI field offices across the country, current and former FBI officials said. President Donald Trump said he was unaware of the removals, which come a day after Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, testified in his Senate confirmation hearing that “all FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.

The removals include David Sundberg, the high-profile leader of the Washington, D.C., field office, which was involved in the prosecutions of President Trump, as well as six top leaders in the FBI’s headquarters in Washington. The special agent in charge in Miami and the special agent in charge in Las Vegas were also ousted.

In addition, federal prosecutors who investigated Jan. 6 rioters were also fired. A letter sent to them said their removal was based on their role in the Jan. 6 prosecutions.

In a separate memo sent to the FBI workforce on Friday night, acting director Brian J. Driscoll, Jr. informed employees that Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had asked for a list of all FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases for “a review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”

An FBI official believed more removals might be on the horizon, saying, “This is not done. These are the top people.”

Trump, when asked yesterday about the removals, said he was not aware of them but added that he felt some FBI officials needed to be removed. “If they fired some people over there, that’s a good thing, because they were very bad,” he said.

While new FBI directors have imposed major changes in the past, former FBI officials said Trump is ushering in a new era — one that experts say could fundamentally change the bureau and may pose risks.

Read the full story here.

More politics news:

No survivors expected in Philadelphia plane crash, airline company says

None of the six people aboard an air ambulance that crashed in northeast Philadelphia were expected to survive, the company that operates the aircraft said after the fiery incident on Friday evening. The passengers on board included four crew members, a pediatric patient and the patient’s escort, according to a statement from Jet Rescue Air Ambulance. The child had come to the U.S. with her mother for “life-saving treatment” and was returning to Mexico, a spokesperson for the plane company said. Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last night on X that all six people on board the Learjet 55 were Mexican nationals.

The plane crashed around 6:30 p.m. near Roosevelt Mall, an outdoor shopping center about 3 miles from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. Video showed smoke and fire in the area of the crash, and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said that “several dwellings and vehicles were impacted.” The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the plane was en route to Missouri. The agency, along with the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. Here’s what else we know.

Three hostages released by Hamas, including Israeli American Keith Siegel

After 484 days in captivity, Israeli American Keith Siegel has been freed as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel.

Siegel, who was taken captive in October 2023, is the first Israeli American to be released since his wife, Aviva Siegel, was freed in December 2023. At the time he told her, "I’ll be out in a few days."

The two other hostages freed today were also taken captive alongside family members. Carpenter and father of four, Ofer Kalderon, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz with his children Sahar, 16, and Erez, 12, who were freed in November 2023.

Yarden Bibas was taken hostage along with his wife Shiri Bibas and their two children, Ariel, 5, and Kfir, 9 months. Hamas said his young family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023, but in Israel the Bibas family has held onto hope that they are alive.

Israel is releasing about 180 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the exchange. The prisoners include 18 with life sentences, 54 with high sentences and life sentences and 111 from the Gaza Strip who were arrested after the Oct. 7 attacks, according to Hamas officials.

Follow live updates.

Investigation into D.C. midair collision focuses on helicopter flight

The pilots of the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet in midair near the nation’s capital were seasoned. The flight path was familiar, and the weather was clear. Yet the routine training flight ended in a disastrous crash that left 67 people dead and many more in mourning.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board have been quick to emphasize that its investigation is just beginning. The flight data recorders, better known as black boxes, are still being processed. But aviation experts say that exactly what altitude the helicopter was flying at when it collided with a passenger jet will likely be key to unraveling the disaster.

The passenger jet’s last known altitude was logged at about 375 feet, according to the aircraft tracking website FlightAware. Helicopters generally are not permitted to fly above 200 feet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, under Federal Aviation Administration rules. Publicly available data reviewed by NBC News suggests the Army helicopter may have been flying too high at the time of the crash.

Aviation experts said if that data is confirmed by the black boxes, it will open a host of additional questions.

More coverage of the D.C. plane crash:

What did Bill Gates say his greatest regret in life was?

A. Not inventing AI software
B. Selling his Microsoft stock
C. Divorcing his wife, Melinda French Gates
D. Dropping out of Harvard

Find out the answer and test your knowledge of this week's most-read stories. (The answer to the question is also at the bottom of this newsletter.)

An unsolved disappearance and a couple with a dangerous past

In February 1991, Ken Holmgren received a chilling phone call from his father, Elmer: If Holmgren didn’t hear from Elmer in a few days, he should call federal authorities. That’s exactly what happened. But decades later, the mystery of what happened to Elmer remains. Reporter Tim Stelloh and the “Dateline” team look into Elmer’s connection to a wealthy couple with a murderous history as Holmgren continues his search for answers.

— Elizabeth Robinson, newsletter editor

Not all workout shoes are made the same. NBC Select editors and experts recommend the best men’s running shoes for every type of runner. And for those having trouble with scalp acne, dermatologists and hair health experts share which ingredients to look for when shopping for a treatment.

Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today's newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson.

By the way, the answer to the quiz question above is C. Divorcing his wife, Melinda French Gates.

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