‘Mayday — mayday — mayday’: Watch legendary pilot Capt. Sully Sullenberger explain why GOP needs to go

Hero pilot Sully Sullenberger warned America of the crisis facing the country from President Donald Trump and Capitol Hill Republicans during an Election Eve appearance on MSNBC's "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell.

In 2009, Captain Sullenberger saved 155 lives by calmly landing a passenger airplane on the Hudson River off of Manhattan after both of the plane's engines were disabled. Prior to his civil aviation career, Sullenberger was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force.

O'Donnell asked him about a powerful column he wrote in The Washington Post.

"I felt an intense obligation to act, not just to watch," Sullenberg explained. "To put my voice out there -- to vote -- to try to make a difference. I think that's an obligation each of us has in this critical time."

"We can't just yell at the TV, we have to do something, we have to vote," he added. "This is not normal, what is happening in this country is not normal."

"My original title for the op-ed was 'mayday -- mayday -- mayday,' which of course is the international signal for distress about a grave and imminent threat that requires immediate assistance," he said.

Sullenberger noted that he had been a Republican for most of his life, said that he agreed with prominent former Republicans who are urging voters to elect Democrats.

"Right now, the majority party in the House and the Senate are not fulfilling their oath of office," he explained.

"They are not acting as a check and balance, and we must replace them with those who will," Sullenberger concluded.

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