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American Morning

Southwest Plane Skids Off Runway, Causes Fatality; Government Advises to Conserve Oil This Winter; Wrongfully Imprisoned Man Set Free

Aired December 09, 2005 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Will it be a snow day on Wall Street? We wonder how many traders will make it down to Wall Street? The Dow Jones Industrial average coming in at 10,755, a drop of 55 points. Kind of a grinch market. Meanwhile, Nasdaq is the location now. Composite index opens there, down 2,246.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Still, maybe it will be an up day in the long run. Who knows?

O'BRIEN: There you go! That's the spirit!

COSTELLO: It's Friday. I'm happy about everything.

O'BRIEN: It's Friday and you're trapped in the city. You're just doing your best to put a smile on the whole situation.

We've been talking all morning about the crash last night in Chicago. Midway Airport, a tight airport with short runways, slick runways, bad visibility. A lot of things conspiring against the crew of that Southwest Airlines 737-700, when it finally slid off the end of the runway, went into traffic, crushed two cars and killed a young boy.

Mike Abate was a passenger on that crashed plane. He was on his way home to Wisconsin. He joins this morning from not far from the crash site.

Mike, first of all, I'm glad you're with us this morning. I'm glad that there were no additional injuries there. Can you tell us -- first of all, when you realized things were not going well?

MIKE ABATE, PASSENGER ON CRASHED PLANE: You know, to be honest with you, Miles, it took a little while. It felt like a normal landing. I mean, we landed hard on all three wheels, but didn't realize that something was going awry until we were not able to decelerate like normal. And, you know, the terminal to my right -- because I was at the exit window -- went by pretty quickly and we were still at a pretty good clip. That's when I realized something wasn't going well.

O'BRIEN: A couple of questions for you. First of all, did you notice if the engines went into reverse thrust?

ABATE: It did, it definitely did.

O'BRIEN: OK. And they were doing the best they can to slow it down. And also, I don't know if you fly a lot -- do you know what those spoilers look like? The speed brakes? Do you know if they were deployed? They -- the little flaps that come up on the wings?

ABATE: Yes, they look like they did come up, in my opinion. You know -- it's like I said, I was right on the wing. And accordingly, you can see it right there. It looked like it did come up. But he was tapping on the brakes quite a bit. And then he went into tap on the brakes the last time and that's when you could feel the plane sliding out of control.

O'BRIEN: OK. So at that point, it almost was like the sensation of fish-tailing in a car or something like that?

ABATE: Exactly, exactly. You could feel -- and then shortly after that, when you realize he wasn't able to keep it controlled, we hit a huge bump, what felt like a bump, and we all lurched, you know, up in our seats and that's when, you know, I think we went through the barrier at that point. And the nose gear had given out. Because then all of a sudden a rush of snow -- because it was pretty clear from the window at that point -- and then a rush of snow engulfed the whole side of the plane and that's when I'm assuming we went through the barrier and we lost the nose gear.

O'BRIEN: All right. And the noises that you heard throughout the -- was it like grinding metal or was it was kind of eerily quiet in a way?

ABATE: There was some grinding metal. And, then, you know, it just happened so quickly. You know, the wing on the right side there kind of sheared off and pushed back a little bit. I mean, not completely off, but pushed back towards the right side of the plane. And there was debris from the front of the plane. I don't know what exactly it was, but it got caught up into the wing up and up against the window.

O'BRIEN: Did you have time to get scared, or it was afterward that you realized kind of what all transpired?

ABATE: It happened pretty quickly. To be honest with you, you really didn't have a chance. I mean, once we -- once we hit that bump and there was debris flying, that's when you just literally held on to the seat in front of you and just prayed that you stopped. And then, you know, unfortunately, we came to a stop in the middle of a, you know, a major street.

O'BRIEN: All right. And I -- this is a tough question, I know. Do you know how far down the runway you were when you landed? Could you tell? Was there any way to tell?

ABATE: You know what, it's hard to say. I mean, to be honest with you, like I said, it was -- the visibility was just horrible. And I've flown in many of -- you know, many storms before, rain or snow. And the visibility was very poor. I mean, you could not see the city lights, regardless of the runway lights, until literally the last 10 seconds of the -- you know, before landing. So, you know, visibility was poor. And so for me to sit there and guess, you know, it could be a complete guess. I mean, I just know it was definitely before the terminal on my right that we hit the ground because I saw the terminal going by pretty quickly as we, you know, we were trying to slow down.

O'BRIEN: Final thought. Once everything came to rest there, did the crew get everybody off expeditiously? Was there was any panic? That kind of thing on?

ABATE: No, they did. I think they were trying to assess the situation. You know, obviously, the power was completely out. They got on their blow horns. You couldn't really hear what was going on. Then the captain came out. He seemed to kind of take control. They opened up the front window -- the door on the left hand side. They deployed the slide and then everybody, really from about three quarters of the way back, exited from that area.

And then, to be honest with you, it was remarkably quick. They were able to get a stairwell to the back of the plane so the last -- I would say probably third of the plane departed or exited from that section of the plane. So overall, once we -- it was probably four or five minutes. We were able to get a quick call on the plane before we started to deplane. But then we started hearing some jet -- smell some jet fuel. I think that's when people started getting concerned.

O'BRIEN: All right. Mike Abate has quite a story to tell and even as you've been speaking, we just got the name of the little boy. Six-year-old Joshua Woods from Leroy, Indiana, a was the fatality there in one of the vehicles that that plane struck. And the investigation just beginning there in Chicago on this snowy morning.

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: At least we're all in it together, because it is freezing cold this morning, from the Northeast all the way to the Northwest. But the government is telling us to turn that thermostat down, even while they argue about how much aid they can give to low- income families to pay for their heating bills this year.

Joining us live this morning, energy secretary Samuel Bodman -- he's in our Washington bureau. Good morning, sir.

SAMUEL BODMAN, SECRETARY OF ENERGY: Good morning. Happy to be here.

COSTELLO: Oh, we're happy to have you here. You're urging people to conserve in order to save money on their heating bills. Can you be more specific about how we can do that?

BODMAN: Well, I sure can. First, I think it's important to emphasize that the energy infrastructure of our country took a real severe blow because of the hurricanes last fall, and we've still got a third of the oil and natural gas that are normally produced in the Gulf of Mexico it's shut in. And so we are short supplies that we normally would have, and that's caused prices to peak.

COSTELLO: Well, how can we conserve, though? What should we do?

BODMAN: First of all, the Energy Department has a Web site, energy.gov. You can go there and get all kinds of suggestions. The simplest ones are things that turn off the lights when you leave the room. Make sure that the damper on your fireplace is closed, installing new energy-saving lights.

All kinds of things are there that are on that Web site. We published a little booklet that we've made available to the public, and I think it's something -- we've had the leadership of the Energy Department on the road for the last couple of months advocating this, talking about efforts that all citizens can make, whether it's insulating the attic, or just taking care to install new windows.

COSTELLO: OK, we'll go to that Web site. You talked about the oil supplies coming from the Gulf Coast, not up to par yet. But we had an energy expert on "THE SITUATION ROOM." His name was Mark Wolfer. He says the Iraq war also has something to do with the high energy cost this year. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK WOLFE, NATL. ENERGY ASSISTANCE DIR. ASSN.: Frankly, the war had a lot to do with it. The war took Iraq of from producing, and so supplies are tight globally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: What's your reaction to that?

BODMAN: I would respectfully disagree with that. We have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve in this country on the Gulf Coast. It's been operating. The president released the oil from that reserve. We've made it available if crude oil was required. It's one of the things, one of the reasons we've seen gasoline prices decline from over $3 down to $2.15 just this last week, is because we have been able to import gasoline. We've been able to import crude oil, and its replaced the problems that we have. It's a different story with natural gas with respect to crude oil, I would respectfully disagree with the gentleman.

COSTELLO: OK, another thought they had. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is offering low-income people in some states, Illinois, New York and I think Massachusetts, offering low-income people really cheap heat. I mean, why is he doing that? Should he be doing that? And why isn't our own government doing that?

BODMAN: Well, this is a matter of -- as we view it, of corporate philanthropy. We're all for that. Nobody in the Energy Department, or in the government for that matter, is going oppose that. If that's what Mr. Chavez and his colleagues who own Citgo choose to do, I'm certainly not going to criticize.

COSTELLO: So should American-owned companies do the same thing, and should the government urge them to do that?

BODMAN: Well, we are in favor -- all I would say to that is we are in favor of corporate philanthropy. A number of the companies, the U.S. oil companies are very generous in various ways. That's really all I would say about it. I haven't studied the individual philanthropic activities of each of those companies.

All right, so we'll get on the Web site and we'll insulate our....

BODMAN: I hope so. It's something, if I may say, it's really very important, and something where everybody can contribute.

COSTELLO: All right, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, thank you for joining thus morning.

BODMAN: Thank you very much.

COSTELLO: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, locked up for 24 years for crimes he did not commit. One man in Georgia finally walks free. We are going to talk to him about the evidence that cleared his name and ask him what he plans to do with the rest of his life.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: More than two decades behind bars must have felt like a lifetime to a man wrongfully convicted. Now he's putting that behind him with a new taste of freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Robert Clark spent the last 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. On Thursday he walked out of a Georgia courtroom a free man.

ROBERT CLARK JR., FREED BY DNA EVIDENCE: Thank God it's over with. Thank God. I'm just happy to get out.

COSTELLO: Clark, who is now 45 years old, was sentenced to life plus 20 years for kidnapping and rape back in 1982.

Just last month, Clark was cleared by DNA evidence which found the actual perpetrator to be one of his friends.

LAKEISHA FALLON, ROBERT CLARK'S NIECE: This is something that we've been praying for and hoping for so many years. The Innocence Project, a legal aid group known for its DNA exonerations, got involved in the case after Clark and his family convinced their attorneys he'd been wrongly convicted. Now Robert Clark is eager to catch up with his family, including the five grandchildren he didn't have when he was sent to prison.

VIRGINIA JACOBS, ROBERT CLARK'S SISTER: I'm happy. I am so happy for my brother. These are tears of joy, OK? I just hate that my mom is not here to, you know, be with us. But these are tears of joy.

FALLON: I'm overjoyed. I just wish my grandmother was here, because she fought so long. She wanted him home.

CLARK: I just want to go home. I just want to get back to the house that they took me away from 24 years ago, and I'm going try to be the best father I can be for my kids.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Wow, it gives you goose bumps, doesn't it?

Joining us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Robert Clark, his son, Rodrickus, and his attorney Vanessa Potkin with the Innocence Project.

Welcome to all of you.

Robert, we have to start with you, because that beautiful smile. You had one beautiful smile when you walked out of that place. What did it feel like?

CLARK: It just seemed like it wasn't real. I don't know. It just -- it still seems like it ain't real, but I'm home. I'm out. So...

COSTELLO: We are so happy you're home. So you went to prison in 1981, Ronald Reagan was president, MTV was just beginning, Iran released the hostages, Walter Cronkite retired. Tell us how strange it must be now when so much is different.

CLARK: Yes, it's strange, and -- but I'll get used to it. I'll get used to it. I've just got to learn to adjust to different things now, because it's not like it was when I went away, you know.

COSTELLO: Your son is with you. He was five years old when you went to prison. What's it like to be able to be with him everyday now?

CLARK: It's different. It's different.

COSTELLO: So Rodrickus, tell me what it's like to have your dad with you?

RODRICKUS CLARK, ROBERT CLARK'S SON: It feels good. It feels great, you know, to have back home with me, put him back in my life.

COSTELLO: Vanessa, how did you get involved in this and how long did it take you to clear Robert?

VANESSA POTKIN, THE INNOCENCE PROJECT: Robert first wrote to the innocence project in the late '90s, asking for help to get DNA testing. And we have an extensive screening process. We took on the case in 2003 and immediately went into court and filed a motion to get access to the evidence to prove his innocence. We didn't get the test results back until just this November. COSTELLO: So what happens now? Will he be able to get any money from the system for those 20 -- I mean, that's half your life.

POTKIN: It's unimaginable. Robert went in when he was 21 years old. He's walking out 45 years old. You know, an amazing, really, aspect of his story is that, you know, when Robert went to trial, the true perpetrator was in the courtroom at the time. Robert was connected to the crime through a car that had been taken from the victim. And Robert told police, look, I got this car from this guy who I knew named Tony Arnold.

The police didn't believe him. When Robert went to trial, his defense was, I didn't do it, I was misidentified. The true -- you know, here's the person I got the car from. He was brought into court. And this is absolutely one of the worst cases of tunnel vision that the Innocence Project has ever seen.

COSTELLO: Well, tunnel vision and bungling of the case. So can you sue the police department?

POTKIN: Well, certainly the most -- the best resolution to this case would be for the general assembly of Georgia to pass a private bill to give compensation to Robert Clark as they have done for other victims of wrongful conviction in this state.

COSTELLO: Yes, and sometimes it's gone as high as $1.5 million. I can't help but notice, Robert and Rodriguez, that you're holding hands. Christmas is coming.

RODRICKUS CLARK: I don't want to turn him loose no more.

COSTELLO: I just -- so what are your plans for Christmas?

ROBERT CLARK: I don't know. I'm going try to spend them at home.

COSTELLO: Are you bitter?

ROBERT CLARK: No. No. I'm not bitter, no.

COSTELLO: That's impossible to believe.

ROBERT CLARK: I've got my family back.

POTKIN: Well, of course, you know, Robert's not bitter now. And this is an amazing day and he's so -- there's so much love and he's so happy to be around his family. But in the truth is that in the weeks and months to come, it's going to be an extraordinarily hard road. He has been locked up for his entire adult life and, basically has to rebuild his life from the ground up.

And while we, you know, hope that the general assembly of Georgia will act quickly to give him compensation, you know, he walked out with no money, no services, as of yesterday. And so these are all things that, you know... COSTELLO: Well, I hope some employer out there is watching, somebody is, because what a wonderful family and what wonderful love you have for your son. And thank you all for joining us this morning. We appreciate it. Robert Clark, Vanessa Potkin and Rodriguez Clark. Good luck to you.

ROBERT CLARK: All right, thank you.

COSTELLO: We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: You know, there's nothing better than a pop tart. I'd just like to say that right now.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: On the package it says seven vitamins and minerals.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: No, it's good for you.

COSTELLO: OK. So take it away, Andy.

M. O'BRIEN: You better take it away.

COSTELLO: Yes, well, I'll let you guys eat, right?

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the markets this morning and go down to Wall Street and see what's happening on the big board. The Dow is up nine points at this hour. A little bit of stabilization in the energy markets with this cold weather. I guess traders really understanding that yes, it is winter and cold weather hits and that will make oil prices go up a little bit.

And so we seem to be settling down. One stock moving in the down side, however, is Merck. Down 3 percent this morning to under $29. That, of course, because of the news in the New England Journal of Medicine, which suggests that the drug giant withheld data on a test about its drug Vioxx. Big news this morning.

And now, let's change gears and go to Hollywood. The Hollywood sign we told you about last month was for sale. Yes, there it is. Now, let's be clear. The Hollywood sign itself is still there. This is the original Hollywood sign from 1923. It sold for $450,000 clamados (ph)-- that would be dollars -- on e-Bay. Anyway...

COSTELLO: Clamados.

O'BRIEN: It used to be Hollywoodland? Who bought the land, I wonder?

SERWER: The land's gone.

O'BRIEN: That's long gone.

SERWER: They don't sell it to you. COSTELLO: It's a mystery.

Hey, we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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