Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Sunday
V.P. Cheney Accidentally Shot Man During Hunting Trip; Power Outages and Travel Problems from Winter Storm; String of Church Fires in Alabama; Michelle Kwan Pulls Out of Olympics; Four Inmates Escape Chicago Jail
Aired February 12, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Late breaking details coming from Texas. We've learned that Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a quail hunting trip taking place yesterday in south Texas.
Our Dana Bash is at the White House with the latest information. Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well apparently what happened is yesterday afternoon the vice president was quail hunting near Corpus Christi in Texas, and he accidentally hit Harry Whittington, who was actually hunting with him. He is doing OK. The vice president is visiting with him today. Essentially it was -- he was accidentally sprayed with what they call bird shot, which is the kind of bullets, if you will, that they use when they quail hunt. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And we understand that the partner that the vice president was hunting with, who is now the victim of this shooting, he's a 78-year-old man, a lawyer in the Austin area. What do you understand about how many people were on the hunting trip? Or was it just the pair?
BASH: The information is coming in very slowly, Fredricka, but essentially we know that it was about a handful of people who were hunting with the vice president. He is an avid hunter. He hunts quite frequently. And Mr. Whittington was actually hunting with the vice president. He was part of the team.
And it was an accident, according to Lea Anne McBride, who is the vice president's spokeswoman, but she says that the vice president is visiting with him, and they think that all is going to be fine and that he's going to stay there for the day at the hospital with him -- excuse me, I'm not sure. I should correct that. We're not actually sure if they are at the hospital or at his house, but he is going to return to work tomorrow. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: And so, according to the information we've been able to get, too, Dana -- Harry Whittington, the 78-year-old attorney who was hunting with the vice president is said to be alert and doing fine. Do we know anything more, perhaps even from the vice president's spokesperson, about the condition of Mr. Whittington? BASH: They're being very careful, Fredricka, of what they're saying. What they are doing is pointing us to an eyewitness account of a woman named Katharine Armstrong. She owns a ranch, apparently the ranch where they were actually hunting. And she says that Whittington is in good condition and he was taken to the Christus Spohn Hospital. He was taken by ambulance, but according to her, an eyewitness, he is in good condition and this is the account that the vice president's office is pointing us to.
WHITFIELD: And so Dana, before I left you go, what is the explanation as to why the vice president's office is reporting this today when the shooting took place yesterday?
BASH: No explanation of that at all, Fredricka. We're looking into that as well, we'll let you know.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dana Bash, thank you so much.
So if you're just now joining us, information that we're getting from the vice president's spokesperson, that the vice president accidentally shot a friend of his that he was quail hunting with in south Texas; 78-year-old Harry Whittington is said to be alert and doing fine and is being treated as a Corpus Christi memorial hospital. And of course, when we get any more information about the circumstances of how this accident took place, we'll be able to bring that to you.
Meantime, also under folding this hour, a major snowstorm is pounding parts of the Northeast, shutting down airports, stranding thousands of travelers. This hour CNN is your severe weather headquarters.
Ten church fires in Alabama in two weeks, the latest one happening last night. This hour, what investigators suspect about who may be responsible.
And they are the subject of a new film called the "Boys of Baraka." Inner city kids who had an experience of going to Kenya and how it may have changed their lives. All of that and more coming up.
Well, this could be one for the record books. Ominous words from New York's mayor as a paralyzing snowstorm slams the Northeast. CNN is tracking all of this for you. Our chief national correspondent John King is on the Massachusetts cape. Gary Nurenberg is monitoring delays and power outages in the Mid-Atlantic from Washington. And we start in the Big Apple with CNN's Chris Huntington. Chris, how much snow has fallen where you are?
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, thank you very much. We're here in Brooklyn, the borough of Brooklyn, across the East River from Manhattan. Clearly about two feet here. The official measure in Central Park, more than two feet, more than 24 inches, closing in on the all-time record of just over 26 inches. It is still coming down, although considerably lighter than it had been earlier today. Earlier this morning it was definitely a full-blown blizzard. And there was all kinds of accidental skidding and slushing around that you might expect. Some buses got tangled up, we saw all sorts of traffic snafus. Nothing serious, nobody's able to move very quickly here, and that's the good news. And of course being Sunday there just isn't that much traffic. Frankly now a lot of people are making their way out to enjoy it. And we caught up with one of the early snow birds this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beautiful, and there's hardly anyone here. Like this is just a great, great time to be out. People think it's too fierce out here, but it's really not that cold, and it's beautiful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTINGTON: Now she was one of the early ones. She's got a lot of company now. We're in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, just about 100 yards from one of the prime sledding hills and there are hundreds of folks here, kids of all ages, frankly enjoying themselves. And for these folks, just a beautiful winter day.
Fredricka? Actually we're going to go to John King, who's having a much tougher time, I think up on the coast of Cape Cod in Chatham, John?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, thank you very much. We're in Chatham, a town of about 7,000 people in the winter. But if you look behind me and you see the spectacular seashore here, that is why this town grows to about 30,000 people in the summer time.
Just below me here to my right, to your left, is the fishing pier in town. You can see some, if you see the visibility is still pretty poor. Some lobster boats, some fishing boats off on the dock. That is still a very thriving year-round business here. The accumulations here are past a foot right now. But because of these swirling winds, still gusting and excess of 40 miles-an-hour.
If you go around the town, one of the major issues is not just the accumulation, but the drifting. You can see it here on the seashore as well. You can get down two feet or more, and the snow is quite soft. So when the wind swirls, its blowing around. That has been one of the problems all day. They were concerned about flooding. At one point earlier today, some of this fishing pier had moderate flooding, but the tides went out and that water has receded.
They thought they might have to close the main road through town but that did not happen, either. The waters came up a bit, came close, flooded some parking lots, came close to some homes. But the police chief says so far, so good. No major power outages, because this storm happened on a Sunday and because it is in the wintertime here, there's no significant damage. We have met some of the hearty souls in town, we'll introduce them to you in our he 6:00 hour. But for now, back to Fredricka on what is a beautiful day here, spectacular day on Cape Cod. Again Fred, they are worried about the accumulations, but they say since the power hasn't gone out, they think so far, so good. They're actually enjoying what is a very hearty winter storm.
WHITFIELD: Wow, they are diehard then. Well let's check in with Gary Nurenberg now who is in nation's capital to give us an idea of what they're enduring there in the Mid-Atlantic.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fred, we're at Washington's Reagan National Airport, just outside of Washington D.C.. an airport that closed for between four and five hours earlier this morning, when that storm dropped about two inches an hour of snow on runways here.
Airport closed about 7:00 this morning, delaying passengers for hours, and then many of those passengers simply gave up, got on trains and went to New York or Cleveland or wherever they could. Others made arrangements for later in the day.
It's returning to normal here, but if you look at the arrival and departure board, New York and Boston, most of those flights are canceled, although plenty of others are reading on time. Fredricka, we'll get back to you with more on what's happening here, including power outages, when CNN continues.
WHITFIELD: All right, more now on this breaking story that's involving a hunting trip that went wrong in south Texas, involving the vice president. The vice president's spokesperson is telling CNN that he accidentally shot a person who he was hunting with, a 78-year-old man, Harry Whittington, who is also an attorney there in Austin, Texas.
But apparently Mr. Whittington is said to be alert and doing fine. Michael Gibson is a reporter with KIII in Corpus Christi, which is the closest city to where this accident took place. And Michael, we understand that Harry Whittington is still being hospitalized at the memorial hospital there. What more do you know?
MICHAEL GIBSON, KIII REPORTER (on phone): Well, I spoke with a hospital spokesman Yvonne Wheeler. She told me that he is in stable condition, 78-year-old Harry Whittington. He was apparently with the vice president on a weekend hunting trip in a Kennedy County ranch. And we had known that the vice president came in on Friday for that trip.
And from what we have tried to track down is that the accident apparently happened on Saturday around 5:30 p.m. Central time. And that's about all we know right now. We know the vice president was here this morning with a Secret Service detail at the hospital, visiting with Mr. Whittington and apparently has already left, according to the hospital spokesperson.
WHITFIELD: All right, and then what do you know, Michael, if anything, about the ranch, the Armstrong Ranch where this hunting trip was taking place? We know that one of the owners of the property helped report that as far as she knew, Mr. Whittington was doing fine, as he was taken to the hospital. What do you know about that ranch as to whether there are a lot of other hunting escapades that happen there?
GIBSON: We know it's one of the largest ranches in our area, and popular with quail hunters, and we understood that the vice president had come down on several occasions for quail hunting trips in that area. And apparently whatever happened yesterday has Mr. Whittington in the hospital and I guess the vice president must have stayed overnight here in Corpus Christi being that it happened at 5:30 yesterday.
WHITFIELD: All right, Michael Gibson of KIII out of Corpus Christi, thanks so much for that update. Also on the line with us now, former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, who is also a CNN contributor. Mr. Barr, thanks so much for being with us. You being an avid hunter yourself as well as a board member on the NRA, give us an idea of this kind of scenario that we understand to be taking place during this quail hunting accident.
The two of them -- at least two of them, the vice president along with his friend Harry Whittington, hunting together, somehow reportedly the vice president turned, was aiming at a bird, accidentally shoots his partner. Give me an idea of what the circumstances are often like when quail hunting.
BOB BARR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well certainly the most important news is that the gentleman that was hit with the shotgun pellets seems to be recovering OK. That's certainly the best news out of this unfortunate scenario.
It also highlights the fact that no matter how experienced a hunter is, no matter how experienced a person is, such as the vice president in handling firearms, accidents do happen. When you're out on a hunt, your adrenaline is running.
You have to be very, very careful, particularly in close quarters. And that's why you always want to have a guide with you to make sure that guns are pointed in the right direction at all times, that a person does not raise their firearm before everybody is ready, so that you minimize the chances of this sort of tragedy happening.
WHITFIELD: What's your understanding about the experience of the vice president and his hunting?
BARR: It's my understanding, although I've never accompanied the vice president on a hunting trip, that he is a very experienced hunter, a very safety-minded handler of firearms. And I'm sure he feels terrible about this.
It's certainly very embarrassing, but I know that these things do happen and it's unfortunate, but it also emphasizes, reemphasizes the fact that you always, always have to keep safety foremost in mind, even in sort of the thrill of a hunt out in the bush. WHITFIELD: Bob Barr, CNN contributor, as well as former Georgia congressman, thanks so much for being with us, appreciate it. And of course, when we get any more information on this shooting accident involving the vice president while on a quail hunting trip, along with at least one other person, Harry Whittington, 78-year-old man, who is now in stable condition being treated at the hospital after being accidentally shot by the vice president in south Texas. All of this taking place yesterday.
We're just now learning of the circumstances today. And of course, when we get any more information, we'll be able to bring that to you. We're going to take a short break right now and we'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider with a look at your cold and flu report for Sunday. As we take a look at the map, we can show you what places across the country have been reporting outbreaks of the flu so far this season. As you can see, much of the country, at least has been reporting some local activity or regional outbreaks. Widespread activity for the flu unfortunately for Texas and up to New York, where folks are enduring a powerful nor'easter for today. We're also getting reports of some sporadic activity, a kind of sporadic across the country. And elsewhere across the country, looking like much of the flu is reporter in local activity, especially the northern tier of the United States. That's a look at your cold and flu report for Sunday, I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider, have a great day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hello again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. More now on this breaking story we're following for you. A 78-year-old Austin attorney is in stable condition being treated as a Corpus Christi hospital after accidentally being shot by Vice President Dick Cheney while the two were on a quail hunting trip, taking place in south Texas.
The accident happened yesterday, and today we're being told that the vice president has spent some time at the Corpus Christi Hospital visiting Harry Whittington. Again, he's 78-years-old, he is said to be alert and doing fine. More on this story as we get it.
Meantime, the other big story we're following for you today, the big nor'easter, our Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center. Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Fredricka, the worst is over with for cities like New York City and pretty much everyone southward. But we're still looking at potential blizzard conditions at times, say from Hartford, over towards Providence, extending on up into Boston and even very nasty at this hour still in Portland.
Zooming into New York City here. And this gray that you see, really just some light snow and some flurries, but visibility continues to be an issue here as those winds remain strong. There you can see Hartford, starting along I-91, the corridor there, starting to pull east of there for the worst of the winds. And you can really see the cutoff where that snow line is. It is going to be ending here probably by mid-evening, say 9:00 or so. Then you should be done around the midnight hour for here.
For Boston, you can see some of the heavier banding of snow still pushing in here. Visibility in Boston right now is down to only an eighth of a mile. Winds 28 miles-per- hour in Boston. We've got 26 miles-per-hour over there in Worcester, 35 miles-per-hour as we head a little farther south towards Providence.
And out on the cape, 48 miles-per-hour, gusts up to 50 have been common here for today. In order for this to be technically called a blizzard, Fredricka, we have to have winds sustained at 35 miles-per- hour for three hours or longer and visibility has to be down to a quarter of a mile or less.
Now we've met that criteria quite a bit throughout the day today, with the exception that we haven't been been able to sustain that for three hours, but you know, does it really matter at this point? Is it a blizzard, is it now? Not really technically a blizzard, but I think a few people who have been out in this today certainly may argue.
Snowfall totals completely impressive. The good thing about the storm is we knew it was coming, and the heaviest of snow has fallen right where predicted. New York City, this is your second heaviest snowfall ever, pushing 25 inches at this hour. We could pick up maybe another half of an inch or so there. Newark, we had 20 inches. Heading down towards Philadelphia, you had about 11 inches there. Washington D.C., you've been out of it for a little bit now, and you had right around eight to nine inches throughout the city.
Some very cold air is spilling in back behind this system and look at all the snow showers. Notice how it looks very clumpy. That's indicative here on our radar of that cold air moving in and snow showery activity that's on and off as opposed to very consistent snowfall. So the storm still hitting very hard across New England. This will be tapering down. By tomorrow morning, Fredricka, even the winds will be dying down, so hopefully road crews will have a good chance to get out tonight and clean things up, so everybody can get back to work tomorrow.
WHITFIELD: Well, while the winds may be dying down, you say a lot of cold air still on the way, which means a lot of that snow is probably going to be there for a while, even after its been shoveled away.
JERAS: Absolutely. We've got a warm-up by the middle to latter part of the week that we'll get some decent melting in, but yes, certainly we'll have all that snow still the ground in the morning.
WHITFIELD: All right, what a mess. All right, thanks so much, Jacqui. Well stay with CNN, we're committed to bringing you updates on the weather throughout this hour and throughout the evening, of course. Meantime, the search intensifies for those responsible for burning another Alabama church, the tenth in less than two weeks. And they're all confirmed arson cases. The latest blaze happened in Beaverton. Our Rusty Dornin is there.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it's been a very busy crime scene all day, of course throughout the last night at the Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church. But just about an hour ago, the arson investigators packed up and left. They have released the crime scene.
You can see the church up on the hill. The only thing left standing are its walls. The alarm went off about 4:00 yesterday afternoon. When firefighters arrived, it was fully engulfed. But ATF investigators say they will not absolutely link this fire to the other nine, but an Agent Jim Cavanaugh says in his gut, he believes they are connected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CAVANAUGH, ATF SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Well, we're still digging this one out, you know, and we're trying to get some forensics. Pretty good, it looks like a pretty good scene forensically. I think we'll do all right. We've had some eyewitnesses in this case, also. You know, we have strong leads, we have solid leads from those other scenes. We're going to solve this case. It's a solvable case, and, you know, I think it's going to come soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Meantime the community opened its arms to the parishioners in Freewill Baptist Church. At Piney Grove, they gave them a room of their own and allowed the pastor, Dwight Bailey, to give a sermon and to comfort the people in the church that have suffered this loss. He cautions about forgiveness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWIGHT BAILEY, REVEREND, BEAVERTON FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH: If this is arson, and I say if this is arson, I would like for the people to be caught, but I would like for them to be introduced to Jesus Christ. I pray for those people already and the ones that burnt the other churches, I have prayed for those. And I would like to see them learn to know Jesus Christ.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: One of the most interesting things about today was that arson investigators really gave out a plea to the arsonists, saying, "Call us, we want to hear what you have to say. If you have some kind of message, maybe you have stresses in your life or other things going on in your family, your relationships, there's terrible things going on in the world. If you would like to tell us something, please call us, e-mail us or write us." Now of course they're not releasing this to the national news networks. They're afraid they will be inundated with people just calling in, so they've only released it to the local press, hoping that they are going to be looking at the local papers. They believe these two white young men are from somewhere around here. They say they believe they're buddies. They call them Frick and Frack and say that they could be expected to be inseparable. So they're still looking at those two white young men in a black, or a dark-colored SUV. But they say that they believe that this crime will be solved, hopefully soon. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Well that will indeed be very unusual, if those suspects were to take them up on that hour by coming forward like that. Rusty Dornin, thank you so much.
Well church-goers in rural Alabama are trying to protect their own anyway they can. Some are taking shifts, keeping an eye on their houses of worship. Robert Poe joins us by phone. He's music minister and treasurer of the Bethlehem Baptist Church near Centreville. Thanks so much for being with us, Mr. Poe. So what measures are you taking to help protect your church?
ROBERT POE, BETHLEHEM BAPTIST CHURCH (on phone): Well, personally I live almost next door to our church, and although two or three times a day and at night also, I make a pass by the church just to make sure everything is OK. All of our church members are vigilant of the situation and keeping an alert eye out for any suspicious vehicle that's been reported.
WHITFIELD: Does that mean at your church say for instance, just like at some of the other rural churches, that some of you at the church are working in shifts trying to keep an eye on the church?
POE: Well, we're not necessarily working in shifts. We're just taking at a random basis, as everybody is being very vigilant in our church. But in many of the churches in our area are actually having people just remain in the church overnight to guard against any activity or anything, do anything we can to protect our own churches.
WHITFIELD: And how close is your church, Bethlehem Baptist Church, how close is it to the nearest church that may have been burned by this string of fires?
POE: Well the first church that was burned was Rehoboth and we're probably about 10 miles from Rehoboth in Bibb County.
WHITFIELD: And that's what makes this in part so unusual, doesn't it? That so many of these churches, while they may be in the general same vicinity, there are many miles that separate some of these churches from the nearest home or the next nearest church, so they really are in some cases very rural, right?
POE: Most all of the cases, especially like our church, we're approximately 20 miles from the nearest law enforcement agency of the respective county. But most are older churches, they are in rural locations where someone might be able to take a -- well, the less chances of being caught or being detected by their activities, and they may by thrill-seekers, they may be devil worshipers or whatever. But whoever they are, they are taking advantage of the heart of the community of these rural, isolated locations.
WHITFIELD: All right, Robert Poe, music minister and treasurer of the Bethlehem Baptist Church out Centreville, Alabama. Thank you so much and best of wishes to you and your congregation as you try to protect your church.
POE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well meantime, it's been a rather disappointing day for Team USA. A few of America's top performers didn't medal. One even pulled out of the games altogether. Joining us from Torino is CNN's Larry Smith. Larry?
LARRY SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello from Torino. Very quickly, you're right. Not a good day, especially for speed skater Apollo Ohno. Keep in mind, he won two medals, including that controversial gold in 2002.
But he stumbled in the semifinals of tonight's men's 1,500 meter short track speed skate and therefore did not defend that gold medal. Instead, it went -- the South Koreans went gold and silver and the rivals of Apollo Ohno.
Now meanwhile, earlier in the day, Bode Miller from the downhill -- men's downhill, also failed to medal, one of the favorites in this venue. He finished fifth. American Daron Rahlves went tenth behind a surprising winner for France. And so as a result, those two also failed to medal.
However, some good news on this today in the men's snowboard half-pipe. The flying tomato, Shaun White, winning gold. His teammate Danny Kass taking silver in this. In fact, Mason Aguirre finished a close fourth, so U.S. nearly missing out on a historic sweep, or repeated that historic sweep that they got in this venue back in 2002. Let's go back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, and Larry, speaking of missing out, it looks like Michelle Kwan is missing out this year.
SMITH: She really is. It's like her last chance for Olympic gold. She's never won one, will pass without ever getting back on the ice. She withdrew from the games today. A groin injury, she says, she suffered during her practice on Saturday. Keep in mind it was a groin injury as well, though they say it was a different groin injury that kept her out of the U.S. National Competition last month. You need a medical exemption to get into these games, but now she is out.
At 25-years-old, the five-time world champion, nine-time U.S. champion will be replaced by Emily Hughes, who finished third at Nationals and she is the younger sister of the 2002 gold medalist, Sarah Hughes, so possibly a sister/sister repeat of the gold. We'll have to wait and see when she gets here and takes the ice in place of Michelle Kwan. WHITFIELD: And meantime, I know you're there and I'm stateside, but what do you know about whether Emily Hughes has been able to make it out of the Northeast and make her way to Torino as yet?
SMITH: That's a great question. I know she was trying to get out, but as you know and have been reporting all day long, the weather has really hurting travel there. So hopefully she'll be here soon, but luckily they'd have to get here tomorrow. So when she gets here, it will be a good thing and she'll be ready to go when they finally do take the ice.
WHITFIELD: And at least maybe she'll have a good eight days there in Torino before competition. Thank you so much, Larry Smith.
Well a manhunt is underway in the Midwest for some jail escapes, including one charged with murder. We'll have a live update on that search.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: More on the breaking story we are following for you. The Vice President Dick Cheney's spokesperson is saying that the vice president accidentally shot and injured 78-year-old Harry Whittington, his friend, while on a quail hunting trip in south Texas. Earlier today, the vice president apparently visited his friend who's being treated as a Corpus Christi Hospital and believed to be in stable condition, the accident taking place yesterday, but we're only learning about it in the past hour or so. Based on information coming from the vice president spokesperson.
Of course, when we get any more information, then we'll be able to bring that to you.
Meantime a massive manhunt is under way right now for four fugitives who broke out of a Chicago jail. The men, one of whom is charged with murder, apparently escaped by overpowering a guard. Following development live from Chicago is CNN's Keith Oppenheim.
Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fredricka. Earlier today we heard from Chicago police that actually three of the six escapes had been captured, but it turned out that one of the men who was picked up by police was not who they thought it was, so the official numbers are two who have been recaptured and four who are on the loose.
Let's take a look at their pictures. Still at large are Tyrone Everhart, Eric Bernard, Michael McIntosh, and Francisco Romero. Romero is charged with murder. The men who are captured are Arnold Joyner and David Earnest. Police say that the breakout happened around midnight in a maximum-security area in the Cook County Jail where a seventh inmate in the story threw hot, soapie water on a jail guard in the shower area, held the guard at bay, with a homemade knife, handcuffed the guard and then opened the electronic jail cell doors to let the six other inmates out. That guy who started all this, that seventh inmate he tried to escape, but he was caught, the six others set a fall fire, overpowered guards, swiped some keys and then got into the streets.
And keep in mind last Friday there was another inmate who attempted an escape from this jail by slipping into a laundry truck. He was captured, but that prompted reporters to ask Cook County Sheriff Michael Sheahan if there's a general security problem at the jail.
SHERIFF MICHAEL SHEAHAN, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS: For ten years, we've never had an escape. In the last ten days, as far as I'm concerned, it makes me sick, but we have to investigate and find out what happened.
OPPENHEIM: The two prisoners who were captured were picked up early this morning in Oak Park, which is a suburb west of Chicago. That was due to an alert police dispatcher who saw them and led to their recapture. The Cook County sheriff Fredricka is saying that the emphasis now, more than figuring out the problems at the jail, is to find the rest of them that are on the loose.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Keith Oppenheim, thank you so much, out of Chicago.
More now on the breaking story we're following for you involving an accidental shooting apparently the Vice President Dick Cheney was on a quail hunting trip in south Texas and accidentally shot his companion, his partner on the hunting trip, 78-year-old Harry Whittington, who we understand is still being hospitalized at a Corpus Christi Hospital. And on the phone with us Peter Banko of the Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi. Mr. Banko give us an idea of what is the condition of Harry Whittington?
PETER BANKO, CHRISTUS SOPHN HOSPITAL: He's in our trauma ICU right now, but in stable condition.
WHITFIELD: Well how serious are his injuries? How many gunshot wounds are we talking about? We understand based on information we got earlier, he had been sprayed with a number of shotgun pellets. Can you give us any more detail on that?
BANKO: No, other than he's in stable condition, I don't have any other information.
WHITFIELD: You're not able to tell us what area of his body was shot?
BANKO: No I'm not able to release that information.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well earlier today we understand the vice president was able to visit with Mr. Whittington. Do you know whether they were able to converse? Is Mr. Whittington doing that well that his able to hold a conversation?
BANKO: I was not in the room at the time, so I can't tell you.
WHITFIELD: Well, what are you able to tell us about what is happening there at the hospital concerning Mr. Whittington?
BANKO: I can tell you he was brought into Christ Spohn Memorial the trauma center for the 13-county region last evening about 8:15 and he's doing well and in stable condition today.
WHITFIELD: What are doctors able to say about what his prognosis is or how much longer he may have to be at the hospital and be treated?
BANKO: I do not know at this time.
WHITFIELD: OK. Peter Banko of the Christus Spohn Hospital thanks so much for those details.
BANKO: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Of course when we get any more information about the circumstances of the shooting, all we know is that it was an accidental shooting while on a quail hunting trip, the vice president and Harry Whittington that the hospital spokesperson was referring to.
Dana Bash is at the White House. Dana what more do you know?
BASH: Hi Fredricka well bear with me. Because I just spoke with Catherine Armstrong, who was an eyewitness, she was there, it was her ranch where this incident took place and she essentially said it happened at 5:30 p.m. yesterday, that they were quail hunting and that the vice president was -- was shooting, of course and Mr. Whittington the man who was shot, had just shot a quail and decided to stay back to find the quail. She said that what happened was the vice president and his partner went ahead and that Mr. Whittington went to rejoin with the group and Mr. Cheney did not know he was there, Mr. Whittington was announced, and so when Mr. Cheney was shooting he accidentally shot Mr. Whittington.
And I should point that they made very clear in shooting parlance or quail hunting parlance, it isn't necessarily a shot like a bullet, but it is shot that's peppered, sort of speak, it is a bunch of B.B.'s that come out of the gun at the same time and Mr. Whittington was about 30 yards away and he immediately fell to the ground.
Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Dana, we talked with a former congressman earlier who was talking about how this underscores the dangers, the potential dangers and how important safety is in hunting trips like this, but the vice president is an experienced hunter.
BASH: Very much.
WHITFIELD: But at the same time he has to feel really pretty awful and a bit embarrassed too that this would took place and involving his friend. BASH: Well, what Ms. Armstrong said was that as soon as it happened, Mr. Cheney ran to Mr. Whittington and not just Mr. Cheney, of course the vice president travels with a detail, with secret service with a lot of people, and they all rushed to him. Mr. Whittington, when he was sprayed, fell to the ground, but he never lost consciousness. He was conscious the whole time. He was bloody, the way she described it is he was shot not from behind but from the side and really sprayed from his eye down towards his chest. She said there was definitely blood, but he never lost consciousness.
Immediately after the incident happened, as I said, the vice president and his detail that were with him, rushed to the aid of Mr. Whittington, and then the ambulance did come, they took him to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital, and as you just heard, you were speaking to a representative from the hospital, Mr. Whittington is still there. Mr. Cheney was there visiting with him, it's unclear if he's still there.
But what Ms. Armstrong noted, and of course as I mentioned it was her family's ranch where this incident took place. She said that the vice president, as you said, is an avid hunter, has hunted there before. It's unclear whether he knew Mr. Whittington before this event because he was invited by the Armstrong's, by the owners of the ranch, but he is from Austin, Texas, as you know, and he is somebody who is 78 years old, but the way Mrs. Armstrong describes him, he is actually pretty vibrant. She said he's 78, but he looks and sounds and feels more like a 60-year-old.
WHITFIELD: Well that is good news. Well Dana, you heard my interview with the hospital spokesperson who was unable to say whether the vice president and Mr. Whittington actually conversed when the vice president did visit. Are your sources able to tell you whether there was any kind of conversation that was able to take place, which would perhaps glean some information about the condition of Mr. Whittington?
BASH: Unclear, but the way Ms. Armstrong, who I said was an eyewitness described the conditions of Mr. Whittington, as soon as it happened, she said that he never lost consciousness. That he certainly was injured, there was blood, but she said she was actually heading to the hospital right after I talked to her, but she said from what she had heard, he is in fine condition, that they hope he will go home soon. But given that description of his condition, it would seem it would be very likely the two men were able to converse.
WHITFIELD: All right, well fingers are crossed. We hope that he does well in his recovery. Thanks so much, Dana Bash, from the White House.
Straight ahead, we'll get the latest on the winter storm making life pretty miserable up and down the East Coast today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, at least for a moment it was a relatively mild winter in the northeast until now. A major storm is slamming the region with heavy snow, strong winds and whiteout conditions in some places. The snow emergency was lifted about an hour ago in Washington, D.C. Crews have been working around the clock to clear the roads after eight inches of snow accumulated in and around the nations capital.
Coastal flooding is a major concern in Massachusetts. Forecasters predict storm surges of 2 1/2 feet from Cape Ann to Cape Cod. New York City is reporting the second highest snowfall on record. Hundreds of snowplows and salt spreaders are at work trying to clear the roads for that Monday morning rush.
Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center. Is that going to be enough or is there more on the way?
JERAS: Actually, Fredricka, just in, breaking news, it actually is now the heaviest snowfall amount for any given storm in New York City, we just got some new numbers in 26.9 inches has fallen in Central Park in New York City. That beats the old record back in the 1947 storm on December 26 to 27, so certainly a very significant storm here. It's winding down for New York City as you can see on our radar map, just a few light snow showers. This is reporting occasional light snow right now. The winds still going at a pretty good rate. We're getting some good gusts in New York City, but that is going to start to wane here over the next hour or two. In fact pretty much done with by 9:00 tonight in New York City. Other than the clean up, of course.
You head a little farther up to the north that is where the weather gets really nasty. Providence right now, visibility is down to about an eighth of a mile, travel really not recommended into the northeastern quarter tonight. If you don't have to go out tonight, you certainly don't want to venture out unless you want to make a snowman. But you'll have a tough time traveling by air or by the roadways, particularly the secondary roads by tomorrow night. I want to show you this is what we call our flight explorer system. This is real-time data of all the airplanes that are in flight right now. We do have closures at JFK and La Guardia. JFK opens about 5:30 tonight, that's what they're saying. La Guardia opens at 6:00 in the morning for tomorrow, Nantucket is closed altogether.
Now Boston take a look at his, even though they are open you can see one plane right there, that one is trying to land, one that is just flying off to the west, but does not go in or out of Logan. There's a little bit of air traffic, trying to get started. It looks like this plane may have just taken off of JFK even though our reports from the FAA says that that airport is closed until 5:30, but notice as you head out to the west, look at the clusters of these planes going in and out of Pittsburgh, down here into Washington, D.C., into Dulles and International. You head a little bit further down to the south and west, look at how all that air traffic picks up, check out Atlanta down here so it really gives you a good illustration of the difference of the air traffic of what's going on into the northeast for you today.
Weather conditions are going to be improving very dramatically by midnight tonight, pretty much everybody is going to be done with the storm system. By tomorrow morning it will just be a memory. From what I understand, we're hearing words out of New York City that a lot of people are staying off the roads and that the road crews are having a great time getting up with this storm and they think things will be looking pretty good for tomorrow morning. The winds will be gone and the snow will be gone, of course if you're trying to travel by air with all the cancellations that were in effect today of course will snowball a little bit, so to speak.
WHITFIELD: Very funny. I guess it helps in part that this fell on a weekend as opposed to, you know right in the middle of the workweek for everybody. Thanks so much Jacqui.
Of course, when we come back we'll have an update on that accidental shooting involving the vice president in south Texas when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: For more now on that accidental shooting involving the vice president in south Texas, we understand that while on a quail hunting trip yesterday in south Texas, the vice president accidentally shot his hunting partner, 78-year-old Harry Whittington while the vice president was taking aim at some quail, and somehow an accidental shooting took place where a number of his pellets from his shotgun then ended up hitting the upper torso as well as possibly the side facial area and head of the 78 year old Harry Whittington who is now in a Corpus Christi Hospital. He's said to be in stable condition, but also said to be alert. The vice president visited with him earlier today. Of course, as we get any more information we'll pass it on to you, and after a short break, we'll also give you an update on the big storm, the nor'easter pummeling the East Coast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: An update now on our top story, the huge snowstorm pounding the northeast. Let's check in with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras again. Hi Jacqui.
JERAS: Hey, Fredricka. The blizzard warning has expired now for New York City and say from New York on southward you're doing a lot better now here for tonight, your evening is going to be winding down, but you can still see a very heavy band from eastern Long Island extending on up right towards the Providence area where the snow is coming down extremely heavy right now and just across the eastern and southeastern side of the Boston area. And we'll zoom in and show you, there you can see New York City, nothing but a few light snow showers tapering off to some occasional flurries, and then you can see that heavier band pushing through Boston. There is another one just up to your west, so watch that to move through about 30 minutes from now.
There you can see all the warnings which continue to be into play from the Hartford area all the across eastern Massachusetts, on up to the I-95 corridor, through much of Maine. That is going to expire, the closer to the coast you are the later in the evening. Everything is pretty much done by the 11:00 hour. One thing I do want point out to though when the brunt of the storm pulls out, we still may see some occasional snow showers. Looking at this, coming down in off the Great Lakes little pockets of these snow showers that won't accumulate a whole heck of a lot but you may see a nice dusting as this heads down towards Nashville, and believe it or not, we thing some more of these heavier snow showers could be arriving as far south as Atlanta by the middle of the evening. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. We'll all by watching for that then. Jacqui thanks.
Stay tuned. Straight ahead, we will have a special look back at Coretta Scott King's funeral. I'll have a look at our top stories as well right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hello again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Now in the news, the vice president's office says Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a man during a hunting trip. It happened yesterday in Texas. The man is alert and in stable condition at a Corpus Christi Hospital. Our Dana bash is watching the developments from the White House.
Dana.
BASH: Hi Fredricka. What we know is that about 5:30 yesterday Corpus Christi or Texas time, the vice president was quail hunting at a ranch called the Armstrong Ranch and there he was with a small entourage of people including Harry Whittington. What happened apparently according to an eyewitness, Mrs. Armstrong, who was there, Mr. Whittington, shot a quail, went to get a bird and then Mr. Cheney and others went ahead. Then when Mr. Whittington joined up with the group, he didn't announce himself, which is generally protocol and that is when the incident happened.
Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. And we understand he is in stable condition and alert as you say and so fingers are crossed that Mr. Whittington comes out OK.
BASH: That is right and he never lost consciousness they said and he was immediately rushed to the hospital, but of course the vice president as you know travels with a detail of secret service and others who are equipped to deal with this. But it was an accident that they said simply should not have happened. Mr. Cheney is an avid hunter and this is something that Mr. Cheney has felt very bad about according to sources close to him. He actually met with Mr. Whittington at the hospital today and apparently it went well and Mr. Cheney thought he was in good spirits. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, very good, Dana Bash from the White House, thank you so much. Meantime, a major snowstorm is slamming the Northeast. Lots of heavy snow, strong winds, white-out conditions. In some places, tens of thousands of people are even without power in the region.
Air travel is a mess in the region as well. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights and some airports even closed. New York's La Guardia is among them and it's believed that La Guardia will be opening up later on this evening. Forecasters say Boston's Logan International Airport is at zero visibility right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
