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Jet Crashes at Air Show; NASA Contractor Kills Boss Over Disappointing Job Performance Review
Aired April 21, 2007 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was the crashing sound of pieces of the airplane coming through the trees.
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RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Air show spectators watch in shock as a fiery and deadly crash happens right before their eyes. The Blue Angels F-18 crashes into a neighborhood. The plane shatters into pieces. We're taking you to the scene as it's happening.
Also, a worker at NASA snaps after getting a disappointing review from his boss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was taping her mouth shut in an effort to prevent her from screaming once he shot himself.
SANCHEZ: Vengeance turning deadly at the Johnson Space Center. All of it from the CNN NEWSROOM.
And hello, again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. We're going to be here in B control tonight because we're expecting a whole lot of video coming in because there's breaking news tonight. It's a navy jet that's gone down.
A navy pilot is dead. And it all happened while an air show crowd watched this thing in horror. Have we got those pictures? These are the ones that we just now -- this is brand new video that we're getting in, as a matter of fact.
This is one of the houses that's been affected. This is in Beaufort, South Carolina. You can see there the roof and the walls and the windows have been smashed by some of the debris. Debris, by the way, from an FA-18 fighter jet that crashed right into their neighborhood. According to the witnesses that we've been talking to throughout the course of the evening, after it crashed, it continued on for two or three football fields, about 300 yards.
Amazingly, nobody on the ground was killed, but we're being told by authorities at a news conference just a little while ago that several people have been hurt. The number they gave us was eight. Exactly how it happened at this point, we don't know. Pilot's name, we know it, but we're not going to release it at this point because of just sheer respect for the family who hasn't been totally notified, although we do know, and we learned this as well, that part of a family was there at the air show. We also know that this pilot is an elite flier, no question about it, with the Blue Angels precision flying team.
And witnesses saying tonight that his jet went down in a neighborhood. And they described it as a fireball when they first saw it from a distance.
We've got a couple of witnesses that we're going to be talking to. First of all, a man who has been sending us throughout the course of the evening some unbelievable photographs. He was there on the scene. In fact, let me set the scene for you. He's an i-reporter who was there. There he is now. His name is Fred Yelinek. He was on the scene, heard a loud boom, ran outside, grabbed his camera, and started taking pictures of the scene in his neighborhood even before the authorities arrived.
Mr. Yelinek, you're very kind to join us tonight, sir. Set the scene for us. I told the viewers that you heard a boom and ran outside. Then what did you see?
FRED YELINEK, WITNESS: Well, actually, I was outside at the time working on a pump that belongs to one of my employees. And just before the accident, the Blue Angels in their normal performance had flown right over this house in tight formation. No problem. Everything was great. And I did watch that go all the way by.
The next time I heard them coming, I didn't actually look up from my work, because I didn't expect anything. And all of a sudden, I heard a very strange crashing noise behind me. And in the time that it took me to just turn around 180 degrees, the fireball went up some 300 yards from where I was standing. And the crash was over that quickly.
SANCHEZ: Claude, put his pictures up, if we can. Put some of the pictures up that we're talking about. We're looking at some of your pictures now. This picture in particular, for example, is on one of the roads. I think you and I talked earlier and you said that the crash ended up at the end of this road, is that correct?
YELINEK: Yes, the crash ended at the end of Shanklin Road.
SANCHEZ: That's the one we're looking at.
YELINEK: And it began on Piney Grove Road. And the first part of the crash was the airplane hitting a very large pine tree just off of Piney Grove Road. It traveled some 300 or more yards from there before it impacted the ground. But when it hit the tree, pieces began to shed from the airplane and were scattered from that yard all the way to the final crash site.
SANCHEZ: So...
YELINEK: The pictures you see that I've taken there are of those pieces scattered hundreds of yards before the impact.
SANCHEZ: That's amazing. Now that fire that we saw, small fire, by the way, probably had something to do with the fact that this was kind of the end of the air show. And they burn most of their fuel most likely?
YELINEK: Most likely. Because I was looking directly at the fireball when the airplane impacted. And the fireball only last a couple of seconds and was gone. And then all that was left residually were these small fires that you have my pictures of there. And there were quite a few of those over a very wide area.
SANCHEZ: Now, it wasn't...
YELINEK: A big fire.
SANCHEZ: It wasn't only the -- pardon me for interrupting you, by the way, but there's just so much amazing video and such amazing information that you're sharing with us, and we do want to get to it. It wasn't only the people in the houses that were affected. There were also some people who were driving their cars. In fact, we've got one picture, Claude, I don't know if you can get to it, where you see a man who's like sitting in the middle of the street. He was actually in a car, correct?
YELINEK: He was in that black pickup truck that one of my pictures shows. And he had just gotten out of the truck. Parts of the airplane had penetrated the cabin of his truck, but didn't touch him. And he was trying to dial his cell phone. And he was shaking so bad that he couldn't dial his cell phone.
SANCHEZ: Yes, in fact, we see and I don't know if we'll get a chance to look at that picture later on, but it's amazing to see the reaction in his face.
YELINEK: This is a total shock.
SANCHEZ: By the way -- it had to be. As soon as this happened, you run outside. Do you see any of your neighbors? Do you talk to anybody?
YELINEK: I didn't really talk to anybody. I was taking pictures. I took 70 pictures. I started at the initial impact with the tree. The lady who jarred that tree is in. She came out and I did speak to her. She was concerned about her dog. And -- but she was all right, as was the dog. And then I continued toward the crash site. And everyone was in shock. No one was talking. No one was yelling or -- they were just in shock.
SANCHEZ: I can only imagine the sound that it must have made and the impact itself at the time. Fred Yelinek, sir, thanks so much for joining us. We'll be checking back with you from time to time. And thank you once again, for being one of our i-reporters on this night.
YELINEK: Thank you very much. SANCHEZ: Hey, let's get to Miles O'Brien if we can now. He's a pilot. Certainly has a lot of experience with this type of incident. Has actually dealt with some of the folks here in the Blue Angels, and is joining us now by phone.
Miles, given what you heard Mr. Yelinek describe, a flight that low, actually clipping the top of a pine tree, what do you make of the possible situation that we could have had here that could have led to this?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a couple of scenarios we should be looking at. And this is what the -- maybe investigators will get involved in, Rick.
First of all, anytime you're flying that low, you run the risk of ingesting a bird into the engines, or the bird somehow striking the canopy, which could cause some problems for the pilot, could incapacitate him in some way.
Another option, of course, would be some other sort of mechanical failure. But I should tell you that these are the most thoroughly maintained jets on the planet. I mean, it's akin to the space shuttle in the way they take care of these airplanes before they ever begin a show. As a matter of fact, they have extra FA-18s on hand, at least one extra, in order to -- if one is considered not worthy to fly, they can put another one in service, so the show will go on.
And then finally, a thing to consider here is the human factors of these shows.
SANCHEZ: What do you mean?
O'BRIEN: Well, the fact that it happened at the end. These pilots endure a tremendous number of G forces. And G forces is a fancy way of saying it's multiple times the normal weight of gravity.
So when they do that turn on that fleur-de-lis at the end, that final maneuver that was involved here, and they pull back on the stick to -- at the bottom part, to level out the airplane, they're pulling five or six G's.
So you know, if you weigh 100 pounds, let's say, just for the sake of argument here, that means it feels like it weighs 600 pounds. And so, what happens is the blood rushes out of your head. And if you don't train yourself properly, you can very easily black out.
And added to that, the Blue Angels do not fly with pressure suits, with G suits, which tend to inhibit this loss of blood in the head. Because the G suits get in the way of their -- the way their hand rests on their leg, in order to operate the stick in that precise way. So those are some of the things they'll be looking at this evening.
SANCHEZ: Is it important that he wasn't able to eject, given the fact -- I know there's very little room for error in a situation like this. But the fact that he didn't, or was not able to make -- to eject, does that tell you something?
O'BRIEN: It tells me whatever happened, happened awfully quickly. And he didn't have any realization of what was going on. These seats are called -- so-called 00 seats. In other words, the airplane can be sitting on the ground, zero in altitude, zero in speed. If you pull the eject button, you can get out and get out safely. The parachute will fire. So the ejection seat, if it's deployed, in almost any situation, will work.
Now if the plane was tumbling in some way, it was inverted, upside down, an ejection is not going to help you.
SANCHEZ: You know, amazingly, the last time something like this happened is not far from the place where it happened this time. Right? 1999, Moody Air Force Base?
O'BRIEN: Yes. And of course that's, you know, interestingly enough, when you think of the Blue Angels and you think of accidents, you think -- that's the first thing you think of, because there they are flying at these tremendous speeds, literally inches apart from each other. It is flying like you can't even -- there's so little margin for error.
So to see a situation like this, where this particular plane was away from others, and it wasn't a collision, leads you down a completely different course of possibility.
SANCHEZ: Miles O'Brien, as usual, with you know, real life experience that he can share with us on a situation that we're all following tonight, this breaking news story out of Beaufort, South Carolina, that has resulted in the death of a Blue Angels pilot and as many as eight other people on the ground that have been injured. My thanks to you, Miles.
O'BRIEN: No problem, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Some people are hurt tonight in the aftermath of this crash as it's being described to us by officials. The total number that they've given us so far is eight as I just mentioned. And we're told that at least that many had sought some type of medical attention after this wreckage fell in their neighborhood. Pieces of the jet still scattered around the houses and the streets of Beaufort, South Carolina. Local officials tonight are telling residents in the area don't go in there unless you live there. And if you live there, stay away from anything that's left over from the jet. Here's some sound.
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WILLIAM WINN, BEAUFORT CO. EMER. MGMT.: We're asking residents in the area of the mishap, please do not mess with any of the parts of the aircraft. Please do not remove any parts from their current location, as we're still trying to do quite thorough investigations.
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SANCHEZ: All right, well, what we did, aside from talking to all the folks on the ground there that actually witnessed it, we've also got one of our correspondents that had to race to the scene.
Nicole Lapin is joining us now to bring us firsthand what's going on there. I know, Nicole, you haven't been there long. But bring us up to date on what you see, what your impressions have been thus far?
NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we see right now, Rick, is that obviously the air show is a big deal in Beaufort, South Carolina. And imagine this for a second. Imagine what it was like for the people here, they're going to the air show, they're watching it on a beautiful afternoon. We have some video of what it looked like earlier today, when they saw these F-18s doing these flips and turns all beautifully choreographed, all in sync. When near the end of the air show, all of a sudden, one of the F-18s went out of formation. And one eyewitness we spoke with said that it landed right in his backyard.
And you were talking about this earlier. We had pictures of debris scattered for miles. Debris that some people we spoke with said looked like blown-out tires, basically crashing into people's windshields. Pieces of the crash also into people's homes. And as you can imagine, that spooked a lot of folks around here.
SANCHEZ: This is a Marine air station, Nicole. So, you know, these are military types. They probably are, to a certain extent, taking this a little harder. Have you spoken with any of them? And what are they saying to you tonight?
LAPIN: No, this is something that they are prepared for most definitely. Actually, what's most interesting is that tomorrow the show is continuing. The Blue Angels will not go up in the air, but they will have some other military and civilian units as well going up in the air. And they're planning to have a missing man formation along with a playing of taps. So we'll keep our eyes on that as soon as it happens.
SANCHEZ: Nicole, I understand we have some sound that we were going to get to, that you may have been able to acquire for us. Go ahead, Claude, let's get that now.
LAPIN: Yes. Yes, let's look at it.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been watching the Angels. They were flying through here, and over here, and all around the area. And then all of a sudden, I heard this strange noise. And I looked up at the end of the road there. I seen this big old fireball going across the sky. I said, hey, that ain't in the show.
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SANCHEZ: Sounds like a lot of people are going to be affected by this, Nicole. We'll be getting back to you throughout the course of the newscast. By the way, thanks for hustling to get out there as we look at some of this... LAPIN: Yes, sure. And all of the people in that area are not being let in right now, including that man you just saw. They're being asked for their identifications. And if their address doesn't have an address in that area listed, they're not being allowed in.
SANCHEZ: Yes, and they made a big point out of making sure that nobody goes in there and touches any of that stuff, because that's all evidentiary at this point.
LAPIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: As certainly one would imagine.
LAPIN: The investigation continues.
SANCHEZ: It's going to go on for probably weeks, if not months. Nicole Lapin, thank you. We'll get back to you as we continue to follow this story. We're gathering, by the way, some more details of the Blue Angels crash. And we're going to bring it to you as it continues to come in. We expect to get some more witnesses who were there, who are going to be sharing their stories with us.
Also, blow-by-blow details of what happened inside Johnson Space Center. Really unbelievable sound from a hostage standoff, which was as a result of a man who was angry at his boss, because he had given him a bad review. We'll have that.
Also, a preacher's wife convicted of manslaughter. Not murder, for shooting a husband to death with a shotgun. Two legal experts are going to be telling us what they would have done and what they believe of this case. And then this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very concerned. My whole life is depending on what happens here.
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SANCHEZ: What's happening is a wildfire that keeps on burning, forcing people from their homes, as it cuts a huge path of destruction. Keep it here. You're in the NEWSROOM.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rick Sanchez. It's been a busy 48 hours. We've got this plane crash that we're telling you about, continuing to get information on that. But then, there's also this story. A disgruntled employee, a man who shot his boss dead, took a co-worker hostage, and then killed himself at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
This is David Beverly. Got this picture in just a little ago. A quality assurance supervisor at NASA. We learned tonight that his less than rosy review of Bill Phillips' review performance sent Phillips over the edge. Susan Roesgen has more.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure they have a head count.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While the rest of this building was being evacuated, a life-and-death struggle was underway on the second floor. NASA engineer David Beverly had been shot by an angry co-worker, but Beverly was still fighting.
HAROLD HURTT, CHIEF, HOUSTON, POLICE: Despite being critically wounded, Mr. Beverly attempted to block the suspect from re-entering the office by pushing his desk against the door. Unfortunately, the suspect was able to take advantage of Mr. Beverly's weakened state and force his way back into the office again, firing at Mr. Beverly, shooting him more times.
ROESGEN: The gunman was Bill Phillips, a contract engineer, who had gotten a poor performance review from Beverly back in March. After Phillips killed Beverly, he tied up a secretary and taped her mouth, then killed himself.
LT. LARRY BAIMBRIDGE, HOUSTON POLICE: His statement to her was basically that he didn't want her to scream, and then the police to rush in and save his life. His fear was that he would end up in jail. And he didn't want to go there.
ROESGEN (on camera): Now the question is, how did Phillips sneak a gun here inside Johnson Space Center, home of mission control, one of NASA's most important facilities?
(voice-over): Guards check IDs when cars drive in, but they don't routinely check for weapons.
MIKE GRIFFIN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: When an employee badged onto a center or into a building of any kind, who is allowed to come into that building, has decided that he wishes to avenge a grudge or not, and is willing to die in the process, that it is essentially impossible to stop such a person.
ROESGEN: In the end, David Beverly, who had worked at NASA 25 years, is remembered as a hero.
HURTT: We have learned one thing at this point -- it is that heroes don't just fly in space. Sometimes heroes work in the next cubicle to you.
ROESGEN: Susan Roesgen, CNN, Houston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Of course, the big breaking story of the night is a precision flying team seems to have made a wrong turn. Deadly results tonight. It's a story we're following out of South Carolina, Beaufort, South Carolina. It's a Blue Angels jet that's crashed into a neighborhood packed with homes. Also, a wildfire that just won't quit. Our Jacqui Jeras is going to be following that, as firefighters arrive at the scene as well. Stay with us. We've got a lot of news coming your way.
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SANCHEZ: I want to let you know we're going to be getting you back to that crash in South Carolina in just a bit.
But first, there's new information tonight about that Virginia Tech massacre that we're going to be sharing with you. But as you watch the story unfold this week, there was just so much information, sometimes it's hard to catch up with what actually happened on that day, how it went down.
So we put a timeline together for you. Here it is.
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SANCHEZ (voice-over): Monday morning, 7:15 a.m., the deadly campus shootings that would shock the world start here at West Ambler Johnson Hall, a student dormitory. The first two victims are found, a man and a woman. 7:30 a.m., people incorrectly suspect the woman's boyfriend was the shooter, and go looking for him off-campus, losing precious time.
9:26 a.m., more than two hours later, Virginia Tech students and staff are finally notified about the shootings by e-mail. They're urged to be cautious and contact Virginia Tech police if they see anything suspicious.
Now it's 9:45. A caller to 911 reports more shootings across campus at Norris Hall. It's the engineering building. Police find the front doors chained from the inside. They break the barricades, and then follow the sounds of gunfire to the second floor, where a gunman had been methodically shooting and killing students and staff.
By the time they get to him, he's already taken his own life. Police find victims in at least four classrooms and a stairwell. 31 are dead, in addition to the two killed in the dormitory.
9:55, another e-mail is sent out. This one warns people to stay in their buildings until further notice.
Tuesday, campus police identify the gunman as a 23-year-old student, Cho, Seung-Hui, an immigrant from South Korea. He lived on campus and is described by fellow students as strange, a loner. Police say he killed his victims using two handguns, a 9 millimeter semiautomatic glock and a .22 caliber pistol.
Wednesday, NBC News announces it received a package from Cho with writings, photographs, and video of a killer rambling on and on about his own victimization. It's crude, yet clearly well produced. And postmarked, astonishingly enough, at 9:01 a.m. That means it was sent between the first and second shootings.
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SANCHEZ: What a case. And here's the latest on it now, as it's coming in tonight. Investigators tell us they're now looking at Cho's cell phone records, as well as those from the woman believed to have been his first victim. We mentioned her to you earlier. Her name is Emily Hilscher.
Police are also checking their e-mail accounts. See, what they're trying to figure out is if the two had any kind of connection that could have sparked Cho's original shooting rampage. Police also wonder if Cho told somebody about his deadly plan before it happened. So they're doing an awful lot of interviews, they say.
And CNN has just confirmed that investigators have filed an affidavit, and that they're now seeking records that are also related to what may be Cho's Hotmail account. Again, Cho's Hotmail account, they're reviewing eBay purchases he may have made as well over the last several months, including some ammunition. We'll keep you on top of that one.
Today, friends and families of those who died at Cho's hands remembered their loved ones as well in memorials up and down the East coast. Here's CNN's Reggie Aqui with more on this.
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REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When four-year-old Mailey Moore heard what happened at her parents' alma mater, Virginia Tech, she picked up a bag of acorns.
MAILEY MOORE: I gave them out to people who are really, really sad, because a lot of people died.
AQUI: One acorn for each of the 32 students and faculty members who died Monday, and one for the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's painful to put that many in the bag again. That's not enough.
AQUI: While mourners continue to pay their respects on campus, the victims' families held funerals. 22-year-old engineering student Jarrett Lane was laid to rest.
In Evans, Georgia, friends of Ryan Clark held a memorial at his high school. They remembered the triple major with a 4.0 GPA.
In Virginia, a memorial service for Emily Hilscher, the first person killed Monday. Investigators are now looking at computers and cell phones belonging to her and the shooter to see if there's any link.
Authorities are also looking to see if Seung-Hui Cho told anyone beforehand about his plan.
(on camera): In a written statement, the killer's sister expressed her family's deep regret. Here on campus in the semicircle, the memorial stone for Seung-Hui Cho has just as many flowers as all the rest.
KATE SALTZ, VIRGINIA TECH FRESHMAN: I feel bad for them. Because like, I know they're getting a lot, like, I know it must be really hard for them because they lost a son, too. And like their son hurt so many other people.
AQUI: Freshman Kate Saltz says she'll go back to classes when they resume Monday. She's determined to rebuild this campus community, for her generation and the ones to follow.
In Blacksburg, Virginia, I'm Reggie Aqui.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: All right, let's take you back to our top story now. Breaking news that we've been following for you over the last couple of hours. They are without a question the best of the best. But tonight, the Blue Angels are mourning one of their own. We've been telling you of this one. It's a pilot with the Navy's precision flight team. He was killed when he crashed during an air show in Beaufort, South Carolina. And it wasn't only a crash. It was a crash into a crowded neighborhood with neighbors there at the time, residents, I should say, who had come out, took some pictures for us, in fact.
Now the cause of the crash isn't known. We don't know the identity of the pilot. But the air show -- we're now learning -- will continue tomorrow.
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CAPT. SARAH KANSTEINER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: After careful consideration and consultation with local officials and commanders, and with the support of the Blue Angels, we have decided to go on with Sunday's air show as scheduled. However, the Blue Angels flight demonstration team will not perform.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, some of the debris from the jet rained down on several homes. In fact, we've been showing you some of the pictures. You saw a little piece of it just right there. That was debris from the plane that crashed through one of the walls and a roof in one of the homes.
By the way, eight people in all have been hurt. Coming up in about three minutes, Anderson Burns with WCIV is going to join us. He's a reporter who's been on the scene there gathering information throughout the night as well.
Also coming up, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matthew Winkler in fact did not deserve to die, did he? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A minister's wife found guilty of killing her husband. It's a trial everyone's been talking about. But and here's the important "but" in this case, not guilty of first-degree murder, only manslaughter. That means possibly just three years, instead of life. We've got experts coming up talking about this. Stay with us.
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SANCHEZ: (INAUDIBLE) anyway, that we might be able to get more pictures of this just horrific crash in Beaufort, South Carolina. It happened now about six hours ago. We're hearing that the pilot had been on the team for about two years. This was his first year as a demonstration pilot.
The pictures you're going to be looking at now, I believe have we got those in? We got some pictures we can put in there? They come from a witness. Let's see if we can get those up. There you go.
All right. This is interesting. This is a witness who -- did you see that one picture that you saw right there of the plane? There were only about four planes there. There should have been five. He described that he saw an enormous fireball after he watched a jet. He said he was outside and he had seen the jets go by. And all of a sudden, he looked up in the sky again and suddenly, there was one missing. And he said where did the other plane go?
So he took his camera and he started taking pictures of that and had sent it to us.
Somebody else we got to get to now. Anderson Burns. He's with WCIV. He's been talking with other witnesses there on the scene. And he's joining us now to fill us in on what you have been able to learn, Anderson. Thanks for being with us, sir.
ANDERSON BURNS, WCIV NEWS CORRESPONDENT: You bet. Rick, it's interesting that you mention that this witness said he saw five planes, then only saw four planes. You talk to witnesses around here, 15 witnesses, you'll get 15 different stories. Not because any are wrong, they just have different perspectives.
But the one thing they all seem to agree on was at one point they looked in the air and there were five planes, then there were just four, or two, then just one. One witness said he was out -- actually, you can see these blue lights back here. The house right behind that, the man was out actually working on his yard. And he said he heard something strange, looked up, saw a huge fireball fly through the air, and then of course, obviously the crash taking place.
Another one said they didn't see any fire. They just heard a strange sound again. And then a massive pillow of smoke came and hit them in the face, actually keeping -- making it difficult for them to breathe for a while. But one of the interesting parts about all of this is, no one seemed to hear an explosion. Take a listen to what two witnesses had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounded like a crackling sound.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More of a crackling noise...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...than a large boom like you see on TV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, like he was hitting the trees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no fireball.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was more like he just had no power, no nothing. It was almost like the power shut everything off. It was like he just went down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: So you get this sense of some saying he just sort of went out with a whimper. Some saying huge fireballs. A crackling noise. Pops.
One of the more fascinating scenes, though, was earlier in the day, we're actually in a grocery store parking lot right now. And as soon as this thing happened, the military personnel from the base about three miles over, shut it down. So folks outside that either lived there couldn't get out. Folks inside that lived there couldn't get out. So you had folks on their cell phones calling in, trying to find out if their house was hit.
The official word, not much. We know from the official word, four houses were hit. Eight people were injured. We did learn of one man who went to the hospital with back and neck injuries, because he said he was trying to run from the debris as it was crashing on him. He has since been released. So we don't have any word on any other injuries right now.
SANCHEZ: Wow, what a visual script you just drew for us there. Imagine a guy running from debris as a plane, an FA-18 in this case...
BURNS: Like a movie.
SANCHEZ: Yes, crashes right near his house. Boy, you know, nothing like going to the local guy to get a real sense of what happened. And that's exactly what you've provided for us tonight, Anderson. Anderson Burns with WCIV, thanks for being with us tonight, man.
BURNS: You bet.
SANCHEZ: Railin Boegly (ph) is backing out of his driveway, when all of a sudden, he sees a crash. He looks up, and the plane is ripping across a grove of pine trees, which is interestingly enough the name of the street that was intersecting this. Flames and debris are falling around -- all around him. He's described the scene to us. So we put a call in to him to see if we can get him on the phone. And I think we got him now. He's good enough to join us now by phone.
Ray, thanks for being with us, sir.
All right. We had him, but we don't have him. That's a negative. Right? We don't have Ray? All right. Thanks. We'll get back to him in just a little bit.
By the way, we do have this. And we'll get back to Ray in a bit if we can, Claude. But moments ago, you've heard of the White House correspondent's dinner. Every year the president speaks in front of reporters. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes they try to be funny. This year, a little different. A little more solemn. We got this tape just a little while ago. It's the president of the United States speaking at the correspondents' dinner, but he had a very special message this year as a result of everything that's been going on this week. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At a memorial service on Tuesday, I told the university community that people all over this country are thinking about them. And many are praying for them. And so really, this dinner comes at a good time. It's been a tough week for a lot of folks, particularly folks at Virginia Tech. And so I'm not going to try to be the funny guy, but I had the opportunity to introduce one who will be. And so thanks for the dinner. And it's now my honor to bring to this podium a talented and good man, Rich Little.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, let's continue, because we've had a lot of news tonight. Taking you to southeast Georgia now. 58 square miles of forest are turning into a wall of flames tonight. Gusty, strong winds making it an impossible situation for some of the firefighters there. The blaze has already destroyed about 18 homes, we're told. Ten other properties in its path. Also threatening one of the nation's best preserved wetland areas.
Also smoke and blaze has migrated all the way to Pinellas County, Florida. That's 220 miles away, by the way. The fire started Monday after a tree fell on a power line. Let's go to Jacqui Jeras. She's been following the weather situation for us. That's interesting, you know, what's going on in the southeast part of the United States all of a sudden, compared to what we had last week with all the rain.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this has really been a big deal for these folks. And really kind of missed out on all the rain. It was the northeastern corridor that got hit with all this. And certainly, they would love to see some moisture move into this area. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's going to be happening until maybe late week. And that's just going to be a few scattered showers.
But it is a very critical area right now. Those winds real gusty yesterday. They're a little bit lighter today. But still, extremely low relative humidity values, down to about 25 percent. Here you can see the Waycross area, which we're a little bit concerned about right now. It's to the north of the fire. So just kind of all depends on which way the wind blows. Winds coming in now. They're coming out of the southeast at about 5 miles per hour.
Our big weather story now for tonight is a threat of severe weather. We've had about 12 tornado reports, most of which happened in the Texas panhandle, but a few reports up here into parts of South Dakota. This watch in particular is what we call a PDS watch, a particularly dangerous situation, where we can see some of those large, long track tornadoes. And we're focusing in just to the southeast of the Amarillo area here, where we have a very dangerous storm.
Tornado warnings are in effect right now for Carson and Armstrong Counties, both. Doppler radar indicating strong rotation with these storms as they move on up to the north and to the east. Last -- about 10 minutes ago was right near the Claude area, where the center of rotation was.
I do expect to see more severe weather tomorrow, not nearly to the extent of what we've been seeing this evening. Expecting to continue into the night. We'll be watching areas like Omaha, on up towards Des Moines and also into Minneapolis.
Still looking at that easterly wind across the southeast, very dry here. So we'll continue to watch the fire danger there. And our next storm, Rick, moving in from the Pacific could be severe weather in the nation's midsection by the middle of the week.
SANCHEZ: Jacqui Jeras bringing us up to date. As usual, we thank you, Jacqui.
Well, we're going to be staying on top of the story for you tonight. Really was the story of the day, and that's that plane crash.
But we're also following this. A story that somehow got under the radar this week with everything going on at Virginia Tech. A preacher's wife ends up guilty, not of first-degree murder, as most expected, given the scene of the crime, but of something else. Now there's an argument started as a result. And we're going to let you into the argument. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: When we got here yesterday, what we had was a situation where a minister was deceased, his wife and three beautiful daughters were gone. Police couldn't find them. And there was a real question as to whether or not they possibly could have been abducted.
The story has changed dramatically. In fact, last night they came to us and they said we found her. And we found her because a patrolman following up on an Amber Alert, spotted her, saw her, and called in. When they found her, she was in the van, by the way. The van with just her daughters and nobody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: We were breaking news on that day. That's our crew in Sellmer, Tennessee, more than a year ago when that story broke. It's a small town minister. He is shot to death by his own wife. And then she flees in her car with her kids in tow.
And now a jury has found her not guilty of first-degree murder. Instead, they're calling it manslaughter. That means a three-year sentence, instead of life in prison.
Joining us now, civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, and former prosecutor Nelda Blair.
Nelda, let me begin with you. She says she's a battered wife. Must have been pretty convincing, right?
NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: She must have been extremely convincing. And actually, her testimony was probably the thing that swayed the jury the most. You know, she could say anything she wanted to, because she was the only evidence. There was no other testimony, no other physical evidence. Even her nine-year-old daughter didn't say that daddy was a bad guy.
Lida, let me ask you a question. She's diminutive, speaks almost sheepishly on the stand. Did that work in her favor?
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: I absolutely think it worked in her favor. It also worked in her favor that most Americans understand that battered women aren't simply women who -- that they have very complicated emotions, that they love their spouses, at the same time they fear them, at the same time they have very mixed emotions. And I think that came through on the stand.
SANCHEZ: But you know what's weird about this case? There's a lot of stuff going on here. A, I didn't mean to shoot him, B, he was a nasty SOB, so if I did shoot him, there you have it, after all, I was battered, and C, I'm going to get in my car and run away instead of sitting there and calling the police and saying there was an accident. I don't know about you, but listen, I'm confused.
BLAIR: I agree.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, you do get confused, Rick. And the jury totally got it. You know, Nelda, you know full well as a prosecutor, that juries are really smart people. And they can get parse through very complicated evidence. BLAIR: I think this jury was fooled by this woman. I really do. I mean, if they looked at any other evidence, they would have seen that she was brave enough to have a check fraud scheme going on. She was brave enough to pull a gun out to threaten him with. And it accidentally went off? I have a very hard time believing that they accidentally convicted her just of manslaughter.
SANCHEZ: You know what else was working I think in this case? Now remember, I've been there. I spent a lot of time in this town. I was one of the first reporters covering the story. A lot of Church of God, a lot of Church of Christ, very conservative, very small town, middle of Tennessee, nowhere near a heavily populated area. And there was a lot of talk in this case, not only of battered wife, but some kind of sexual exploitation that may have been underway here. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen...
MARY WINKLER, CONVICTED OF KILLING HUSBAND: Matthew wanted me to wear it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you mean he wanted you to wear it?
WINKLER: He just liked me to dress up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dress up?
WINKLER: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dress up for what purpose, Mary?
WINKLER: Sex.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sex? Besides the wig, and the shoes, how else were you dressed?
WINKLER: Just skirts or something slutty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Something slutty, she says. Nelda, what is that?
BLAIR: She had to wear a wig and some shoes. I say she should have killed him.
I do not agree with that. I'll tell you what I really think. I think the prosecution made the mistake of letting 10 women be on this jury, because perhaps they just identified with her. But I don't think that her evidence was enough to get this down to manslaughter. I think she should have been convicted of murder.
SANCHEZ: Apparently, I was just told by my producers that we just lost Lida. So since she's not here, let me ask you the question, that perhaps a lot of women are thinking. You know, we've all seen "The Burning Bed,". We've read books about this topic. And it certainly is hair raising. You're not saying that there aren't cases where women feel totally hopeless and truly are being battered. You're not saying that, right?
BLAIR: Oh, I'm absolutely not saying that, because those cases are prevalent in this country. But I don't think this was necessarily one of them. There is no other person, or no other physical evidence that points to any problem.
In fact, this man seems to have been a model husband to most people. You know, as I said, she could pretty much say anything she wants now. And this woman had a lot of other things going on. She's pretty meek on that stand, but there were a lot of things going on in her life that were not meek.
SANCHEZ: Lida Rodriguez-Taseff and former prosecutor Nelda Blair, my thanks to both of you for being with us on this night.
BLAIR: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Great conversation.
Straight ahead, a Blue Angels jet crashes into a neighborhood. A pilot is killed. We've been bringing you pictures. We're expecting more. We'll bring you some of the others that we've been seeing thus far and the stories behind them, as we continue tonight. Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Breaking news on this night that we've been following throughout the course of the evening. A Navy pilot is killed earlier today. His jet crashes in a ball of fire during today's Blue Angels demonstration at an air show in Beaufort, South Carolina. His name at this point, we're withholding until his family is notified.
We should share with you the information, as sad as it sounds, that part of his family was there watching the air show today in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Here's some of the pictures that have been sent to us so far from people. Boy, have we been getting a lot of pictures. As you might imagine, there were thousands of people there. And most people who go to these events take cameras and pictures to -- take cameras and then provide pictures to show their own relatives.
We're told that the jet looked like an enormous fireball when it crashed into a neighborhood, although we should mention that there was not a huge fire as a result, because there probably was not a lot of fuel on board since it was the very end of the show when this happened.
Now see that? That's one of the houses that was affected. There's parts of the plane inside that house. You can see not only there, but we also saw pictures of parts of the plane on the middle of the street, in trees. It broke some cars in the area as well. As you can see, it hit homes.
Again, the pilot, the only person that was killed in the crash, but we have received information tonight that there was as many as eight other people on the ground who were injured and several houses. No exact number, but several houses affected by the impact of this.
Now authorities are not speculating at this point on the cause of the crash, but there is a massive investigation going on. Authorities are also telling us this important information, that they don't want anyone in that area to go into the community. And those that live in the community are not to touch anything having to do with residue from the plane, or any of the parts that are left there, because they need to go there and do accurate measurements to be able to do a full investigation.
The air show tomorrow, by the way, will continue. We'll continue to follow this story. And as we get more information, we'll bring it to you right here.
I'm Rick Sanchez. A lot of news over the last hour. We won't stop getting it for you. Throughout the night if anything develops, we'll bring it to you right here. Thanks so much for being with us. And we'll look for you again tomorrow right here at 10:00. I'm Rick Sanchez.
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