Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Bernie Madoff Sits Down With SEC Inspector General; Geithner Appearing Before Senate Panel to Push Obama's Financial Institution Regulations Plan; Mousavi Supporters Wear Black to Mourn Iranian Election Results; Iranian-Americans in California Tune into Pars TV; Continental Flight 61 Lands Safely After Pilot Dies
Aired June 18, 2009 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Tony Harris and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Mourning and marching right now in Iran. Take a look right now. New images coming out of Iran of the marchers that are underway. We've been seeing this now for a full week, just about. And here we understand many of the people, as you see that sign right there, supporters of Mousavi, the opponent who is demanding some sort of recount, demanding a new election altogether.
And you're seeing throngs of people, presumably this is in the city, the largest city of Tehran right here. These new images streaming out. There are many limitations about the kinds of video, the images that are coming out of Iran.
Some of the images, thankfully, because of social networking have provided some of these images from people who simply want images out whether it be by their phones, et cetera. But when we get a better explanation of those images that are coming in, I'll be able to convey that to you as soon as possible.
Meantime, most of today's demonstrators are wearing black, as you see right here. That one woman holding up the sign. Mourning many who were killed in the various protests.
Reza Sayah, our reporter in Tehran, is being limited to just one report a day. He says the demonstrations have become less violent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The trademark has really become the silent marches. The slogans are on placards and posters, their peace signs are up in the air, and that's perhaps their way to avoid these clashes, these brutal crackdowns that we've seen on the parts of police earlier during the week. That's perhaps why we haven't seen some of that violence in the past couple of days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, several rallies have also been held across the U.S. Hundreds of people showing solidarity with the Iranian people. You're looking here at rallies held in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, as well as Texas. CNN Special Investigations Unit just confirmed the inspector general of the Securities and Exchange Commission had a three-hour meeting with Bernard Madoff.
Abbie Boudreau is live here in Atlanta with more details about that meeting and of course, we'll get back to the reporting out of Iran as soon as it merits, but let's talk about this domestic issue.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're just finding this out just moments ago. We know there's been major concern among government officials about whether Bernard Madoff has been fully cooperating with the Department of Justice, but we've learned he did agree to sit down with the different top federal investigator, Inspector General David Cox with the SEC.
According to several sources the meeting happened yesterday afternoon and we've learned it lasted for about three hours. Now it took place at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City where Madoff is being held without bond. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29th.
At this point, we have limited information about what was said at the meeting, but I did contact Inspector General David Cox who testified before Congress in January about his investigation into how the SEC handled the Madoff case. I asked him what was discussed at the meeting. I asked him about Madoff's demeanor and how he was acting.
I mean, anything to give us some sort of insight, but he had no comment other than to say, quote, "We've been making substantial progress in the investigation and plan to issue a comprehensive report very shortly."
WHITFIELD: So you've done a lot of extensive reporting on this.
BOUDREAU: Right.
WHITFIELD: What might come from the IG's report? What would be anticipated?
BOUDREAU: Right. Well, we've done a lot of past reporting from this. We do know the purpose of the IG's investigation is to find out where the SEC failed. Obviously. What did the SEC know about Madoff's operations. Also, look into what signs did the SEC miss or possibly even ignore. And were there any insiders who helped Madoff advance this enormous, enormous Ponzi scheme.
As of this week we know that the Inspector General's Office had interviewed more than 100 witnesses and has reviewed millions of e- mails and other documents. CNN has learned the IG's report should be finished soon. Earlier this week, David Cox told a House committee the main report will be issued by the end of August.
So, obviously, throughout the day we're going to try to bring more and more information. I mean I'm just dying to know what happened in that three-hour meeting. I mean these meetings are not happening. This is very, very rare so.
WHITFIELD: Right. And we know that this meeting really can be coming from -- there was testimony on Capitol Hill about clues, witnesses that told the SEC, you need to be looking out for this guy. You need to be looking into this activity, nothing was done. Lots of criticism, years later these indictments came down and now here we are.
BOUDREAU: Right. And you just have to wonder. You know, did Madoff reveal any sort of information that can further this investigation? And you know, in August, at the end of August, Inspector General David Cox says this investigation will be made public.
So that conversation that took place, that three hours that, you know, inside those jail walls, that will be made public, you know, in that investigation. So we will all be waiting and watching, and I'm going to be pushing to find out, is there anything more? Can we find out anything else that happened?
WHITFIELD: If anyone else might be incriminated, too.
BOUDREAU: Oh, that too. But I want to know more about what happened in that three hours. Now that we know it happened. I mean, aren't you wondering?
WHITFIELD: Absolutely.
BOUDREAU: I hope you're wondering...
WHITFIELD: You got me wondering.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: All right. All right. Thanks so much. Abbie Boudreau, appreciate it.
All right. Other issues here at home taking front and center. This guy right here, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Capitol Hill pushing the president's plan to overhaul how your bank and other financial institutions are regulated.
Geithner, appearing before a Senate panel to discuss the plan right now. It's aimed at preventing another financial meltdown.
Senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is following the developments and he joins us live.
What is being said? What is being questioned?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, what is happening here is that the secretary of the treasury is trying to sell this program to increase oversight of the financial system. But the hearing is also a chance for senators on the banking committee to weigh in and the committee chair, Christopher Dodd, opened by lashing some bankers who were already criticizing the proposal to increase regulation in the financial system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), BANKING COMMITTEE: When I pick up the morning newspaper and I read the first headline here that fault lines emerge as industry groups blast plan to create consumer agency.
What planet are you living on? The very people who created the damn mess are the ones now arguing that consumers ought not to be protected. They're the people who paid this price and the idea that you're going to (INAUDIBLE) on attack the very clients and customers who depend upon you every day is not the place to begin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Well, Senator Dodd was holding "The Washington Post" and in particular he was referring to a quote from the president of the American Bankers Association that said, quote, "The inclusion of the highly controversial Consumer Financial Protection Agency will undermine chances of enactment of needed reform."
That from the president of the ABA. And the president's plan does establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency that can write and enforce rules for a wide range of financial products, in particular, it's intended to address one of the huge problems that help cause the financial crisis.
Predatory lenders selling consumers inappropriate mortgages that ended up pushing millions of people deep into debt they couldn't repay. Secretary Geithner says no one was on the job to really protect borrowers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: Many federal and state regulators had authorities to protect consumers, but few viewed it as their primary mission. As abusive practices spread, particularly in the market for subprime and nontraditional mortgages, our regulatory framework proved inadequate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Among the proposals designed to limit predatory lending, the new rules would require banks to eat some of their own cooking. They would have to hold on to a portion of the loans that they write rather than being able to sell-off the whole portfolio loans and not have to worry about the consequences. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right. Allan Chernoff, thanks so much from New York. Appreciate it.
Want to get back to our top story that we continue to follow. The developments out of Iran.
Almost a week now after that disputed election and new images taking place right now and being shared with us, which shows the continuation of protests. Protests against this disputed election.
You're seeing right there some people wearing black in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition leader who was defeated as a result of this election. However, people in huge numbers still turning out in Iran in support of Mousavi calling for a recount, calling for a new election altogether with perhaps the assistance of some sort of international election monitors. But, still, Iran, the supreme leaders still saying that they are confident that the election was free and clear.
However, tomorrow it's possible the Ayatollah Khamenei will be speaking and addressing whether there will be some sort of recount, whether there will be some sort of concession being made as a result of these continued protests.
Meantime, these images are coming out while Iran continues to restrict the images, the reporting from international reporters there in Iran. Great limitations that are being taken and being pressed there on reporters.
It's unclear exactly how these images got out, but many of the images we're seeing from these protests that have been taking place throughout the week are coming by way of social networking people who are using their cameras, et cetera, trying to get the message out of the dissention.
Meantime many Iranian Americans, too, are speaking out and they're tuning in to a television station right here at home in California, and it's broadcasting directly to the Persian community.
Our Kara Finnstrom joins us live from the station in Tarzana, California with more on this. Kara?
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, we're giving you a behind-the-scenes look here at Pars TV. About 30 years ago this became the first independent Persian TV station to broadcast throughout the world and actually into Iran.
And we're in the control room here. If you take a look up there, you can see what's broadcasting live over the air right now. This is a talk show. Normally they cover all kinds of programming here, but right now, 24/7, they are focused on the events that are unfolding in Iran.
We want to give you a look inside the studio, as well, where again I mentioned there's some live programming under way. You can take a closer look at this. This TV station was actually created by a native of Tehran who left after the 1979 revolution.
Now while he says he tries to run the station as neutrally as possible, he does make no secret of his desire to see a new regime in Iran and he says he does also use this radio station as a means to promote democracy in Iran.
This is some of the images, these are some of the images, rather, that have been coming in and broadcasting here on Pars TV. These are not images that have been vetted by CNN or verified, but they are images that Pars TV tells us were taken within the last couple of hours. And if you would, just tell us exactly what we're looking at here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, this is -- we got just like two minutes ago we got two videos from Tehran. This is one of them and I'm going to show the other one, too. There are two images from Tehran which has been sent through our -- from Tehran.
FINNSTROM: All right. These are images that they say they are getting from sources on the ground, Fredricka. Both people who are just sending them in because they want to get these images out. They want the world to see what they're seeing and also some people that they have paid on the ground there in Tehran.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kara Finnstrom, thanks so much, out of California.
Now this alarming report we want to share for you -- share with you now involving an international flight. A flight on its way from Belgium to Newark, New Jersey. According to the FAA, CNN has learned that captain of a Continental Airlines flight, Flight 61, has died onboard.
It's unclear the circumstances of the death. However, there are two first officers in command of this flight right now and they are qualified to land the plane. The FAA providing this information for us and telling us that the plane is expected to land in Newark, New Jersey, somewhere in the next 30 minutes to 45 minutes or so.
CNN has crews on the way to the Newark, New Jersey airport and we'll be able to give you any more information or perhaps even some images as that plane makes its approach to Newark, New Jersey as a result of this emergency taking place onboard.
Flight 61 Continental Airlines flight. The pilot has died on that flight, unclear exactly what happened, but this flight originating from Brussels, Belgium making its way to Newark, New Jersey.
As we get more information and more details as that plane makes its approach to Newark in about 30 to 45 minutes, we'll be able to bring that to you, as well.
We'll have much more straight ahead here in NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: That's a quick weather check. The CNN NEWSROOM is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Want to update you on this breaking story taking place. An international flight, a Continental Flight 61 making its way from Brussels, Belgium to Newark, New Jersey. Two first officers are now flying this flight because the pilot has died. We don't know the circumstances of his death.
Our Jeanne Meserve is keeping a close watch on all of this. She's in Washington. The FAA confirming all this information. What more do you know?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, we don't know what happened to this pilot, he did die. We don't know why, we don't know anything about his age. We do know, however, that there are two first officers aboard this flight, which, as you said, was Continental flight 61. It was flying from Brussels to Newark.
This happened after takeoff, obviously. The plane has declared an emergency, so they will receive priority when they arrive in Newark. That is slated to happen at about 11:45, between 11:45 and noon.
At this point in time, Fredricka, we don't have any details about the passengers, how many there are onboard, but again, there are two first officers onboard this flight who would be capable of landing the plane, but a tragedy, indeed, that the pilot has died of causes unknown at this point in time.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jeanne Meserve, we'll keep tabs with you out of Washington.
In the meantime, we have CNN crews on the way to Newark, New Jersey for that landing approximately about 11:45 a.m.
Thanks so much, Jeanne. We'll check back with you.
Meantime, other matters we keep a close watch on. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has cleared her schedule today. Why? Well, she broke her elbow when she fell on her way to the White House Wednesday. The State Department says Clinton will have surgery next week to repair her arm.
Meantime, you hear a lot of terms these days thrown around as it relates to health care reform, so we want to help you kind of cut through the jargon, decipher what all those terms actually mean.
Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us right now in our continuing week-long look at health care reform and it really is kind of mind-boggling for a lot of folks when you hear some of this stuff.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is.
WHITFIELD: It's not simple.
COHEN: No, it's not simple. I mean, people have written PhD dissertations on this. OK? So it is not simple for us plain folk to figure it out. And so actually on CNNHealth.com today, our empowered patient is just all about the logistics.
WHITFIELD: The lingo.
COHEN: About the lingo, the basic questions about health care reform.
WHITFIELD: OK. So let's begin with the first term, public health insurance options.
COHEN: Right, we're going to be a dictionary today.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
COHEN: Or I'm going to be a dictionary. So you just gave me the entry...
WHITFIELD: Help me out.
COHEN: ... and I'll give you the definition. Public health insurance option. This would be an insurance plan that would be run by the government that anyone could get. Think of this as sort of this Medicare for the rest of us.
Right now if you're over 65, the minute you turn 65, you get to get Medicare. Run by the government. This would be like Medicare, but anyone could get it regardless of their age. As you can imagine it's very controversial, not everyone likes the idea.
WHITFIELD: All right. And, of course, you're going to talk again. There are more terms that we've got to -- you know, filter through here. You'll be back with us.
COHEN: Well, can we talk about co-ops?
WHITFIELD: OK. Let's do that now.
COHEN: Do we have time?
WHITFIELD: I guess we do.
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Yes, because people who don't like this public health insurance option, what they do like is they like health insurance co- op. So what that is, is you enable folks in, let's say a given state. You tell the uninsured people there, hey, you can set up your own co- op. You could become your own group.
Now right now, usually it's employers that, you know, in one place of work. That place is a co-op in a way. Sort of one place. This would be telling uninsured people who work in various places or don't work at all, you can get together, form a co-op and try to get insurance that way.
Now that's what the Republicans prefer.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right. And all of that, still to be debated.
COHEN: That's right.
WHITFIELD: Yes. To have legs.
COHEN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Elizabeth, we'll see you again.
COHEN: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: We're going to talk a little bit more about some of the other terms that we all need to become familiar with.
Meantime, fleeing Somalis have created the world's largest refugee camp. We'll take you there and show you how to "Impact Your World."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We have an emergency situation that's been declared on an international flight. Continental Flight 61 making its way from Brussels, Belgium to Newark, New Jersey.
Momentarily it is to land at Newark, New Jersey, but very under -- very unusual circumstances have occurred here. The pilot has died. However, there are two first officers onboard who are capable and able to fly the plane and they are navigating this plane to make its way to Newark, New Jersey.
Unclear how many people are actually on that flight.
Our Rob Marciano is in the weather center. He's also keeping a close track on the flight plan and our Allan Chernoff is out of New York. He also is in contact with the FAA and other sources to see exactly where this goes and what they're watching.
Let's begin with you, Allan, and what your sources are telling you about. How close we are to this plane making a safe landing?
CHERNOFF: Right. It is supposed to arrive between 20 and 35 minutes from right now. And this is one of those tragic situations that the airlines do plan for. I mean that's the reason that you have first officers in the cockpit, if the captain cannot land, if something happens to the captain.
And tragically here we have a case where the captain actually died during the flight. We don't know exactly what happened to him and again we don't know exactly how many passengers onboard. But it is, as you said, flight 61 from Brussels into Newark.
We should emphasize the first officers here, if they're on an intercontinental flight, these are folks who do have significant experience, at least 1,500 hours of flight time. They are air transport certified and they are fully qualified to land that aircraft.
WHITFIELD: OK.
CHERNOFF: So hopefully, we'll see a fine landing in a matter of minutes.
WHITFIELD: And Allan, I have a whole lot more questions, but first, I want to go to Rob Marciano, who's got the flight tracker also. Give us a bird's eye view, if you will, of where this plane is. We are expecting a landing somewhere in between -- around 11:5, between 11:30 and 11:45. But what's your tracking device tell you?
MARCIANO: Right now, it's shown to pop up the Hudson Valley. Here's LaGuardia, Newark, of course, across the river on the west side there. Tracking this Continental flight 61 -- there's the Hudson River.
It's right now at 16,000 feet on the descent, of course, traveling at 377 knots and that's -- they're slowing that down, as well. So about an hour, or less than an hour out as it makes its approach into Newark heading south at that altitude on the decrease as the velocity, or ground speed on the decrease, as well.
And you know, for all intents and purposes, it should be OK. I should note, though, what you're also seeing on here is a decent amount of rain on the radarscope. Here it is. And -- so rain is going to be an issue. Visibility will be poor. These guys are trained and it shouldn't be too much an issue getting that plane on land.
WHITFIELD: Yes, I'm going to ask you about that weather because in that live shot, it looked it was pretty slick on the ground. It had been raining if not still raining. There's an image right there, Newark, New Jersey, as they prepare for this flight priority. It has been declared for this emergency flight just about maybe 15 minutes away from making that landing at Newark because of this intercontinental flight that is now in trouble.
But as Allan just said there, you've got two first officers onboard.
MARCIANO: Right.
WHITFIELD: Very capable of making this flight -- making this plane land safely. That's what they're trained to do. We're going to continue to watch the developments here with our Allan Chernoff and Rob Marciano. We're going to take a quick break right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. An emergency situation involving Continental Airlines Flight 61 making its way from Brussels to Newark. You're looking at live pictures of Newark, New Jersey, where this plane is to land momentarily, possibly just minutes from now.
And what has occurred is the pilot has died onboard. However, there are two first officers who are very capable and trained for this kind of occasion to take control of the plane and make a safe landing. We have a number of people involved in the mix here, various levels of reporting here. We have Rob Marciano with the flight tracker here in the weather center, we've got Allan Chernoff out of New York and Jeanne Meserve out of Washington. Rob, let me go to you first ,because perhaps you can give us an idea where this plane is now in relation to that landing.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's headed south in upstate New York along the Hudson Valley, right around Poughkeepsie, it looks like. And it's at 15,900 feet. Flight tracker is not instantaneous. It works on a ten-minute delay for various security reasons, but you get the idea here. Now it's on the decrease. That arrow means it's -- it's decreasing in altitude and about ready to make its approach to Newark, which is down here. Fifteen thousand six hundred feet and air speed to about 363 knots.
Another thing, we have a decent amount of rain here across much of the tri-state area. So, New York freeway here, Hudson River right about there, so it makes its shoot down to the south and will land at Newark probably in the next 30 minutes. Visibility at Newark at about a mile and a half, not like it's ideal. They'll be making their approach via instruments, with not being able to see that runway probably until they bust through the ceiling, which is pretty low and then see a couple miles out.
Both those pilots are the backup, and then first officer that was likely in the cockpit at the time, more than capable of landing this aircraft in these weather conditions.
WHITFIELD: Okay, rob, we'll check back with you and because of this emergency situation, it is first priority that this plane be able to find a runway there at Newark airport.
Meantime, on the phone with us now, John Cox, former US Air flight captain. Mr. Cox, give me an idea the kind of training that's involved here, the preparation for a moment like this. Some saying that no one really wants to anticipate happening, but you have two first officer onboard. Is this the norm, so that if you have an emergency like this, they are the ones that are able to take control of the intercontinental flight like this?
JOHN COX, FORMER CAPTAIN, U.S. AIRWAYS (via telephone): First, this is a very rare event. Pilots are medically monitored and to have a flight crew member have a medical issue of this magnitude is extremely rare. But even during the fact that it is rare, pilots do train for incapacitated flight crew members, and these two first officers are very, very qualified. They landed the airplanes many, many times before. At least one of them is qualified and type-rated (ph) in the aircraft for command from a legal standpoint.
So, the landing as far as any danger to the passengers, this is, this will end up from a passenger standpoint being a routine landing. I'm sure when they do land that the paramedics will rapidly get on the airplane and address the medical issue for this pilot. That at this point the primary concern.
WHITFIELD: Captain Cox, I've got other questions for you, but for a moment I want to go to Allan Chernoff in New York. You now, Allan, have a statement coming from Continental Airlines.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Continental has contacted us, and Continental is saying that the captain of the flight, apparently died of natural causes. They're saying he's 61 years old. They are also saying that there are 247 passengers onboard right now, and they add that they do have that additional relief pilot, so the plane now being flown by the two first officers. And again, they are both fully qualified to land this aircraft. Continental saying that it is scheduled to land in Newark at 12:00 Eastern time. So, again, 247 passengers onboard that Boeing 777. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Allan. Back to Captain John Cox, former US...
COX: I'm due somewhere in about 10 minutes, and I've...
WHITFIELD: OK, Captain Cox, if you're still with me, former US Air captain. Based on the information that Allan just shared with us, fairly loaded plane, 247 passengers onboard Continental Flight 61. The captain died of natural causes, but you've got the backup crew, just as you mentioned, trained for when they might be incapacitated. If they're about 30 minutes out from landing at Newark, about what is taking place in that cockpit right now? What kind of conversation is happening with the control tower there in Newark?
COX: The thing that is most important to understand is that the crew will try to make this now as routine as possible, to follow the normal procedures and bring the airplane through the approach procedure, align it with the runway just as they have done hundreds and thousands of times before. The focus for them is going to be make this as normal as possible. They're trained for it. They've each landed the airplane countless times.
From the pilot's standpoint, they're doing the job they have trained to do and have done many times before. They are focused on maintaining it as normal as possible.
WHITFIELD: Our Rob Marciano reporting that visibility about a mile, mile and a half. It is rainy, but it doesn't look like it's torrential. Just seems like it is somewhat wet there in Newark. How might this impact this kind of landing, even though you're saying they're going to treat this as routinely and normal as possible under quite extraordinary circumstances?
COX: The visibility and clouds are something that professional aviators deal with on a virtual daily basis. The weather conditions would be routine operation for the Northeast and, so, I anticipate that -- no significant issues for them.
WHITFIELD: Has this ever happened to you where you have been on a flight where for some reason, your co-pilot or flight crew in any way, shape or form has become incapacitated or even perhaps yourself become ill and first officers onboard -- relief pilots had to spring into action?
COX: It is very rare. Pilots are medically examined and monitored quite carefully. It's every six months that you see a physician, an FAA-qualified physician. So, situations where you have a medical incapacitation are very, very rare. During my career, I can think of one occasion where I was acting as an instructor in one of -- the first officer was ill and, as a matter of choice, I ended up going into the seat. He was not incapacitated, but it didn't make sense for me as a qualified instructor not to give him some assistance. But that is the closest in 35 years of flying professionally that I've ever come to it.
WHITFIELD: Captain Cox, you mention that this, Continental Flight 61, the first officers are going to try to make this as normal, routine kind of landing as possible. Give me an idea about the passengers. Two hundred and forty-seven passengers onboard. Might they know about this or might they be kept in the dark?
COX: I don't think that we will know that. I think the question of -- there will certainly have been some points where something unusual happened. You can tell by the flight attendant, the cabin staff how they were responding to things in first aid and so forth being administered. They may be aware that there was a problem with one of the pilots, but I'm sure that the senior first officer has made a public address announcement to them to let everybody know what is going on and to explain it to the maximum degree that they can.
WHITFIELD: All right, Captain Cox, if you can hold on the line for a minute. We're going to go to Josh Levs here in the NEWSROOM. He is monitoring the chatter, the social networking, particularly on Twitter because this caught the attention of a lot of people. Everyone routinely flies. When you hear of an emergency like this that is so rare, as Captain Cox just underscored, we know that airlines like Continental have a plan in place. What are they saying?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We learned more and more that Twitter is one of the first places people go. So let's zoom right in. One of the hot topics already within the last few minutes that has already happened. I have a Twitter screen up here. We can click on Continental Airlines over here. More and more people talking about the fact that they're watching the coverage right now and talking about it being urgent and some people expressing concern for those on the flight.
Obviously, we are hearing reassuring words as well about first officers being able to take action. I'm monitoring Continental Airlines, as well. We're taking a look to see when they update this page. This is the flight plan they have written -- published, I should say, because it is a design -- for the flight itself, which shows little bit of information about the plane itself.
Here's what I want to show you, Fred. Underneath this, they talk about the type of aircraft we're talking about. I know you mentioned this earlier. I fly, you fly, one of the first things I wanted to see, what is this aircraft like? What are we talking about here? This is from Boeing's Web site. This is not the actual plane, this is an Aero Mexican plane, but this is the type of aircraft we're talking about. So, those people who fly regularly, a lot of us have been on planes very much like this. This is the kind of plane that we're talking about that's at issue here.
We're also following the FAA Web site very closely, Fred. They often post things very soon after this, and we're monitoring this thing as well as your Twitter traffic at Twitter.com and you've got my page, JoshLevsCNN. We're certainly happy to hear from you and your thoughts and, Fred, we'll keep updating you on everything we're finding on the Web about this flight as the developments come every minute from here on out.
WHITFIELD: Many correspondents on this, as well. Jeanne Meserve, as well as Allan Chernoff, and you were just listening to the voice of Captain John Cox, who was once with US Air and he has great insight, too, about the preparedness of every airline, especially for transatlantic flights just like this.
If you're just now joining us, we're looking at live pictures of Newark Airport. Why? Because somewhere within the next 30 minutes, an airline from Brussels making its way to Newark, New Jersey, has a declared emergency. What took place, according to Continental Airlines a 61-year-old pilot actually died of natural causes, so two first officers had to kick into action. They're very well trained, they're capable of landing this flight and they're coming into what Captain Cox is describing to us would be a routine landing.
They're going to try as best they can, even given the weather situations there in Newark to make this a routine landing. Much more straight ahead right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Roughtly sixteen minutes or so from now, a transatlantic flight is to land at that airport that you're seeing on your screen right now as a result of a declared emergency. We understand, according to our reporting, Continental Airlines jet and it was Flight 61 that is making its way from Brussels to Newark. According to Continental, the 61-year-old captain, the pilot onboard that flight died of natural causes, and now two first officers are commandeering that jet and approaching Newark, New Jersey, airport to make a quote, unquote "routine landing" if you will.
Jeanne Meserve has been doing extensive reporting and reaching out to her contacts and as she's joining us now from Washington and, Jeanne, new information from the FAA that you can share with us.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: An interesting observation here. Continental Airlines told us that this pilot was 61 years old. A year ago, this pilot would have been banned from flying because of his age. There was a mandatory retirement age of 60 for commercial airlines pilots. Pilots argued that because of that routine health monitoring that you heard Captain John Cox talking about a little while ago, that there really wasn't a risk and they're flying until the age of 65.
That mandatory age was moved up from 60 to 65 years old. Just an interesting note here. We still don't know, of course, what happened here. Continental saying they believe this is natural causes, but we don't know exactly what the health condition was that might have caused it.
WHITFIELD: Thanks, Jeanne, we'll allow you to have more time and do more reporting. Allan Chernoff is in New York now, and he's joining us and you have more information about this 777, this type of jetliner that's making its way.
CHERNOFF: Right. We have 247 passengers onboard and the 777- 200 model. This is a plane that the first officers are trained specifically for that aircraft, so they have intimate knowledge of it. And let's keep in mind, when a first officer is sitting next to the captain, he's not just twiddling his thumbs, he is actively involved on takeoff and landing, helping to relieve the captain of the extra workload.
Sometimes, the first officers a actually do land the aircraft. Clearly, these guys do have experience and they know what to do. It is, obviously, a very unusual situation, but a first officer here for a major airline has at least 1,500 hours of flight experience. So they should be exceedingly well-qualified to land the aircraft.
WHITFIELD: Okay, so, roughly 14, maybe 13 minutes from now, it is expected to land there at Newark if it stays on that schedule. The flight tracker has indicated the proximity of that plane to Newark, New Jersey, airport. Rob Marciano is keeping a close watch on that. What is it saying right there?
MARCIANO: About ten minutes delayed, so likely a lot closer than we're indicating here. Forty-seven hundred feet on the decrease. Wind speed, or it's air speed, down below 200 miles per hour. Boeing 777-200 version. It is traveling south down the Hudson River. The runway configuration at Newark, the longer runways run pretty much north to south, and the winds are out of the south, that would make sense for them to be landing into the south and southeast wind. That's what's going on here.
The radar continues to be an issue. Rainfall, but for these guys with relatively little wind or crosswind, it shouldn't be much of an issue. Visibility at a mile to a mile and a half, and a quick footnote is that Captain Sculley, not sure how old he was, but I'm sure he was in the range of 60 or getting close to there. Pilots are at the peak of their career experience-wise and you get a lot of bang for your buck as they get older. I certainly hope Congress doesn't second-guess the age limitations for pilots to fly. WHITFIELD: Yes, we don't know the circumstances of the 61-year- old's captain death. But just as we heard from Captain John Cox a moment ago, he was saying that all these pilots, before they fly, they go under extensive medical examinations. Of course, we'll be learning more about the circumstances as the time progresses. Meantime, we'll keep a close watch on this declared emergency as we're now just about 12 minutes away from a scheduled landing there at Newark, New Jersey airport. Much more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A declared emergency for Continental Flight 61 just minutes away now from making a landing there. You see the emergency preparedness vehicles there to the right of your screen at Newark Airport for this Continental flight to be making its landing.
The emergency on board -- the pilot, the captain died, according to the Continental Airlines, of natural causes. Two first officers then took command of this aircraft as they make their way now, just minutes away -- it's scheduled to land, eight minutes away. Brian Batagglia (ph) is a CNN producer. He's at the Newark airport and he's joining us now via broadband. And Brian, I imagine a lot of nervous passengers and spectators there, what are you seeing?
BRIAN BATAGGLIA (ph), CNN PRODUCER (via broadband): I can imagine. I'm in Terminal C at Newark Airport where Flight 61 is expected to land and actually as you can see, it's landing, it's in the process of landing right now. The captain, I believe, is 61 years old, died during the flight as part of a -- I mean, according to Continental, by natural causes there. There are 247 passengers aboard. Right now, I'm in the international arrival area at Newark Airport waiting for the passengers to deplane, and as soon as we -- as soon as they get here, we'll bring it to you live.
WHITFIELD: Okay, so we were looking at your broadband image of the departure/arrival there panel at the airport at Terminal C, correct?
BATAGGLIA: That's correct. I'll spin it around slowly. It is broadband, so it may break up. But this is inside the terminal here at the international arrival at Newark airport, that's correct.
WHITFIELD: Do people around you have a clear idea about what's taking place?
BATAGGLIA: I don't believe so. There are other flights that are coming in right now that passengers are getting off that. There area bunch of still photographers here awaiting the arrival of Flight 67 from Brussels.
WHITFIELD: Was there...
BATAGGLIA: Sixty-one, excuse me. Flight 61.
WHITFIELD: Okay. And are you near a window or is there a location where you can actually see the emergency vehicles that have made their way onto the tarmac? That's the kind of live image that we're looking at right now of the Newark Airport. What can you see from your vantage point?
BATAGGLIA: Unfortunately we are -- we are below ground, in the arrival area. And they are not letting us upstairs at the moment. I'm waiting for the plane to actually, you know, land and have the passengers come down. And it is -- it is a rainy day here in New Jersey, so --
WHITFIELD: Okay. All right. Thanks so much, Brian. We'll check back with you momentarily.
Josh Levs is here in the NEWSROOM. He's been keeping a close watch on Twitter, because this has a lot of people talking and certainly watching as we're now roughly six minutes away from a scheduled landing of Continental flight 61making its way from Brussels to Newark. Josh, what are people saying?
LEVS: Yes, Fredericka, I want to tell people why we are going to Twitter so quickly. It's not just that people talk about it on Twitter, which is significant. As you know, Fred, so many times in emergency situations, when some of the first people are affected write something on Twitter -- they might say "my mom is on the plane," "I know someone on the plane." They might have something relevant that's insight.
We're going to Twitter and checking it out. It's one of the top topics, I'm taking a look here. It's zoomed past pretty much everything else. Last check I saw, I think it's at the top now, along with Iran elections. One of the biggest things people are writing about on Twitter today. We're also closely following the Continental Airlines Web site. As you can see here, it talks about what time the flight was supposed to get in and it shows the path of the flight as it's planned.
I also want to point something out. And I know our weather folks are doing a great job of this, too. Continental was already saying -- and this is significant as we watch this -- Continental was already saying in that region -- forget this incident for a second. You already had average delays of more than an hour in the New York area because they're talking about low ceilings, so if there is a delay, they're already facing weather challenges. It's not necessarily purely because of what we're looking at here.
One more thing, Fred, we're following the Continental Web site as well. They offer important updates on their notices page. They haven't posted this one yet, but as you know, our Allan Chernoff already had this statement. We have all these things going on at once. All these screens open and including your tweets, and twitter.com. You can post to my page, joshlevsCNN, or just send along and we'll find it by searching Continental. We're going to bring you everything...
WHITFIELD: OK. Hey, Josh, can I just interrupt you for a moment? Because we're learning from the Continental Web site as well as the FAA that plane, Flight 61, did indeed land safely. If you look at the grainy image there, grainy because the weather is so bad -- well, this is a new image now. Not really sure if that's the plane we're seeing right there. Yes, I'm told, that is the plane right there.
It did land just moments ago. You see the emergency vehicles making their way to that aircraft, which is clearly routine, especially in situation like this where it was called a declared emergency because the 61-year-old pilot, the captain, died, according to Continental, of natural causes in flight.
And the two first officers on board took control, were able to commandeer this plane and make a safe landing here at Newark. A very rainy Newark. You see just moments ago these images being recorded. The emergency response vehicles making its way to the plane. On board, 247 passengers, we are told, by Continental Airlines. We don't know anything else about whether the passengers were aware of what is taking place. Of course, if they look out the window now, they know something transpired if they didn't know while they were in flight.
This plane originated out of Brussels, Belgium, making its way to Newark, New Jersey. We're able to report a happy ending in terms of a safe landing of this plane. Continental Flight 61 safely arrived there at Newark Airport. Much more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
