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Plane Crashes into Austin Building; Commercial Plane Grounded for Threatening Note; Breaking News of Austin Plane Crash

Aired February 18, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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


TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: ... that was deliberately -- can you believe it -- crashed into that building? I know you've got some new information. I'm turning it over to you, my friend.

ALI VELSHI, HOST: It's moving on very quickly. Thank you, Tony. We're going to continue on this story, and we're going to start by telling you what we knew. We're bringing you live pictures now from Austin, Texas.

A small plane, a Cirrus SR-22, single-engine aircraft, has crashed into a seven-story building. Two people have been taken to a hospital. One appears unaccounted for. A moment just minutes ago we heard from a federal source who told us the pilot apparently crashed into the building intentionally. We're also hearing that the pilot had burned down his house, his Austin house, earlier and may have stolen the plane. We're still getting a good deal of conflicting information on that.

Take a look. The office building is next to Austin's FBI headquarters. It's located in a complex on the 9400 block of Research Boulevard in the northwest part of Austin, for those of you who are familiar with it. Research Boulevard and the Mopac Expressway. The building is near a busy highway, the Mopac Expressway. Plenty of witnesses saw this happen. We're getting stunning images from our iReporters. We, of course, are going through them all and will continue to bring them to you.

But look at the amount of smoke continuing to billow out of that building after the plane flew into it. Firefighters say there is a great deal of damage.

I'm going to -- I'm just going to talk to a retired commercial pilot who's on the phone with me right now. Jim Tillman is in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is a retired pilot, flown commercially.

Jim, I want to ask you about -- and I know if you can fly a commercial plane, you have to be able to fly a single-engine plane. The Cirrus SR-22, a very typical single-engine plane. They are remarkably stable aircraft. They don't, without some sort of outside influence, fall into buildings or fly into buildings.

JIM TILLMAN, RETIRED COMMERCIAL PILOT (via phone): That's correct. And, you know, this -- it seems to me that we're dealing with a situation, for whatever reason the pilot of this aircraft wanted to hit that building. I mean, I say that building, because why that one? The fact is it was as if it were a target. And he flew into it. That's what he wanted to do, and that's what he did.

VELSHI: We are seeing -- and I don't know if you're seeing the same pictures we're seeing. But a great deal of smoke and continuing flames coming out of this building. Does that strike you -- that's the fuel from the plane that has -- has created those -- those flames and that fire.

TILLMAN: Actually, there are a couple of things that really puzzle me. One, why in the world would he do it, obviously. Another thing is why all of that damage? I mean, that's a great deal of damage from -- from the small amount of fuel that would be on board an airplane like that.

VELSHI: Uh-huh.

TILLMAN: I've seen a number of crashes, small aircraft hitting structures on the ground.

VELSHI: Right. Right.

TILLMAN: I don't remember ever seeing that much damage.

VELSHI: We saw one just yesterday in -- in East Palo Alto, California, and they all look very typical. The strange thing here is the amount of smoke and damage that is coming out of this building.

Let's bring Jeanne Meserve into this conversation. She's our national security expert. She's in D.C. right now.

Jeanne, you've been in contact with homeland security officials. A great number of developments. Just bring us up to speed for anybody who has not heard what has happened so far. Walk us through this.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, I think everybody is trying to come up to speed on this story. There's a lot of information out there, some of it not completely verified, single source.

This is what we heard from one federal source, that this individual had indeed set a house on fire before he took off on this airplane.

The Department of Homeland Security has modified its initial remarks in light of the new information that's been coming in. They now say at this time, "We have no reason to believe there is a nexus to terrorist activity." But they don't talk about criminal activity, which they did in a previous statement.

They say, "We continue to gather more information and are aware there is additional information about the pilot's history." That's the information we're all trying to get our arms around right now.

I should say that we spoke earlier with an FBI official who said there was absolutely no indication that they were a target, although they have offices nearby.

VELSHI: Next door. This is what has caused a lot of people...

MESERVE: That's right.

VELSHI: OK. Jeanne, stay with me. And...

MESERVE: Sure.

VELSHI: And, Jim, stay with me. I want to just bring you up to speed on a few things that we know and what we don't know and what we're trying to find out.

First of all, we have had all sorts of information on what sort of aircraft this was. I had somebody tweet me saying they saw it happen and that it was a Cessna. Then we had information it was a Piper Cherokee. And now we have information that it's a Cirrus SR-22. We do not know, and to the untrained eye, you may not be able to tell these planes apart. A Cessna looks very different from the other two, but one may not know exactly what it is. But we do believe it was a single-engine aircraft.

Jim Tillman, who is on with me and is a retired commercial pilot, is a little surprised by the amount of damage and smoke and fire that a single aircraft -- single-engine aircraft might cause, given that the fuel in that aircraft is in those wings and those wings are not very big.

Let me tell you what happened. This crash occurred about 10 a.m. Central Time, 11 a.m. Eastern. And we do know that a man who the -- who federal authorities have told us was the pilot of the plane also set his house on fire before taking off. It took off from the Georgetown airport, which is in Austin, Texas.

Now, let me just ask you, Jeanne, we also understand from Northcom that they did, as soon as they heard about this, scramble jets out of Houston. Tell me what you know about that.

MESERVE: Yes, they did. Mike Mount (ph), who's our producer at the Pentagon, said that they launched two Air Force F-16s out of Ellington Field in Houston out of this crash. That was precautionary. Just a precaution, because they did not know exactly what this entailed, what this was about. Whether or not this might be terrorist related. But as we say, DHS at this point saying no indication that that's the case, Ali.

VELSHI: We also understand a flight plan was not filed. Jim Tillman, everybody doesn't have to file a flight plan when they take off on a plane.

TILLMAN: Absolutely. And general aviation, quite frankly, unless you're going from one installation to another, where they like to have flight following, they generally don't file.

VELSHI: OK. Let me ask you something else, Jim. Tell me, for people who don't know, who have never flown a plane, explain to me how, in a commercial plane like that, it generally goes where you tell it to go. It doesn't sort of do its own thing unless you lose control of the plane.

TILLMAN: No. And this -- from everything we've heard from the eyewitnesses, the airplane was flying in what's considered to be controlled flight. He was able to turn the airplane, everything else. Why was he that low? Why was he flying at that altitude if he didn't have something in mind which was not very good?

VELSHI: Right. He was about 15 miles out from the airport, so there's no reason to be that close to a seven-story building at 15 miles out.

TILLMAN: Absolutely not. And from some eyewitnesses, claimed that he over flew a retaining wall and this and that, and then almost dived into the side of that building. You know, it's -- it's -- I don't know whether the guy had some terrorist ties or not. I'm not -- that's above my pay grade, but I can tell you, it certainly was a suicidal move, for whatever reason.

VELSHI: Jim Tillman, thanks your expertise in bringing us up to speed on what's going on.

You're looking at live pictures at a building on the 9400 block of Research Boulevard in the northwest part of Austin, Texas. Our entire team is following this developments and others. Stay with us. We'll be right back with more coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. Let's continue to bring you up to speed on the story that we're following. A plane has crashed into a building in Austin, Texas. A very low building, a seven-story building which continues to burn. Firefighters say a great deal of damage.

The plane we believe to be a single -- we know to be a single- engine plane. Not quite certain yet what model of plane it is. The latest reports we had was that it was a Cirrus SR-22, which took off from Georgetown Airport in Austin, Texas.

Authorities are telling us that the pilot of the plane also burned down his house in Austin, Texas, before taking off this morning.

Really, a lot of flames. This was earlier. But a lot of flames as a result of this crash.

The plane was flying very low, apparently, and went right into this building, which, by the way, is next to the FBI offices in Austin, which had a number of people concerned about whether or not it was a terrorism -- an act of terrorism.

Jeanne Meserve was just on with us, saying that the Department of Homeland Security does not think that there is a nexus to terrorism, but earlier they had said they did not think there was a criminal connection either. They now believe that there might be. In fact, they have said that they understand a little more about the history of the pilot and are looking into it. Josh Levs also is following this.

Josh, in addition to the -- the developments you're following on this story, there's another story involving a plane and a threat of terrorism that you are on. Tell us about that.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is what we understand right now. I'll talk to you about this. This one involves Utah. And I'll tell you the latest we have here.

It's a United Airlines flight that was originated in Denver. It was diverted to Salt Lake City International Airport, Salt Lake International Airport there in Utah. This is after a threatening letter was found on board. And we're told that it was a flight attendant who found this threatening letter.

So what's been happening now after they diverted this plane -- we're told it was originally en route to San Francisco. It's Flight 741. The plane is a -- is Boeing 757. So, they've landed there, at Salt Lake International, and now they're holding onto absolutely everyone who was inside the plane.

I think we have a little sound here, a sound bite from a woman at the airport, who's explaining what's happening. Oh, we do not? OK, I'll just talk you through it.

It's an airport spokeswoman that we got some sound from earlier, and she says what's happening now: they're not allowed to let anyone leave, obviously. There are investigators on that scene, including federal investigators, trying to find out where this note came from, how it came to be about.

Our local affiliate, KSL, says there were 193 passengers on board that flight. And, again, if you're someone who's concerned, if you're traveling today, you want to check on how someone is in that plane, it's United Airlines Flight 741. It's a Boeing 757. It was taken off out of Denver. It was en route to San Francisco, and it has been diverted to Salt Lake City.

And again, Ali, this is because we're told a threatening note was found on board. And I will tell you that the way our affiliate, KSL, put it earlier, they said it was a bomb threat note that was found on board that aircraft, but we are told that it's landed fine. As far as we know, everyone who was on the plane is fine, as well.

VELSHI: All right, Josh, we'll stay on top of it.

As -- as of now, we do not believe these two matters are related. Unrelated matter, as far as we know right now.

By the way, I just want to tell you what the FAA has told us about the pilot of the other plane that went into the building in -- in Austin. The statement from the Department of Homeland Security says -- I'm sorry, this is from the Department of Homeland Security. It says, "We continue to gather more information, are aware that there is additional information about the pilot's history. At this time we are referring further questions to local authorities and the FAA."

The further information that they are referring to is the fact that they believe the person flying the plane also owned a home that he set fire to this morning before taking off in this plane, which has flown into a building in northwestern -- in northwest Austin, Texas.

Let's go to John King, not CNN's John King, but a John King in south -- in San Diego, who is flight instructor.

John, are you with us on the phone?

JOHN KING, FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR (via phone): I am, Ali.

VELSHI: John, tell me what you know, as a flight instructor. We -- again, we do not have confirmation on what type of plane this is. There are conflicting reports as to whether it was a Cirrus SR-22 or a Piper PA-28. We will continue to check into this, but it does -- we are getting a lot of reports that it was a single-engine plane that went into this building. Tell us what we need to know about this type of plane.

KING: Well, if you're flying an airplane, it's going to be at a lethal speed. If you do decide, and we'll assume that this is a suicide attempt -- it's a certain way to do it, but it's a very unfortunate way, because it puts other people at risk. I wish he had chosen some other method of doing this. But it's a certain way to commit suicide in almost any airplane.

So, it really -- really doesn't matter too much. The thing about these airplanes is they have very small inertia and very little energy involved, so they're really not likely to cause much damage.

VELSHI: Right. This is -- OK, so very little energy involved. The energy is the speed and the fact that there is fuel in the wings. He was just at an airport. He had just taken off, we understand, from Georgetown Airport in Austin, which means he would have been full of fuel. How much fuel might we be talking about in a single-engine aircraft?

KING: Somewhere between 50 and 90 gallons in that size of an airplane. Weighs about the same amount as an SUV.

VELSHI: OK. You've seen these pictures, you know, that we're showing on TV about the burn coming out of that building?

KING: I have, yes.

VELSHI: Does that seem consistent with 50 to 90 gallons of fuel and setting on fire that it hits inside the building?

KING: Well, maybe some items in the building caught fire also. But yes, it does. It seems that -- it doesn't seem to me like this is a huge conflagration. But it's about right. As I said, I wish he had chosen some other way of doing this.

VELSHI: The building, I don't know what the height of this building is. Maybe it's 100 feet off the ground or something like that. There would be no reason at all for a single-engine flight to be anywhere near that height?

KING: No, we'll say it's a seven-story building. That's 70 feet of altitude.

VELSHI: Yes.

KING: No one would be flying at 70 feet. This -- this is clearly an unusual situation.

VELSHI: Where do small planes level off? Once they take off from an airport, what do they ascend to before they start, you know, flying level?

KING: In an area like this, you have to be at least 1,000 above anything that's in the nearby radius of you, just to be safe above the ground. So, a minimum of 1,000 feet. Honestly, he should be at 2,000 or 3,000 feet.

VELSHI: There were people -- again, these are -- a lot of reports coming in. We don't know what we don't know. But there were people who said it sounded like it was coming in full throttle. Would anybody outside know -- know that on a small plane? Can you tell the difference?

KING: I -- I certainly wouldn't be able as a flight instructor who would be on the ground to know whether an airplane was coming in at full throttle. You'd make some judgment of the speed at which it was moving.

VELSHI: Right.

KING: But you wouldn't know what their throttle was.

VELSHI: But generally speaking, in a plane like that, if you haven't lost control of flight, meaning you haven't lost lift or it's not in a spin or a spiral dive, it's not common that it would be out of your control yet flying directly into a building?

KING: No. The -- you might be making a maneuver and lose lift on the wings because you stalled the wings, but that's not what was happening here. This airplane came in at high speed. This was a deliberate.

VELSHI: Let's look at a couple possibilities. Let's say you lose lift on a plane. A trained pilot would know that, if you lose lift on a plane, you actually have to point your nose downward to regain that lift. Is that a possibility?

KING: That's correct. But let's assume that you weren't flying low to begin with. There's -- you would have plenty of room. That's the reason for the 1,000 foot of minimum altitude, is give you plenty of room to recover.

VELSHI: He'd have 900 feet to fix the problem. KING: Absolutely. I mean, there's no reason why a person would be at that altitude unless they're doing some kind of deliberate misbehavior.

VELSHI: Let's do problem No. 2. He lost power.

KING: Well, normally, you would come in very slow if you lose power. You'd put it in a good glide speed, which is a much slower speed than your cruise speed, and look for a place to land, and it gives you time to land. So you would be going much slower if you lost power.

VELSHI: And I don't know the area, what it would be like for a pilot in Austin, but if he's come 15 miles from an airport, he could probably swing around and find someplace that looks less occupied than this office park.

KING: And even if you lost power, you're still under control of the airplane. There's no reason you would hit a seven-story building.

VELSHI: OK, No. 3. Option No. 3. Something happened to him. He was not conscious.

KING: That is a possibility. It's pretty unlikely. I don't know how old this person was. But that's -- that's a rare likelihood, but possible, that he lost consciousness and lost control of the airplane that way and flew into something.

VELSHI: OK. The only reason we're exploring these possibilities because we don't have more detail now. There is obviously detail that comes in that says that the person that the federal authorities believe flew this plane into the building was also somebody who burned their house in -- in Austin, before getting on this plane. So, clearly, that complicates things a little bit. And the reason -- we're getting this information, of course, through Jeanne Meserve in large part and her colleagues up in D.C.

Jeanne is back with us on the plane [SIC].

Jeanne, so Department of Homeland Security officials are saying that they -- they -- they think now there might be criminal activity here?

OK. We do not have Jeanne just now.

Let's go back -- we're taking a look now. These are live pictures. This is affiliate coverage coming in from KVUE in Austin about this plane crash in -- in northwest Austin. Let's listen in to what they are reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The degree. I mean, that's...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is apparently wreckage from the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the road.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're being told. Some people describe the hole in the building to be 30 feet by 40 feet deep. We don't know exactly how far that piece of metal is outside this building. But...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do have a clarification from a news photographer on the scene who says it's not the entire building that is in danger of collapsing, but one particular floor.

Nevertheless, a floor collapses, that's going to send more debris spewing from the building, so as a precaution, that area is being cleared. Folks who are just kind of watching and waiting are being asked to move back. Not the entire building is in danger of collapsing, but a particular floor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just don't know how stable the whole interior is. In any case, let's take a -- a producer was trying to tell me something. Where are we going now?

Tyler in the newsroom. Tyler, what do you have for us? Hi?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, hi, Melissa, we are continuing to follow the trail here of this Andrew Joseph...

VELSHI: All right, let's go to Jeanne Meserve. She's in Washington, D.C.

Jeanne, what have we got about who this pilot might be and what might have been behind this -- this activity?

MESERVE: Well, still a lot of questions outstanding, Ali. We do have a name, Joseph Andrew Stack, this from a federal law enforcement official. According to this official they do believe that it was his house that was set on fire this morning before this plane took off.

As to the plane, there was a little confusion at first, this official concedes. Initially, they thought it might have been stolen. Now they believe this plane belonged to him. He is known to own a Piper Cherokee PA-28, so we think that is the aircraft involved here.

Let me see. He said at this point they don't have any history on this individual. And this law-enforcement official, at least, was not aware of this individual having any grudge against anybody who might have had an office in that building.

We should also say that the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, is dispatching a team to investigate it. The lead investigator is coming out of the regional office down there in Dallas, Texas.

Back to you, Ali.

VELSHI: All right. And, again, there was a bit of a change in what DHS had said earlier. They had said no nexus to terrorism or criminal activity. They are still holding firm to the idea that they don't think this is terrorist connected. MESERVE: That's absolutely correct. They do not believe there's any nexus to terrorism, but there are questions now about the criminal nexus because of what we're learning about this individual.

VELSHI: Joseph Andrew Stack is the name that we've been given. This is somebody who's known to own a Piper Cherokee PA-28, which is a single-engine plane, that was -- that took off from -- from Georgetown Airport in Austin, Texas, this morning. This crash happened at about 11 a.m. Eastern Time, 10 a.m. Central. Went into a seven-story building that is next door to the FBI in -- in Austin, which led to some speculation that it may have been terrorist involved. But, in fact, now they are saying that's not the case.

We -- we're going to go to the phone right now. I don't know the name of the person who is standing by.

Mike Ernest is on the phone. Well, I hear a dial tone, so I'm not sure he's there. But Mike Ernest is somebody who saw -- he's an iReporter who saw this happen. We're going to try and get Mike back onto the phone in just a second.

Mark -- Mike, are you there?

MIKE ERNEST, EYEWITNESS (via phone): I'm here.

VELSHI: Mike, tell us what you saw.

ERNEST: I was outside and waiting on -- my car was getting -- I was getting my oil changed at the Lexus dealership across from Highway 181, directly across from the building. I noticed that a plane was flying unusually low.

And I didn't notice the landing gear. The landing gear didn't seem to be down, so I didn't know what was going on. So I followed the plane, and I watched it fly right into -- it looked like it was between the first and second floors of the building.

VELSHI: All right. We -- we -- tell me again what we're doing right now. Hang on a second.

OK. Mike, tell me now. You said this plane did not seem to have its landing gear down. Do you notice -- normally notice that sort of thing on a plane?

ERNEST: I mean, just because I saw it so low, that's one of the first -- that's what I looked for, just because I noticed that it was so low. And it didn't -- it did not seem to have -- the landing gear did not seem to be down. So I didn't know if it wasn't working, and so they were maybe going to maybe try and do an emergency landing somewhere, but I mean, it was -- yes, I didn't notice that the landing gear was down.

VELSHI: All right. We're looking at a picture that you sent us. This is what you saw from across the road. You say it went in, you thought, between a low floor. It's a seven-story building. You say it went in pretty low. ERNEST: Yes. It seemed right around the second story, between maybe the top of the first and right towards the second. Somewhere right in there.

VELSHI: Did you have any sense of whether you thought this thing was coming in at full speed or it was slower than normal?

ERNEST: It seemed pretty normal. I mean, the speed seemed pretty normal. It really didn't seem like anything was wrong with the engine or the propeller. It really just seemed -- no, everything seemed normal except for how low it was flying.

VELSHI: And no -- no evasive maneuvers? You didn't see that it might have been a pilot struggling to try and avoid hitting the building?

ERNEST: No. I mean, there were a few -- a few quick turns left and then right, but nothing that was suspicious or anything, like he was trying to maneuver to get out of anything. It looked pretty normal.

VELSHI: How long did you look at it for before it went into the building?

ERNEST: About 15 to 20 seconds. I noticed it really low, and then I just kept following it until it went -- I couldn't believe it. I kept following it, and then it went right into the building.

VELSHI: Right, because you're looking at this thing, and you're thinking it's low, and you're looking at it and then you look -- did you notice this building was in its flight path? At what point -- what went through your head when you say, "Oh, my God, this thing is going to hit the building"?

ERNEST: Yes. I mean, I didn't really think much of it until it got, you know, pretty close to the building. I -- because I didn't -- I knew that there wasn't an airport nearby. So I just -- it was really suspicious. And then I mean, when it got really close to the highway next to the building, I thought, you know, it looked pretty -- pretty imminent that it was going to hit the building.

VELSHI: What happened when it hit the building? Did you hear a noise? And did you see something immediately? Did the fire start immediately?

ERNEST: Yes, it was like a fireball, basically. Fireball, black smoke. People -- you know, people let out screams all around me. A few people were crying. It was -- I mean, it was a pretty crazy scene.

VELSHI: All right. IReporter Mike Ernest, thanks for your quick work. It does help to understand exactly what happened. Mike Ernest is -- is in Austin, Texas. He sent us the picture that you're looking at on the right side of the screen.

We're taking a quick break. We're staying on top of the story. Developments in this story suggest that the pilot of the plane did own that plane and also set his house on fire before taking off and flying into that building. We'll be back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Our coverage continues here, breaking news of a small plane that has apparently deliberately been flown into a building in Austin, Texas. The building continues to burn. The small plane now identified by authorities as a Piper Cherokee PA-28, a single-engine plane. It took off from an airport northwest of Austin, Texas, Georgetown Airport, this morning. This incident occurred at about 11 a.m. Central Time, 10 a.m. in -- in Austin.

Let's go to Greg Fife. He is a former senior NTSB investigator, National Transportation Safety Board. He's on the phone.

Greg, from what you've heard so far, what do you make of this?

GREG FIFE, FORMER SENIOR NTSB INVESTIGATOR (via phone): Well, of course, the information that's coming out right now is always preliminary, but it does sound like it was an intentional act on the part of the pilot. It sounds like he may have been distraught over something to burn his house down and then take his airplane and use it as a weapon, like anybody would use a gun to walk into a building. He's used his airplane, you know, for malicious purposes, unfortunately.

VELSHI: You've investigated air crashes before?

FIFE: I have investigated aircraft accidents for the NTSB for over 20 years, and continue to do it in my afterlife.

VELSHI: So, let me tell you, when you are -- when one is investigating this, how does one determine, in the absence of all other evidence -- and we're not absent other evidence, by the way. As you just mentioned, authorities say this man burned his house down before taking this -- taking his plane and sending it into the building.

But if you didn't have other evidence, would you know how to determine that that plane that went into that building was flown in deliberately?

FIFE: Well, any -- anytime you do any kind of investigation, whether it's a criminal investigation, whether a murder or an aircraft accident, you have to look at a variety of different pieces of evidence.

Of course, you've got the physical wreckage itself. But you have to look at a lot of the circumstantial evidence, and that is, why would this guy burn his house down? You have to look into his background.

Apparently. some of the early information is indicative that he may have had some sort of mental problems or health problems, so they'll have to ferret those kinds of things out. They'll talk to people that knew him to see if he had made any kind of statements in the past to do some harm, either to himself and/or other people.

So, there's a lot of investigative evidence that needs to be collected to put the picture together.

Short of having a suicide note saying on this day I'm going to do this, you can come up with a reasonable probable cause of the even event based on the best available information.

VELSHI: And the speed and the trajectory of the plane based on witnesses or whoever might have caught it on camera and the damage to the building, does that tell you about anything what the pilot's intent may have been? What I'm asking you is, would you be able to know that somebody was trying to put that plane into the building versus somebody who lost control of the plane versus somebody that was unconscious at the stick?

Yes, that's a very good question. And not necessarily. Unless there's enough of the victim left or an autopsy, pathological-type work, to make some sort of determination whether this pilot may have experienced some level of physical incapacitation, such as a heart attack. Something that would leave some physical evidence behind, in the heart tissue.

If he had a stroke, you may not know that. Or if he became unconscious because of a drug overdose, unless there's enough of the victim left to do a toxicology, you may never know the absolute extent of some sort of physical incapacitation that could have just caused an inadvertent collision with this building.

VELSHI: Answer me this, Greg. Often after an investigation in to a plane crash, the NTSB comes out with certain recommendations, might be about rules, might be about regulations, might be about safety devices on airplanes, might be about procedure. If we find out -- this man burned his house down in Austin, got on a plane and deliberately flew it into this building -- could any recommendation come out of that?

FEITH: Not necessarily. I mean, you know, this is an event that likely was unforeseen by anybody. This person, you know, had maybe a premeditated notion that he was going to do this today. May not have told anybody about it.

We've seen this in the past. About six years ago, there was a young gentleman, 15 years old, who stole an airplane from a plane school (ph) and flew it into a building in Tampa, Florida. His characterization by other people was he was an outstanding kid. A little introverted. Nobody ever suspected him to do something as bad as he did, and it may be another instance here.

There is no recommendation. You can't ground general aviation, nor should you, because this is more of an isolated event than a systemic problem.

VELSHI: All right. I should tell you, you can't ground general aviation, you're looking at live pictures from our affiliate, KVUE, in Austin, Texas, the Georgetown Airport in Austin has been shut down. No planes in or out right now.

Greg, would that be typical? Because an investigation is under way?

FEITH: It could be shut down for a variety of different reasons. There may be some evidence on the airport. People on the airport that can provide information to the investigators, so they want to try and capture that without -- this person had a hangar that he kept his airplane in. They may be isolating that -- that hangar, and because the airport may be a small airport, it may impede the operations, so they just altogether shut it down so that they don't -- they don't have a lot of aircraft traffic while people are trying to do an investigation.

VELSHI: And I suppose at this point, information, fresh information, is more useful than something than investigates are trying to get a month down the road to ask questions. I guess you get everybody while they still might remember what happened today, what happened this morning, what -- what mood this guy was in when he walked into the airport, what he said to anyone.

FEITH: Absolutely correct.

VELSHI: Greg, I'm going to stop you right there. We need to go to a press conference in Austin. I'll tell you who this is as soon as I find out. Let's listen in, though.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me know when we're in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're in the shot. You're right in the shot there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you're in the shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're in the shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready, ready, folks?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I'm (INAUDIBLE). I want to confirm to you that the incident is totally contained. The fire is not totally out, but it is contained, and there will be someone here to talk to you a little bit more on the details of the status of the structure and with regard to the fire.

But I want to tell you, I'm very proud, of the way our police, fire, and EMS have performed today. They've done an admirable job. There have only been two folks transported to the hospital. One person is unaccounted for. Everybody else is accounted for.

Our law enforcement officers here at the city are working, together with all levels of law enforcement, to make sure we have a coordinated effort to get all of the details of this situation. I want to assure the citizens of Austin, Texas, that they are safe. There's no danger. The situation is totally contained. And with that, I will turn it over to -- to our chief for more details.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief. Fire Department.

DAWN CLOPTEON, DIVISION CHIEF, AUSTIN FIRE DEPT.: Yes, division chief Dawn Clopteon with the Austin Fire Department. I'll give you a few details on the -- on the actual fire and the conditions inside the structure.

This was a fairly significant fire, as you can see from the building. The plane crashing into it set multiple floors on fire. We do have the fire contained. We do have a few spot fires out. We are working at this time on working on complete extinguishment with.

We have searched the fIRSt three floors. We are in the process of continuing that search. As of now, as the mayor said, we have two injuries that were transported. EMS will talk some more about that. We have one unaccounted for person, so we're making a thorough search of the building.

There are areas of the building, for obvious reasons because of the fire and the collision with the aircraft, that are unstable. We do have our engineers on scene looking at that to make sure that we keep our firefighters safe while they continue the operation here.

And hopefully, within the next few hours, we'll have this fire completely extinguished and let these folks with the law enforcement get on with their investigation. I'm going to turn it over now to James -- yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we know about the unaccounted person?

CLOPTEON: All we got was somebody in the building, supposedly was at work, and they haven't been accounted for. We cannot confirm whether they were actually in the building. This is -- and we're working through a process. We have an accountability officer who is trying to touch as many people as possible to find out where that person may have been located, trying to find out if we can get a home phone number, cell phone number, they may not even be here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OFF-MIKE.

CLOPTEON: I don't have that information, sir, I apologize.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are hearing reports that is was a person actually on the third floor.

CLOPTEON: Again, I don't have all of that information, I know we have an unaccounted for person which is why we're doing an extremely thorough search of the building in the areas that we can get into, and trying to confirm it through a variety of sources, not only (AUDIO GAP), but also like I said, trying to find information on this person, seeing if maybe they called in sick today, they're out at the beach, at the shopping center, something else. As soon as we know some more on that, we will definitely update you folks. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was an employee in the building?

CLOPTEON: That's the information I have, yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have all been accounted for?

CLOPTEON: I don't have any information on the pilot one way or the other.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know what was on those floors that the were hit? Was it a conference room, office room?

CLOPTEON: APD will actually talk to you a little bit more about the leasees and who was in the building. (INAUDIBLE) on fire. They deal with the all the other technical pieces of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that would be a good segue to chief...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you spell your name?

CLOPTEON: D-a-w-n. C-l-o-p-t-e-o-n. And I'm a division chief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. Mr. Mayor, thank you for being here. I want to take a moment to identify everybody up here. This is Andrew Markoff, Austin Fire Chief Kerr, and the rest of the chief of staff (ph) with the police department. David Carter, and the rest of the chiefs are out here.

I want to start off by saying and making it real clear to anyone that's watching this, here in Austin and central Texas and Texas and throughout the United States, I know the number one fear that's coming to everybody's mind is it was an act of terrorism and is the country, the city, the region, in danger? And I can tell you categorically that there is no cause for concern from a law enforcement or a terrorism perspective.

This incident is contained. It's under control. We have an outstanding investigative team comprised of the Austin Police Department, the Joint Terrorism Task Force here that we are members of with the FBI. Obviously the FAA, the NTSB, Austin Fire, and all other responders here.

So, the one point that I need to put out is that this is an isolated incident here. There is no cause for alarm. And that people should continue their lives as they would any other day of the week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, how do you know it's an isolated incident?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (AUDIO GAP) Do you what, you have to take me at my word, don't you? that's all I'm going to tell you.

The second thing that is really important, we're starting to get news reports that -- that this aircraft was stolen. There is a lot of speculation. I can tell you right now that your reports are inaccurate, and it is irresponsible journalism to put out information that is not confirmed from law enforcement. Please do not put out speculation, because this aircraft, I can tell you right now, it was not a stolen aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, we've been seeing on blogs and all that a connection between a house fire in north Austin and a man who put out a suicide note.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regarding the IRS...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In terms of the investigation, the investigation is fluid. It is ongoing. (AUDIO GAP) Moving pieces. I'm not going to discuss any further details of the ongoing investigation. You know how we feel about trying to get information out.

But the number one thing we do not want to jeopardize is the integrity of the investigation, and we don't like to do anything to jeopardize it.

I will say, again, based on what we do know, there is no cause for alarm. There is no cause to panic. And there's no reason why people shouldn't go out and enjoy their day and just conduct your business like you would any other day of the week, so with that...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it's an isolated incident, why not share more information about the pilot and the plane?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you know it's ongoing. It just happened a couple hours ago. We don't release information ahead of time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, the NTSB is confirming to us that this situation was related to a house fire that happened earlier in the day. Can you confirm that with NTSB?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The NTSB is notified. I have not talked to the NTSB here, but we are not going to confirm or deny any other information. That's all the information we'll give at the point until we...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of offices were they?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... the unaccounted employee, was it an IRS person?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not know. We just know that there was an individual that was scheduled to be at work, but we have not been able to confirm if, in fact, they came to work or if, in fact, they are were in the building, and we are in the processed of trying to locate them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was it an IRS employee?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not have the information.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, did the plane belong to the pilot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to confirm any other information. That's all the information we have. We will have another briefing in a few hours, and our PIO folks will let you know. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know if it originated out of Georgetown, Chief?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One second.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as the phone numbers from the FBI regarding witness information...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They changed the phone numbers. The new numbers are 210-650-6196, 6197, 6198, and 6000. 210-650-6196, and then you can change it to 789 and 6200 at the end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the numbers people should call?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anyone has any information, if they witnessed the plane crashing into the building or any of that other stuff. Again, one more thing. She electricity is back on in the area and the traffic signals should be working, but the frontage areas are still closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you give us those numbers again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 210-650-6196, 6197, 98, and 99, and 6200. We'll get back with more information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are some the numbers we can call to get information?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That information -- there will be another repeat later. Hopefully we are in the process of -- we are in the process of setting that information up right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully within the next two hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us about the victims? About the people that were transported?

JAMES HAWLEY, DIVISION CHIEF, AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY EMS: My name is James Hawley, H-A-W-L-E-Y, I'm a division chief with Austin-Travis County EMS.

As you have been told, two patients have been transported to the hospital. One has been -- both were initially...

VELSHI: All right. We're going to continue to monitor that. We do actually have more information than the local authorities are giving because Jeanne Meserve has gotten it directly from the Department of Homeland Security. We do know from them, according to the Department of Homeland Security, the person they believed to have been flying the plane owned the plane. Jeanne, are you there?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I am.

VELSHI: You got more information than they are giving out today.

MERSERVE: Let me clarify, it didn't come from the Department of Homeland Security, but a federal law enforcement official who identified the individual flying the plane as Joseph Andrew Stack. According to this official, they do believe he owned the plane that crashed into the building, a Piper aircraft. They also believe that he owned the house that was burning in the Austin area, and it appears he was the one that set it on fire. When we asked, was this suicide, this official said it looks like it.

Let me also tell you, Ali, that we've heard from the White House travel pool that President Obama was briefed on this situation by his counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, although let me emphasize, we've heard from multiple sources that they do not believe at this point in time that there's any terrorism relationship to the events that unfolded in Austin today.

Back to you, Ali.

VELSHI: Right. And the police in Austin also just said they believe it's an isolated incident. Jeanne, thanks for your great report.

MESERVE: Oh, Ali? Ali. Can I just say one more thing?

We've been in touched with the IRS because there's been question about who occupied this building. The IRS, the Internal Revenue Service, did have offices there. A spokesman for the IRS said they had 190 employees in the building, and they are still in the process of accounting for them. Back to you.

VELSHI: And according to the -- thank you. That's a very important piece of information, given what I'm just going to tell you.

Rick Sanchez is sitting next to me. Very important piece of information. If you've been watching this and you think you've heard everything, hold on a second. This is new, very important information here. Rick Sanchez has a suicide note that we understand was written by this pilot.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: What we were obviously doing, Ali, is trying to figure out who this gentleman was. The first question that comes to mind is, is there a possible motive that would lead someone to do something like this?

So back there while you were prepping your show, our staff starting doing a little research. Dave Johnson, one of my writers, said, "Look what I just found." So, we've been looking at this thing for a while. And CNN has now confirmed, we can report this.

What I have here is a six-page suicide note. A six-page suicide note, that is coming -- or I should say was left by the Web site that is administered by Joseph Andrew Stack. It reads like a very angry person, Ali. I don't know quite what -- how -- quite to put it. And what she just said about the fact -- I just -- just confirmed for me that she just said that there are IRS offices inside this building, right?

VELSHI: Yes, yes, that's correct. IRS -- 100 -- 190 employees of the IRS worked in that building. 190? Kelly? 190.

SANCHEZ: She is reporting that this was, in fact, an IRS building. I can tell you that Joseph Andrew stack unequivocally had very serious problems with the IRS.

VELSHI: All right.

SANCHEZ: Let me read to you a couple of excerpts here...

VELSHI: Yep.

SANCHEZ: Because now we're going to get into the nitty-gritty of what the note actually says. He said, "There was a storm raging inside my head." He said, "Desperate times call for desperate measures. He said "We are brainwashed to believe there is freedom in this place. Remember one of these was no taxation without representation?" He addresses that several times in here.

Makes reference to the Wall Street situation. Something you and I have talked about. "Handful of thugs and plunders can commit unthinkable atrocities, and when it's time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and stupidity, the full force of the federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days, if not hours."

VELSHI: Wow.

SANCHEZ: Isn't that interesting? I knew you would think about it as I read it to you. Let me get you to this and we can break it up, I don't want to just do a read-a-thon for the viewers. But it's interesting to see what was in the guy's head.

"The joke we call the American medical system," talking about health insurance, "the joke we talk about the American medical system, including the drugs and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people every year and stealing from the corpses and victims that they cripple, and the countries leaders don't see it bailing out the vile and the rich cronies here." What are you hearing?

VELSHI: Anti-government.

SANCHEZ: Anti-government and anti-Wall Street. He talks about justice.

But let me cut to his own personal story. He starts talking about the second and third pages of how it begins in the 1980s. He had a series of problems with businesses.

VELSHI: Uh-huh.

SANCHEZ: And he got taxed for those problems. He did not believe that he should have been taxed for those problems. "I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie," he writes. "I learn that there are two interpretations for every law, one for the rich and one for the rest of us." There we are, going back to the same theme we talked about.

"Return now to the 1980s and here I was to a terrifying start as a wet-behind-the-ears contract software engineer. Two years later, thanks to the fine backroom midnight efforts, of some" -- listen to this. "Thanks to the midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen --" Tell our viewers who Arthur Andersen is.

VELSHI: This was one of the biggest accounting firms in the country that was tied into the Enron scandal that doesn't exist anymore because of the Enron scandal. Which is a big deal, obviously, in Texas. That plays out.

SANCHEZ: Absolutely. He's accusing Arthur Andersen, apparently. "We saw the passage of the 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706," so he goes after that. And here's the issue with taxes and now it will be a little bit more specific as I read to you some of the things he seems to be saying about this.

"During 1987, I spent close to $5,000 of my pocket change and at least 1,000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, Congressman, governor, slug that might listen. None did, and they universally treated me as if I were wasting their time."

He goes on to say, "I filed no return that year, thinking that because I didn't have any income, I didn't have money. Our sleazy government decided that they disagreed, but they didn't notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection, so when they attempted to get a protest filed in the court, I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because time had run out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice."

And finally -- this is how he closes it. This is interesting.

VELSHI: Yep.

SANCHEZ: And the whole thing tends to ramble.

VELSHI: Yes.

SANCHEZ: He's not a particularly artful writer, by the way. VELSHI: Yes.

SANCHEZ: But he closes by saying this, Ali. "I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man" -- this is an IRS building.

VELSHI: Wow.

SANCHEZ: Well, Mr. Big IRS Man, let's try something different. Take my pound of flesh and sleep well."

VELSHI: Wow.

SANCHEZ: With that he closes.

VELSHI: So, Joe Stack has written a -- he calls himself Joe, Joseph Stack, has written a six-page suicide which he posted on his Web site which targets the IRS specifically, and we know that the IRS had 190 employees in the building that was struck by the plane. The IRS has not gotten back to us, and obviously, they are trying to account for all of their employees.

What we do know -- we don't know who else was in the building -- what we do know from the fire department who reported to us that two people are taken to the hospital. One unaccounted for so far, but of the seven-story building, they have finished searching three stories. And they have reported to us that the fire not extinguished just yet, but it is still burning.

This is very interesting, Rick, that they are saying that his letter is there.

SANCHEZ: Well, it is interesting that these two things came together. First, we had the report that you had with Jeanne Meserve saying they now officially can say not one or two, but many IRS offices here. We don't know if he had direct dealings in this building at one time or another, but we can confirm this: that he has had problematic dealings with the IRS, according to his own word in a letter we can confirm was left behind by him in a Web site that -- and we have confirmed this, administered by him. So, obviously, the whole thing comes down to serious issues.

VELSHI: Anything about family?

SANCHEZ: No, it says very little about family. In fact, I was taken aback by reading this, because we filed some original reports. Would you tell me, because I'm not sure -- I have been working this, and I don't want to -- well, what is the deal with the burning of the house and who was in that house?

VELSHI: Well, here's what we know. We don't know who was in the house. We know there was a house on fire in Austin, Texas that is owned -- and this is the house. This is the house on fire in Austin, Texas. Joseph Stack's house. And the plane, the Piper Cherokee PA 28 was Joseph Stack's plane. Authorities believe he was piloting that plane when it went into the building.

We will tell you a little bit about Joseph Stack right now. He studied engineering in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and he was a contract software engineer in the 1980s, as you know from the suicide note. He spent close to $5,000 of his money and 1,000 hours of his time writing to senators, Congressmen and others about taxes. He lived in southern California when what he calls the depression of the early 1990s hit, he lost his retirement savings for second time in 1990s and moved from California to Austin, Texas, and he could not find work...

SANCHEZ: That is what he writes here.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: ... which is a big software and technology center in the United States.

SANCHEZ: And I'll just take you to that point in the letter. He say, by this time, I'm thinking it might be good time for a change. Bye to California, I will try Austin for a while. Continue.

VELSHI: Well, it is chilling -- the end of his note, "Well, Mr. Big brother IRS man, let's try something different. Take my pound of flesh and sleep well."

SANCHEZ: Well, by the way, to note -- that is chilling the way he put the letter and maybe one part of the letter that is artful, that might be one. He says, "Here I am in a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income." Here I am in a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, "not to mention an expensive new asset, a piano which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought, I've decided that would be irresponsible not get professional help. A very big mistake.

VELSHI: Let's go to the mayor of Austin. Stay with us, Rick. Don't go anywhere. Lee Leffingwell is the mayor of Austin - Leffinger. He joins us right now on the phone. Lee Leffinger, you with us?

LEE LEFFINGWELL, MAYOR OF AUSTIN, TEXAS: Yes. It is Leffingwell.

VELSHI: Well, I got it right. Lee Leffingwell, tell us -- we saw you briefly giving a press conference, and this is coming together very quickly. A house on fire, a plane and a suicide note. What are you making of this now? How is this changing the way you are look at the situation?

LEFFINGWELL: Well, we are in the process of trying to confirm all of the details. I am standing in front of the building at the point, just a few feet away from the point of where the airplane impacted the building. You can still see it is a white airplane with blue markings, and you can see the engine laying down here on the road in front of the building.

The building, itself -- the fire by the way, is contained. There is a little bit of flames here and there and still some smoke, but it is definitely contained.

We are very fortunate in this. Our police, fire, and EMS folks did a great job. So far, two injured people have been transported to hospitals, and still have one person unaccounted for. We have no information, and we know it is a person who worked in the building, and we are trying to get some more information on that person right now.

VELSHI: Clarify something for me, Mayor. We heard the press conference and the fire department spokesperson saying that the search has been completed on three floors. This is a seven-story building, which means that four floors have not been checked yet.

LEFFINGWELL: Well, they will continue to search for the person unaccounted for in all of the areas that are not yet searched. I -- there may be other areas that haven't been named so far, but they will make sure to the extent that they can remain safe.

I mean, there is concern that the building at this point lacks structural integrity. So, we are going to make sure that the firefighters are safe, but to the extent that they can, they will continue to search this building and continue to work on totally putting out the fire.

VELSHI: When you say one person is unaccounted for, that means that no one else has reported that anyone else was supposed to be in the building that has not gotten out?

LEFFINGWELL: That is correct. Fortunately, no fatalities that we know of at this point...

VELSHI: Wow.

LEFFINGWELL: ... and few injuries and it is almost incredible as you look at the building...

VELSHI: Looking at the picture, sure.

LEFFINGWELL: ... and the crash site, it is phenomenal that nobody lost their lives, and to a great extent, I credit our public safety folks for getting out here and wrapping this situation up and containing it as fast as they did.

VELSHI: Rick -- Mayor, as Rick Sanchez and I look at the pictures, as all of our audience looks at the pictures of the damage to the building by this plane, it is -- it does seem miraculous.

SANCHEZ: Well, it seems to me, and Mayor, maybe you can straighten this out for us that this plane was packed full with fuel, right?

VELSHI: It has to be with that much of a fire.

SANCHEZ: It obviously -- in other words, a larger fuel capacity than most other single-engine planes and I'm not an expert, maybe perhaps you are, or the distance between the airport from where he took off and the place of impact was so short he had a full tank, correct?

LEFFINGWELL: Well, there is evidence that the plane's gas tank was just about full. I don't know what the capacity of the tank is, and probably something on the order of 40 to 60 gallons. But that amount of gasoline, when you spray it out over a large area, can do a lot of damage.

By the way, I am a former pilot. I was a Delta Airlines pilot for 31 years, so I have a little bit of familiarity for this.

VELSHI: And you are right, that Piper PA 28 seems to have a 50- gallon tank, a range of 660 miles, and he has probably flown -- 15 miles from the Georgetown Airport, where you are?

LEFFINGWELL: I think as the crow flies, that is a pretty good guess.

SANCHEZ: So, I would imagine, fellows, the more gas you have and the higher velocity at impact you are going, the bigger boom you will get?

VELSHI: More fuel on more stuff in that building, making it catch fire. And that does seem, Mayor, and I don't know what you think, but we have seen small planes crash into things. That seems like a bigger than normal fire than they create.

SANCHEZ: You're absolutely right.

LEFFINGWELL: Well, we have all levels of law enforcement in the city working on this if for no other reason, any plane crash involves federal officials. But we are all working cooperatively to get to the bottom of the details. These will come in throughout the day, and really the worst thing we can do at this point is to speculate about things that have not been absolutely confirmed.

VELSHI: All right. Mayor, great information from you, and that is why we wanted to talk to. Because you because you are bringing us information that you do have confirmed, and that will help us.

So, as you get more information, we will stay in touch with you and monitor what you are doing with the local media, so we know exactly what is going on, particularly, because our viewers want to know what are the greater implications of this. Mayor, you are saying, though, that your belief is that it is an isolated incident.

LEFFINGWELL: It is an isolated incident. There's -- the people of Austin, and the people of the nation are in no danger whatsoever. The incident is isolated and absolutely contained at this point. Everyone is safe, and we need to go now forward with the process of getting all of the details on exactly why it happened.

VELSHI: All right. We wish you well, mayor, and continue to stay in touch with you.

SANCHEZ: I should mention, Ali, because oftentimes after we do stories like this, people start to look for ideological bets on the part of the perps as we call them, the perpetrator in the case. And after reading that letter through and through, I can tell you unequivocally, that this fellow seemed to be as far against the right as he was against the left. He mentions George W. Bush by name. He mentions Obama policies by name. He mentions health care. He mentions Wall Street. He was really all over the map.

So, if anyone is to assert from this that he was on this side or the other side, as far as I can tell, he was against all sides.

VELSHI: All right. We will bring you up to speed on 30 seconds on everything that we know for fact with respect to this plane that has been crashed into a building in Austin, Texas. Who crashed it? Why he did it, who is hurt and what is happening and what happens next. Stay with us, you are watching CNN. We're covering this breaking news of a story in Austin, Texas.

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