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Delta Flight 1986 Slides Off Runway; New Video, Heart-wrenching Testimony in Boston Marathon Bombing Trial; Snow Strands Thousands of Cars in Kentucky; Michael Brown Family Taking Legal Action

Aired March 05, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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


ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Do they change very quickly, Mary? And at what point do you decide to halt air flights from landing?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (voice-over): Excellent question. The pilot that landed and reported the braking conditions as poor, that is highly significant, because the federal aviation administration recognizes four words -- you know, good, acceptable -- I forget the second word -- poor, and then nil, meaning none. So the pilot adequately reported and it's up to air traffic control, particularly if the pilots ask for that condition report, they give it. But the airport is responsible for two other things. The airport is responsible for doing what is called friction test and literally take out equipment approved by the FAA and see if they drive a van up and down the airport if they are getting friction which you have to have when your tires touch the runway and it is the airport, not the air traffic controller or the federal aviation administration, that makes the decision whether or not to close the airport and then the final piece of the puzzle is that mysterious tail wind. Did they land with a tail wind? And that would have fawn in with the pilot's decision making. Three factors here. Air traffic control, the airport, and the pilot, all pilots all come in to play in the decision to land.

CABRERA: Mary, thanks for breaking it down for us. And we will talk to you throughout the next hour and a half or so.

Chilling new video coming up capturing the chaotic moments after the Boston Marathon bombing. Also, powerful testimony today from survivors on the witness stand. A live report from day two of the Boston bombing trial testimony, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: More on our breaking news, the Delta Airlines jet that skidded off the runway today at LaGuardia in New York. Here is another look at the scene. You can see that airplane right up against the water. This is where it all ended for those 127 passengers and five crew members on board.

I want to get back out to LaGuardia Airport. And our Miguel Marquez is standing by.

I understand you have new information, Miguel? MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the Port Authority saying

that came 4,000 feet down that 7,000-foot runway, so halfway down. This is runway 13 that goes along Flushing Bay. So that plane must have been moving at a fairly fast rate of speed when it hit that embankment. Certainly, the pictures that New York police are tweeting certainly bear that out. You can see the undercarriage of that plane, the wheels, the front wheels completely ripped away from underneath the cockpit. The nose of that plane completely off and the cockpit itself, hanging out literally over the bay. The left wing, as that plane came violently around and into that embankment almost perpendicular was damaged. Fuel leaked from that plane. They were able to contain that. 24 injuries, two or three people transported to the hospital. But amazingly, nobody badly injured.

Now the airport here starting slowly to get back to normal. Flights starting to get back on the schedule here after 2:00 p.m., with the outbound flights only at the moment. Inbound still a problem because they probably won't be able to land planes until that MD-88 is off the tarmac -- Ana?

CABRERA: I'm wondering if you know any more about that fuel leak. You said it was contained but did fuel leak into the water there?

MARQUEZ: It did not, and that is part of the reason they have that embankment along that side of the airport to protect the bay. The pilot reported to the air traffic control immediately that he had a fuel leak off the left side. That is why you see everybody getting off that plane off of the right side. The fire engines were able to get out there very quickly and attack that side of the plane, the left side of the plane and try to contain that leak. They were able to do it. But as much as a thousand gallons may have leaked out. With all of the snow that has fallen, that may help absorb some of that fuel. It has topped snowing now but they will have to clean all of that up.

Pilots giving us a different take of the runways throughout the day. One pilot landed a smaller plane two hours before that Delta flight saying that it was very, very slick and not great conditions. A pilot who landed 15 minutes before saying it wasn't bad, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, and he was able to get traction and land. Obviously, Port Authority saying just minutes before pilots reporting that they were OK conditions. So rapidly changing conditions here throughout the day with the cold and the amount of snow -- Ana?

CABRERA: Miguel Marquez, you're doing a great job. Thanks.

We'll stay on top of this story.

But I want to take you to Boston. Emotional testimony in the Boston Marathon bombing trial and the witnesses' stories continue to grip the courtroom. We are hearing heart-wrenching depictions of that deadly day in 2013 from survivors.

Part of the evidence the jury saw included new video of the scene just released by the U.S. district attorney.

I need to warn you, the images we are about to show you are graphic. You can see the chaos, the sheer brutality of the bombing, blood and broken limbs strewn everywhere. There is a frantic effort to help those who are injured.

Now, there's video from inside a business located right there on the finish line. And when that bomb exploded, you see people racing into this clothing store for shelter. You can see people look panicked. The manager here grabbed clothes off the rack and used them as a tourniquet.

Also in court today, a Boston police officer describes how he had to perform CPR on one of the victims who did not make it, Crystal Campbell. Officer Frank Giola told the jury this: "She had a friend there calling out her name. She looked in shock. She was coughing. As I applied chest compressions, smoke was coming out of her mouth. She had to be in a lot of pain. I helped as best I could."

Survivors Jeff Bauman, seen in this iconic image of him being rescued by that man in a cowboy hat, took the stand. Bauman lost both of his legs. He said, quote, "I looked down and saw my legs and it was just pure carnage. I could see my bones and the flesh sticking out and I just went into tunnel vision. I thought this is really messed up."

CNN's Alexandra Field is joining us and has been following the day's testimony from inside the courtroom in Boston.

Very emotional moments, Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Ana, the images themselves are so difficult to look at, so hard to see, so graphic. But to hear the stories of the survivors on this day, it truly is an unbelievable experience to sit and to listen to these survivors speaking their own words about what happened.

We heard today from another Boston police officer who rushed to the side of Lindsey Liu, who saw what bad shape the woman was in outside of the restaurant. She said she stayed with her even after EMTs said Liu's life couldn't be saved. This officer stayed by her side and she was later able to tell Liu's parents their daughter did not die alone.

We heard from another women, Rosanne Stoia (ph), who was inside the forum. She came out before that second blast and she talks about believing she is going to bleed out on the street. She says she gave police officers her sister's phone number because she didn't want them to call her parents and tell them that their daughter had died.

We heard from Allen Hern (ph), who was there with his two young children. He talks about his son, so badly injured, so covered in soot that he would not have recognized him had he not been his father. He talks about the gun powder in the air that he sensed and he said that it was like being under water.

Ana, we also heard from over Jeffrey Bauman. You saw his image around the world where he is helped by the man wearing the cowboy hat. Today, we heard about the role he played in helping investigators. He said that when he was at the marathon before those blasts went off, he noticed someone who didn't seem to fit in. That man, later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He said this man was acting oddly and wasn't having fun and wasn't enjoying himself like the rest of the crowd. He stuck out in that dark hat pulled down low, a black jacket and a black bag. When Jeffrey Bauman woke up in the hospital, he didn't have either of his legs but he remembered something and he scribbled a note to a friend saying he knew what happened. Soon, investigators were there and he is one of the first victims to help them piece this together and to give them that really key description that led them to identify Tamerlan Tsarnaev in some of those surveillance pictures that they released in the after-math of the bombing -- Ana?

CABRERA: Incredible.

Alexandra Field, thank you.

Coming up in our next hour, we are going to actually hear from one of the survivors who testified in the last couple of days, and a letter that she wrote to the suspect in her own words. It's an incredible, very powerful letter. We will read that to you coming up, again, so stay with us.

Up next, just a day after the Justice Department cleared Officer Darren Wilson of civil rights charges, today, the family of Michael Brown is announcing plans to take legal action of their own.

Plus, much more on our breaking news, a plane that went off the runway at New York agency LaGuardia Airport. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Back to our breaking news. The winter weather creating havoc in huge swaths of the nation, and perhaps no one feeling the pain than those stranded drivers in Kentucky. Look at this video. Hundreds of drivers are stuck right now on Kentucky's Interstate 65. This road shut down from Elizabethtown to Louisville. One woman was stuck in her car more than 12 hours. And Martin Savidge telling us about people stuck 18 hours in their vehicles.

Joining me now on the phone, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear.

Governor, thank you so much for spending some time with us.

I know it's got to be chaotic in your world right now but what is being done first and foremost to help those stranded drivers?

GOV. STEVE BESHEAR, D-KENTUCKY (via telephone): Well, as you know, we have had anywhere from two to 22 inches of snow in a 12-hour period all across Kentucky. And it has created, obviously, some big issues in relationship to traffic. And that is the main issue right now, is just getting our roads cleared. The problems we have had on I-65 and, to some extent, I-24, are a result of the snow, the ice, and then the topography, the hills, you know, that have created situations where semi trucks and cars get stuck and then they block all of the lanes and then the traffic starts backing up.

We are clearing those situations slowly, and I say slowly because one of the big problems is getting our equipment through all of that traffic and to clear a lane. We have finally cleared some emergency lanes on the sides of the roads and the traffic now northbound on I-65 is beginning to move slowly and to clear out. It will take several hours to clear it out, because it's backed up so much. But it is moving again, thank goodness.

CABRERA: Did this winter weather catch you guys off guard?

BESHEAR: No, not at all. We knew it was coming and we did everything we could in advance, like, all states do in these circumstances. But when you end up with these bottlenecks and the traffic snarls to where your equipment can't get through, then it slows down the recovery efforts.

CABRERA: Are you hearing of any injuries at this point related to the weather and those drivers stuck in the snow?

BESHEAR: We haven't had any reports of fatalities and not any significant injuries that we know of. And we do have the National Guard, the state police, the transportation cabinet all assisting these motorists. We have people out there with water, with extra gasoline, if needed, because we don't want folks to be sitting there and run out of fuel and be stuck there for even a longer period of time. So, fortunately, things are moving again, although very slowly, and I think we will be able in the next few hours to clear that out.

CABRERA: We can all hope.

Governor, thank you so much for joining us. And good luck to you and the state of Kentucky.

BESHEAR: Thanks very much.

CABRERA: Let's switch gears here. He avoided local, the federal criminal charges, but it looks like former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson will still be headed to court. Lawyers for the parents of Michael Brown, the teen shot and killed by Darren Wilson in August, announced today they are planning to sue, at minimum, Wilson and the city of Ferguson. Attorneys for Michael Brown's family say they simply rejected the just released Justice Department's report that cleared Wilson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARYL PARKS, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL BROWN FAMILY: The issue, we have not accepted their decision. They have offered and accepted his self- defense, but we do not accept his self-defense.

ANTHONY GRAY, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL BROWN FAMILY: We always felt from the very beginning that Officer Darren Wilson did not have to shoot and kill Mike Brown Jr in broad daylight in the manner that he did, that he had other options available to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Now, while they rejected that one report, Michael Brown's family fully accepted and embraced the other report from the Justice Department that they released. That one is, of course, is about the Ferguson Police Department. And Eric Holder, attorney general, describing the findings as, quote, searing." His investigators found that Ferguson's force not just racially discriminated against African- Americans, but actually police, not to protect, but to profit. The report says officers would use tickets, code violations and late fees to generate hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars for the city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: According to our investigation, this emphasis on the revenue generation through policing has fostered unconstitutional practices or practices that contribute to constitutional violations at nearly every level of Ferguson's law enforcement system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: With me now is CNN legal analyst, Danny Cevallos; and social media activist and author of "100," Shaun King.

Shaun, let's start with you.

You've been covering Ferguson since Michael Brown's killing in August. I've seen a lot of your tweets and you've been a huge critic of the police department there and city officials. Do you think people in Ferguson knew police were trying to make money off of them or do they just think they were being discriminated and oppressed?

SHAUN KING, SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVIST & AUTHOR: Of course, they knew, and they were experiencing it just regularly. And it was a frustration that they had been trying to communicate. The challenge is when you live in a city or a state or country that you feel like doesn't really hear or care about your concerns, it really took this DOJ report for people to take the complaints that citizens had been stating for months and years to take them seriously.

CABRERA: Do you take the Department of Justice's report about Darren Wilson seriously?

KING: No. I mean, I looked at it and I understand it, but I really see Darren Wilson, even in the Ferguson report -- when the Ferguson report describes a pattern and practice of discrimination, Darren Wilson and even his behavior toward Mike Brown and others, really, to me, fits that category. He even -- his initial interaction with Mike Brown was to harass him for walking in the street. Which we see in the Ferguson report, over 95 percent of the people cited in Ferguson for jaywalking were African-Americans. Basically, it's impossible to be white in Ferguson and cited for jaywalking. That was his initial interaction with Mike Brown and Dorian Johnson was to cite them for something that so minor and negligible for everybody else. So even though they couldn't quite prove that he didn't fear for his life, the fact of the matter is it's almost impossible the way the law is now to say whether or not any officer fears for their life. They can always say that. CABRERA: Danny, the family, we just announced -- they made the

announcement today that they are going to sue, they are going to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Do you think that their case in civil court has a better chance versus these criminal cases?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Strategically, what the family is likely doing, they waited for this report to come out because, hopefully, the DOJ would do some of their discovery for them and either help their case -- and most likely help it. It's not likely to hurt them, except the fact that they are free to file this suit independently and they use all of that investigation, even though the DOJ concluded they reached a result that the family isn't happy with, that doesn't preclude them from filing. Although it may be damaging down the road if some of that comes into evidence at trial. It doesn't foreclose the opportunity for a lawsuit but it definitely isn't helpful.

The thing I think people should be focusing on is this report and the indictment against the Ferguson Police Department. Not so much -- definitely, because 95 percent of people jaywalking happen to go African-American. That is problematic. But this also addresses another real problem in municipalities and that is creating an incentive for police to enforce things like parking fines. Instead of actually getting a bank robber, they are sitting in a speed trap, and as many citizens now feel, being used as piggy banks. When that happens, it's important to understand that when you raise the incentive for police to make initial stops, that means anything can turn into a police encounter. And even the most innocent beginning of an encounter could potentially escalate. That is something equally as important in this report.

CABRERA: A great point, Danny.

Shaun, to you for the last word here. If it weren't for Michael Brown's death, the Department of Justice may not have investigated anything. We may not have learned about all of the racism and the discrimination and the true oppression that was happening there.

KING: Sure, yeah. Mike Brown, we hope we can say he didn't die in vain because all of the activists and protests, not just in Ferguson but that happened across the country, the cause of his death is what has shed so much light and attention on this.

I guess my final concern is just I don't know how we expect the Ferguson Police Department to respond themselves, regarding a report about their own racism, and so someone else needs to intervene and the department really should be disbanded at this point.

CABRERA: Shaun King, Danny Cevallos, thanks to both of you.

Up next, more on the breaking news. A plane skids off the runway at LaGuardia and comes dangerously close to the water. You can see it in these pictures. Look how close it is pictures. We are live at the airport. We're also getting word of a minor fuel spill. And we'll be back with much more after the break.

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