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Flight Delays and Cancellations in Chicago; Charges Brought Against U.S. Beheading Suspect; Police Officer Shot in Ferguson; Gas Prices Dropping
Aired September 29, 2014 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye, sitting in today for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.
In Chicago, the FAA now warns it will take at least two weeks to get the fire damaged air traffic control center back to normal. Meantime, more than 3,600 flights have been delayed or cancelled at O'Hare and Midway Airport since Friday. Long lines of stranded travelers have been clogging the airport since an air traffic contractor allegedly set the fire before trying to commit suicide. And let's be clear, O'Hare is the world's second busiest airport. Delays and cancellations there create flight problems worldwide.
So, with that in mind, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin now asking for an investigation into whether there was a security breach when the suspect entered the control center building carrying a black suitcase.
So let's bring in CNN's Ted Rowlands, who is live for us at O'Hare, and CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo, who is joining us via Skype from Charleston, South Carolina.
Nice to see both of you.
Ted, to you first on this one. Two weeks before air travel in and out of Chicago is back to normal. Two weeks. Any improvement today?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is improvement, Randi. Midway's doing better than O'Hare. We've had about 300 flight cancellations so far this morning at O'Hare. Midway is running with some delays. The bottom line is, other communication centers in the region, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, they're shouldering the workload that was being done in that Aurora, Illinois, facility, which is out of commission, as you said, for two weeks. They're working on getting that back up. They brought in some equipment last night and are working 24/7. But it's going to be a while. The bottom line is, call before you fly because your flight might be one that gets cancelled.
KAYE: Yes, that is certainly some good advice these days.
Mary, police say that damage was done by a contractor who was recently told he was being reassigned to Hawaii. Senator Durbin, as I said, calling for better vetting of these contractors. What changes are needed, do you think?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, I think what they have to do is really look at who has access to critical facilities. Now, this was a contractor, so he did have a background check. But it's the air traffic controllers themselves that have a mental screening. And not an in-depth screening, just a, you know, sort of a well-being check.
And the other thing is, this contractor, this employee really understood kind of the lifeblood of the air traffic control system. There are 21 en route centers, so it should be easy to switch the traffic. And, remember, this was high altitude traffic that this center takes care of to other centers. But because they took out the communications equipment, which is what you need to do the switching automatically, controllers were left literally like the old days, handing off information written on scraps of paper and faxes. They had to fax information. So by taking out the communications, he really stymied the air traffic control system.
KAYE: And one disgruntled worker, Mary, crippling air travel worldwide. I mean so easily. Besides vetting, I guess, what else needs to be addressed here? I mean are you concerned at all the fact that he was able to just walk right in there with his black suitcase and didn't raise any red flags to anybody?
SCHIAVO: Well, absolutely. And people saw him and that didn't raise any red flags. And this will also raise red flags for the New Gen (ph) air traffic control system. That's the new system that is supposed to be seamless. It would make midair collisions a thing of the past, and ground collisions. But there's problems with the backup system. In the new system, what we really need and what we are supposed to have is three separate systems, one for running, one for maintenance and one for emergencies. The trouble is, and they know this is the problem, they don't communicate with each other and they don't communicate on real time. Senator Durbin will be looking at that too because he's very much aware of the problems with Next Gen (ph).
KAYE: So how do you make sure that something like this doesn't happen somewhere else?
SCHIAVO: Well, first of all, you have to make sure you have a system in place to evaluate your contract employees because, remember, the Federal Aviation Administration has a huge percentage of their employees are contract employees while the air -- most of the air traffic controllers are FAA employees. About 15,000 of them. We have contract towers and most of the people doing the work on the Next Gen air traffic control system aren't FAA employees, they're contractors, and that's who build -- who is building our new air traffic control system. So they need background checks too.
KAYE: And, Ted Rowlands, I know you're still with us, what are travelers telling you there?
ROWLANDS: Well, depends on which travelers you talk to, Randi. Some travelers who don't have cancelled flights are very happy and then the other ones, of course, are very upset. And over the weekend and even last Friday we were here when this first happened, we heard all the stories, people missing funerals, weddings, you know, very important things. Most people get it that it it's the airline's fault, it's not the airport's fault. It's just one of those things. But very frustrating for those folks that had their lives disrupted.
KAYE: Certainly. Ted Rowlands and Mary Schiavo, nice to see you both. Thank you.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
KAYE: Still to come, shock and disbelief for those who knew this man, after Alton Nolen is accused of beheading a former colleague. Today he will be formally charged by police and Deborah Feyerick has the details.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Randi, investigators right now investigating to determine whether, in fact, this attack was premeditated and, if so, whether the alleged killer may have been inspired by ISIS.
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KAYE: He stands accused of brutally beheading one former colleague and stabbing another. And, today, Alton Alexander Nolen is set to be charged with first degree murder by Moore, Oklahoma, police. Now a state trooper, who faced off with Nolen while trying to arrest him during a 2010 traffic stop is speaking out about their encounter and what she wishes she had done.
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LT. BETSY RANDOLPH, ENCOUNTERED BEHEADING SUSPECT IN 2010: I wish I'd have killed him, you know. I never -- I was never afraid of him or I would have.
My thoughts and prayers are with those victims and their families. I just -- I just can't help but think that -- I just wish things were different, that's all.
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KAYE: Nolen's mother is sending a message directly to the victims and insists this is not the son she raised.
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JOYCE NOLEN, MOTHER OF BEHEADING SUSPECT: I know what they're saying that he done, but I'm going to tell you this, that's not my son. There's two sides to every story and we're only hearing one. He is family. Our hearts bleed right now because what they saying Alton has done. I want to apologize to both families because this is not Alton.
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KAYE: CNN's Deborah Feyerick joins me now with more on this.
Such a disturbing story. So sad. DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really is. This
is an extraordinary case really of workplace violence. You have to keep in mind that this company is in mourning right now. They lost a valued friend and coworker. A 54-year-old woman who was beheaded. He walked in and allegedly just sort of attacked her with a knife, beheading her. Another coworker is recovering from wounds.
Meanwhile, investigators are really trying to question Alton Nolen. They want to know what inspired him. And if it was ISIS, then it will determine whether terrorism charges are filed.
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FEYERICK (voice-over): New details are emerging about the man accused of brutally beheading a female coworker at an Oklahoma food processing plant last week. People who knew him say they're stunned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was really just a normal person.
FEYERICK: Police say 30-year-old Alton Nolen is expected to be charged today with first degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon, allegedly going on a knifing spree inside his workplace at Vaughn (ph) Foods after being fired. An FBI probe into Nolen's background is underway. Police say he recently converted to Islam and tried to convert his coworkers. Members at his mosque described him as quiet.
SAAD MOHAMMED, ATTENDED SAME MOSQUE AS SUSPECT: You could tell that he was different from everyone else. But as far as violence, we never saw it coming.
FEYERICK: Nolen's knife spree was stopped when he was shot twice by Marv Vaughn (ph), the company's CEO, who's also a reserve deputy with the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office. Shots fired recorded in this 911 call.
CALLER: It sounds like he's running around out here.
DISPATCHER: OK.
CALLER: And that's -- that's a gunshot.
FEYERICK: Other disturbing details coming to light, a beheading posted on his FaceBook page under the alias Jakim Israel (ph). Officials have found no links to terrorism, but Oklahoma residents wonder if the attack could have been influenced by Muslim extremism.
JOYCE NOLEN, MOTHER OF BEHEADING SUSPECT: My son was raised up in a loving home.
FEYERICK: In this video, two women, who say they're relatives, come to his defense.
NOLEN: There's two sides to every story. And we're only hearing one.
FEYERICK: Oklahoma Police reveal Nolen has a lengthy rap sheet. In 2010, he got into a scuffle with a state trooper during a traffic stop. She made this chilling statement to CNN.
LT. BETSY RANDOLPH, ENCOUNTERED BEHEADING SUSPECT IN 2010: If there had been any way to know the things that he is alleged to have done a couple of days ago, I would have killed him when I had the opportunity.
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FEYERICK: And that same officer, Randi, says that Nolen was violent when she stopped him. That, in fact, he wrestled her to the ground, pushed her down, broke her finger and then he started running. And the real question was, is that, at that moment, she did have an opportunity to shoot him but she didn't because he was running away and she didn't want to shoot him in the back. So -- but she's really suffering from guilt right now knowing what he's accused of doing.
KAYE: Yes, thinking that, obviously, one person could have been alive and the other not injured.
FEYERICK: Exactly.
KAYE: Adding to this strange story is news that we're just getting in, this fired Oklahoma City nursing home worker also apparently threatening a beheading of a coworker?
FEYERICK: Yes, that's exactly right. And we just got the affidavit from the police department in Oklahoma City. What's amazing about this is, this was just a threat. He did not actually carry this out, but he walked into this nursing home and he asked one of his coworkers whether she was wearing what appeared to be a Jewish star and she said, no, she's not Jewish. And then he began talking to her. And he then said that he was going to kill her. That he was going to behead her. And she was very confused by this because it's not a coworker that she had any sort of joking relationship with. But he went into serious detail and he threatened to cut off her head. He said he was Muslim. He's part of the ISIS group that -- part of the terror group ISIS and this is what ISIS does, quote, "that is just what we do. We kill Christians."
KAYE: So it sounds like he was saying he represented ISIS in this case (ph).
FEYERICK: Well, that's exactly right. And that's the big difference here between, you know, Alton Nolen, who actually did this beheading, and this particular person. There's no indication right now on his FaceBook page, Alton Nolen's, that this was premeditated. That he was claiming ties to ISIS or claiming that this was going to be sort of this lone wolf act of terrorism. This other man, on the other hand, he did say, I am Muslim, I am part of ISIS, I am going to kill you, I'm going to behead you and then I'm going to post it on FaceBook. So it was different. And that's what investigators are trying to get their, you know, get their minds around, in fact, whether the alleged killer was, in fact, doing this because he was part of this terror group.
KAYE: Right.
FEYERICK: This other one had stated clearly, yes, that was his intent. The other one, it's still up in the air.
KAYE: Both so disturbing. Deb Feyerick, thank you so much.
FEYERICK: Of course.
KAYE: I'll be back in a moment.
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KAYE: Welcome back. Life remains uneasy in Ferguson, Missouri after the weekend shooting of a police officer there. The officer was shot in the arm while conducting a check of the town's community center on Saturday night. He has been released from the hospital, but the suspect is still at large. Police don't believe there's a connection between this incident and the Michael Brown shooting, which ignited weeks of protests the there. Hours after the Ferguson officer was shot Saturday night, gunmen fired at the car of an off-duty St. Louis County Police Officer. These acts of violence adding to tensions already taking place in Ferguson and making it hard for people to return to their normal lives.
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CHRISTINE, FERGUSON, MISSOURI RESIDENT: It's scary. It's tension- filled. You're trying very hard to be politically correct, whether when you're shopping at Aldi, even when you're going to church. You want to make sure that you're not offending someone. I think we both agree there are two sides to this story. Everybody wants justice. I just don't know what the definition of justice is for each person. So you're trying to be cognizant of other people's feelings, which then puts you on edge at all times.
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KAYE: CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Ferguson. Stephanie, how are things there today?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well today, Randi, it feels like Monday morning. It feels like people are out here going to work, going to school, going to places where they have some business to handle right now. That's the beauty maybe of a Monday morning. But obviously, the weekend did have a lot of flux. We did see these shootings. And it is interesting and worth pointing out again, that at this point, police do not think that these two incidents with these two police officers had anything to do with the protests. They were not here. And where we are is outside of the Ferguson police station, and this is where we have seen the protesters gathering in recent weeks.
So at this point, nothing saying that they're connecting these two incidents with the protests. But at the same time, though, it still goes to show you that the tensions running between the protestors here and the police still running very high, Randi.
KAYE: Stephanie Elam in Ferguson, thank you, Stephanie. And still to come on the program, gas prices are dropping, and they could even dip below $3 a gallon. Christine Romans is here with the details.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's an autumn gift. I'll tell you why it's happening and whether it will last, after the break.
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KAYE: Your eyes don't deceive you. The price of gasoline is falling across the U.S. from a high of about $3.70 at the end of June to about $3.30 in the past week and could dip below $3 a gallon in the very near future, according to gasbuddy.com. Two reasons, an increase in U.S. production of crude oil, and falling demand. Christine Romans here with more on this. Well this is good.
ROMANS: I know, it is. It's an autumn gift, sort of. It's been happening since June. These prices have been coming down. It's been so interesting when you look. I would say that gas prices are like a national temperature. There's not one national temperature. Just like there's not one national gas price. We can show you here, 17 states were already -- gas prices are below $3. You can find sub $3 gas in these places that are the green or that sort of -- what color would you call that?
KAYE: Orange and yellow, maybe?
ROMANS: And the orange or those - later this fall we're expecting the prices to fall down below $3 gas later this fall. So, Gas Buddy doesn't think that gas prices on average this year are going to be as low as they were in 2010, but you're going to be able to find some of those cheap prices heading into the fall and beyond.
KAYE: When you look at the summer months, I mean that's usually, you know, high travel season.
ROMANS: That's right.
KAYE: So are we really driving less or are cars maybe more fuel efficient?
ROMANS: Both. In the fall you travel less, less gas consumption in the fall because you're driving less, also the gas is cheaper because the refineries are making this easier to make winter and fall blends. Also, crude oil prices are so low. I mean, with all of the geopolitical uncertainty, you've got Ukraine and Russia, you've got Iraq and ISIS. Look what has happened with crude oil prices. The U.S. is pumping out crude 28-year high of crude production in the United States, so we're kind of insulating ourselves a little bit from the geopolitical issues.
KAYE: So watching all of those issues, a lot of people probably wonder how long this will stick around.
ROMANS: You know, a lot of the experts think it's going to stick around through the fall, into the winter, and into spring. But then they come back to the geopolitical risks. If you get a terrible storm season, for example, in the refinery area of the Gulf, that would be -- a big hurricane, that would be a problem. If something really terrible were to happen in the Middle East, a big spread of conflict in the Middle East, or between Ukraine and Russia, that could be a problem but so far these gas prices have just been trending lower and will probably trend lower through the winder.
KAYE: So get out and fill up.
ROMANS: And cross your fingers.
KAYE: There you go. Christine, nice to see you, thank you.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins after a very quick break.
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