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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Mom OD`s With Baby in Car; Gov. Pence Plane Slides Off NY Runway
Aired October 27, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST: Smack, junk, dope, big H, black tar -- heroin has so many different street names, but whatever you call it, heroin is causing
hellish scenes across this country every day.
Is this tragic photo the new normal? A young mother OD`s on heroin behind the wheel of a car, syringe still in hand, baby boy crying in the back
seat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Please wake up!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It`s heroin rearing its ugly truth across America. But can we fight back?
Dozens of young women are emerging from the shadows after a frat brother is accused of a string of violent sexual assaults against University of
Wisconsin co-eds. Now police have his sinister journal that details sex fantasies, killing, and actually names names. Is it the smoking gun?
And close to a dozen women have accused Donald Trump of unwanted sexual advances. Trump says they`re all liars and he`s threatening to sue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Total fabrication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So why hasn`t he followed through on his threats, especially since he`s sued hundreds and hundreds of people before?
Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
We`re on top of some breaking news in that nationwide manhunt for Michael Vance, Jr. New tonight, one of Vance`s former bosses says that he fears
he`s one of the people on the accused killer`s hit list. Here`s what Luke Reeve`s told HLN affiliate KOCO why he believes that`s the case. Reeve
said they were close. They were close friends. But when his fiancee`s 13- year-old sister reported that Vance touched her during a sleepover, he says that enough. He called the police.
Vance did not end up being charged in that incident, but Reeve said Vance vandalized his property, sprayed orange graffiti all over his car in
retaliation. And now he says his family is in protective custody because U.S. Marshals feared they might just be a target.
Vance is accused of shooting six people, including two people who he shot dead and tried to butcher. Two police officers, as well, were shot in
Oklahoma. He`s been on the run ever since. He shot two civilians, too. And he posted much of this on Facebook Live after the shooting. Take a
listen to what these witnesses saw during that shootout between Vance and the officers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thank God for Wellston PD and them two officers. If it wasn`t for them, I think we all would probably be dead. It was just
back and forth, back and forth, aiming and shooting at everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two bullet holes, that`s going to be an AK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Intense. It`s like being in a small war without a gun. That`s no good. I got bullets coming behind me and bullets coming at me
because he`s over here, the cops are behind me, so I had to -- like a snake and get on out from (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: I want to bring in Scott Mitchell, the host of "Mitchell Talks." He`s covering this story in Oklahoma City. Scott, the sheriff there says
there`s not necessarily a written hit list, but they know of it somehow. But do we know if there are other targets besides this potential former
boss?
SCOTT MITCHELL, "MITCHELL TALKS" (via telephone): Ashleigh, we can assume the answer is yes. Apparently, he had a number of folks, it`s been
reported, that he was after, and it appears that they`re taking these threats very seriously, law enforcement is.
BANFIELD: Well, the funeral for the two people who were murdered, the aunt and uncle of this fugitive -- that`s tomorrow. So you can only expect his
(INAUDIBLE) family members who expected to be there. What are they doing to protect all those other family members?
MITCHELL: Well, lots of precautions. First, Luther schools have been dismissed for the day. So that makes it easier for them to guard the place
where they`re going to have their funerals, called the Luther auditorium. So there will be family members there. But we can assume -- and we also
have sources who say the police presence in Luther tomorrow will be massive.
BANFIELD: And what about this notion that, you know, while he was on the run, he spoke about being shot and bleeding, and now we`re hearing from the
police that he was shot twice. Do they think he is able to survive those bullets?
MITCHELL: Well, that`s the question everybody wants to know. Sources tell me there were two gunshot wounds to his shoulder. Now, you talk about four
days. If he`s not received assistance, medical assistance, infection could set in. He could be bleeding badly. We just don`t know. It`s safe to
assume that he`s in a bad situation medically, if he`s still alive.
[20:05:02]BANFIELD: Scott Mitchell, we`re going to keep on this story. You report back to us the minute you hear anything new. The tipline`s up
on the screen.
This is a dangerous man. I`ll remind you again, if you see him, he`s considered armed and dangerous, very dangerous. The police say stay away,
don`t get near him, may be armed with an AK, and he has shown he is prepared to use it.
Got another story for you tonight, heroin. This is a drug that is virtually haunting America. The latest very public and disturbing example
tonight is coming from the ironically named town of Hope, Indiana, population 2,100, and this is one of them.
In this photo just released by police, 25-year-old Erica Hurt (ph) -- there she is -- just a few weeks out of rehab, there in her hand the syringe as
she is slumped behind the wheel of her car. What you`re not seeing is what`s in the back seat. Her baby is crying. Her 10-month-old baby boy is
crying while she`s still gripping the syringe, out of it.
Erica`s own mother put the tragedy into perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heroin is the devil. It is the devil. Yes, heroin addicts, including my daughter -- they choose to take that first hit. But
then that drug takes their soul.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Heroin is the devil. Police say they released this photo not to embarrass, not to humiliate, but as a wakeup call, a tough-love public
service announcement aimed at stopping this epidemic.
But it is certainly something we have seen all too often. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Ohio, this picture going viral and highlighting the dangers of addiction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s an epidemic. It`s everywhere. We got people that are dying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A couple sprawled out along the sidewalk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They say that they are breathing, possible overdose.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wife and husband were high on heroin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meaning my mom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On drugs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe my son`ll think about this, see what it did to his family, see what it did to his mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Screaming, the 2-year-old is seen tugging at her mother`s limp body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It is necessary to take a closer look at this, especially this latest case from Indiana and the ballooning heroin problem nationwide.
Ray Caputo is a reporter for News 96.5 WDBO radio. Ray, thanks for being with us. What do you know about the baby in the back of that car? How
long was the child in the car with the mother in that condition?
RAY CAPUTO, WDBO (via telephone): Well, the good news, Ashleigh, is that it wasn`t a very hot day. It was actually a crisp fall day. So it was in
the upper 50s. The child was in the car for probably about a half an hour, at least. We know it took some time before -- when paramedics and police
actually arrived on the scene to actually get Hurt to come to. They had to give her two doses of Narcan. So that child was in the car most of this
time, and the kid had to be traumatized. I mean, could you imagine?
BANFIELD: Ten months old, still in a carseat, I`m assuming, at 10 months old. Where is that baby right now?
CAPUTO: The baby`s in the care of the young woman`s mother. In fact, she was on the scene pretty quickly, and we heard some video from her. She`s
not too happy about this. But she is defending her daughter in the sense that she says that her picture shouldn`t have been posted all over social
media, and she`s a little upset about that. But the child is doing OK and the child in the care of his grandmother.
BANFIELD: Yes, I just saw a mugshot of Erica Hurt. That`s the kind of thing that`s public record. But when it comes to Erica, is she behind bars
right now? What`s her status? Where is she?
CAPUTO: She`s behind bars. She was on probation when this happened, for forgery. So when she got caught, you know, in this predicament, she was
taken in for a probation violation, but she`s also been additionally charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, and of course, child
neglect.
BANFIELD: I want to hold that thought for a minute. Brad Lamm is an addiction specialist and himself a former heroin user. Brad, it`s great
that you`re here because there are a lot of questions. When we see that Erica Hurt was just a couple of weeks out of rehab, had her baby in the
back seat of the car and just needed a fix, no matter what -- she`s behind the wheel, she has a baby and she still had to have that fix.
Can you explain this to me?
BRAD LAMM, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Well, here`s something that a lot of people don`t understand, Ashleigh. So there are more than two million
Americans that are addicted to opiates right now. And people often confuse detoxing with treatment. People will say, Oh, my daughter has been through
treatment five or six times, when in fact, they`ve just been through detox.
So it`s really important to even educate yourself about the loved one you have that`s addicted. What have they really been going through because
long-term treatment does work, but just detoxing off the drug will likely send you right back into the drug because your body has not only a physical
craving for it but a psychological (INAUDIBLE) mental craving for it.
[20:10:14]BANFIELD: That`s the addiction part of it, and it is a vise. I get it. Heroin is like a vise that seizes your entire soul and your
physical body. But the question I have...
LAMM: "Vise" makes it sound like -- yes.
BANFIELD: I mean, like a vise, I mean like a gripping vise. I don`t mean like a bad habit vice, I mean like a vise that grips you.
LAMM: (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: And here`s the question. Look, I`m of a certain age, and when I was young, heroin was a bad word. It was for street urchins who were dying
in the gutter in New York or the scene (ph) of a Hollywood and (INAUDIBLE) movie. But for younger people today, it doesn`t seem like it`s such a bad
word. Why is that?
LAMM: (INAUDIBLE) it`s a couple things. Their parents were using it like it was going out of style, and doctors were giving it to them willy-nilly.
And so not only did a lot of us get a taste of it, which we wouldn`t have normally had when we were 20 years younger, but then we got -- we got a --
we took to it, right? And so we became addicted to it.
So a lot of the people that are taking opiates (INAUDIBLE) today are actually using synthetic opiates (INAUDIBLE) It`s not the heroin that you
and I grew up with in terms of the -- that people knew about Vietnam vets coming back were addicted to Asian black tar heroin. It is not that
heroin. That`s not what we`re talking about. It`s a stronger, more addictive substance. (INAUDIBLE) also (INAUDIBLE) myth that their loved
one has to hit bottom. And for many people, they hit bottom and they die.
BANFIELD: So Brad, your Skype line is a little bit shaky, but I think one of the words that dropped out that our audience absolutely needs to know is
you were talking about opiates. And I think the pill, you know, epidemic, as well, where people get hooked on the pills.
They`re very expensive. We have a graphic that shows the cost of some of these drugs. And I want to put it up there so people know why maybe heroin
is so alluring because it`s as little as 5 bucks for a hit. What you`re seeing there is not a lie (ph). As little as $5 to get high on heroin,
compared to $45 for a gram of coke, 20 bucks for an Oxycontin, roughly 10 bucks for a gram of weed. And these are all estimated prices, but that
should give people a rough estimate of why perhaps heroin is getting so much popular.
And there`s something else, Brad, I want to show our viewers because if you don`t think this is a deterrent, if you see the faces of drugs and what 10
years can do to someone who is abusing heroin -- this is the kind of thing you would think -- Amy at 35 years old, looks like she did in 2013, and
look at her 10 years prior at the beginning of that string (ph). That is what happens with just 10 years of drug addiction.
And there are strings (ph) and strings of people just like this. Here`s Herbie, who goes from 1998 to 2014, aging what looks like about 30 years.
And these are the -- and look at the injuries on his face all the way through in the mugshot. These are the kinds of things you would think
would be deterrents, and they`re not.
And Brad, if I still have you, if you can hear me, you would think a 10- month-old baby in your back seat is a lot more of a deterrent than the faces of drugs.
LAMM: It`s not a deterrent because opiates (INAUDIBLE) Kryptonite. And no matter what (INAUDIBLE) in your life, if you`re hooked on an opiate, you
will forget about it, the baby in the back of the seat, whatever it is that`s important because that drug takes (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: I want to update our viewers on some stories that we`re breaking right now on tracking justice here on PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
In California, a woman is suing a long-time doctor for USA Gymnastics for sexual assault. The gymnast, who isn`t named in the civil suit, is
claiming that coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi -- famous coaches -- turned a blind eye to Dr. Larry Nassar`s abuse. It is the second suit filed since
September. USA Gymnastics is denying the allegations.
In Nebraska, a former doctor could get the death penalty after a jury found him guilty of stabbing four people to death in two separate incidents five
years apart! Among Anthony Garcia`s alleged victims, an 11-year-old boy. Prosecutors say Garcia testified -- or targeted the families of two
professors at Creighton University, one who had fired him, another who kept him out of the medical school`s residency program.
And across the U.S., that heroin epidemic we`re talking about seemingly getting worse by the day. What this drug can do to you, what it can make
people do, as others simply roll tape on their tragedy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:50]BANFIELD: Coming at you live, I`m taking you to pictures right now, LaGuardia airport in New York. And this news is breaking at this
moment. Bear with me as we get these pictures in live, first responders on the tarmac because vice presidential candidate Mike Pence`s airplane has
skidded off the runway.
And when I say off the runway, right off the runway. You can see it there in the background, I think. It is in the grass. This plane was coming in
from a campaign stop in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, bound for New York City.
You can see how wet that runway is. You can what the weather looks like. This rough weather caused serious problems, a full ground stop at LaGuardia
airport right now. First responders already getting Mike Pence off of his plane. He is safe. He is not injured. I`m happy to say no one else on
that airplane was injured, either.
But I can tell you this, because there were a lot of reporters on board when it landed. That was what they called a very rough landing. As they
were coming in from Ft. Dodge, there was a delay because of weather, and the problem was that plane started to skid and it started to swerve. And
they could feel it on board, and it went right off the runway, as I said, right into the grass.
[20:20:02]The rescue crews were there very quickly. And if you can -- look, if you can get through something like that without the jitters, power
to you. Mike Pence did. Apparently, he was already shaking hands and thanking these first responders who got to New York City to the LaGuardia
airport grounds extremely quickly and got everybody off that plane and into a safer place. Full ground stop at one of the busiest airports, certainly
one of -- one of top airports in New York City, if you`ve been to LaGuardia, it is a constant -- let`s listen to this. This is new video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) 805-9937 (ph). Can you hear me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Wow, look at the number of responders out there on the runway, on the tarmac. It`s hard to tell where the runway starts and stops, where
the grass begins, as well. And don`t forget there`s water. Oftentimes, this is one of the most dangerous airports to land at. Pilots will tell
you this is not for JV pilots. Landing at LaGuardia is one of the most difficult landings in America because much of the runways upon approach are
surrounded by water on either side. So sliding off the runway, if you end up in grass, is a very lucky thing.
I`m just watching this video along with you, ladies and gentlemen. We`re getting it into us raw. This might be some of the campaign folks actually
as they were coming off the plane everyone tonight. They`re all off now. Everyone`s safe. Everyone`s OK. Mike Pence, the vice presidential
candidate, also safe and in good spirits, shaking hands with those first responders.
I can also tell you this, that Stephanie Grisham, who`s a campaign spokesperson, said that Donald Trump -- his running mate, Mike Pence`s
running mate -- has already contacted, saying Mr. Trump did reach out to Governor Pence and is very glad that everyone on board the plane is safe.
But full ground stop, bad weather, bad situation that could have been much, much worse. But that`s breaking news. We`re back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:26:10]BANFIELD: We`re continuing to update breaking news. If you`re just joining us, Mike Pence, the vice presidential nominee, the Republican
ticket with Donald Trump, had a very frightening landing in New York City. This is just from moments ago. Mike Pence`s plane skidded off the runway
at LaGuardia airport.
You`re seeing the first responders in some raw video that`s been fed in to us. And what you`re seeing, basically, in the backdrop is his campaign
plane skidding right off the runway and landing in the grass.
Here they are, sort of up on the jetway that was rolled up to the plane. They were able to get everybody off through the back of the plane.
Everyone was evacuated safely. See that? They were able to get everybody to that jetway off the back of the plane. Mike Pence is OK. Everyone else
on the plane is OK.
Here`s a quote from CNN`s Elizabeth Landers, who was riding in that plane. She`s part of the press corps. "We could feel the plane moving, and it was
just not a natural landing that you experienced."
You can see by the wet runway, the weather is awful in New York City right now. In fact, it`s a full ground stop right now at LaGuardia because of
this accident, a full ground stop. And that wet weather actually had caused a delay for Mike Pence to land. He was coming in from Ft. Dodge,
Iowa, presumably a campaign stop there. He was headed into New York City.
Donald Trump, for his part, did reach out already to Mike Pence. And a campaign spokesperson said -- he said that he reached out to Governor Pence
and he`s very glad everyone on board the plane is safe.
The FAA is already acutely aware of everything that`s happened, despite the fact this is breaking as we`re telling this to you. Much of this video
hasn`t even been edited, so bear with us with the jittery, raw video. But this is the best we can feed you right now. The FAA confirming right now
that this incident is fully under investigation.
Captain David Funk is a retired airline captain. He`s an aviation expert. He`s with me now, live.
Captain Funk, this is not something you typically see in a campaign, a high-profile campaign plane with a high-profile passenger like Mike Pence
going through some like this.
LaGuardia is a dangerous landing. This is what I hear from your folks all the time. But read into me here what you`re seeing on your screen.
CAPT. DAVID FUNK, RETIRED AIRLINE CAPTAIN (via telephone): Well, I`m not - - I`m not able to see it right now. But typically, what happens when you land in a rainstorm is your braking action is not as good. So if you get
rushed by air traffic control and you have to land a little hot, you might have too much energy to dissipate properly.
So that typically leads to what happened -- what we see here, which is the aircraft off the runway. You know, strong crosswinds, slippery conditions.
Think about it, it`s the end of the summer. We`ve had a lot of landings. It`s been pretty dry in New York the last few weeks. There`s a lot of
rubber built up on the runway, so it`s a very slipper situation. These things happen all the time, just happened to happen to some -- you know,
this time with a very high-profile person on the airplane.
BANFIELD: You know, Captain Funk, it wasn`t long ago, about a year-and-a- half ago, I was doing a report almost exactly like this. Earlier in the day, about 11:00 AM at LaGuardia, water in the background, Delta flight
1086, an MD-88, skidding off the runway.
And Captain Funk, that aircraft was half off the runway, hanging over partial water. I mean, this is a very dangerous runway to come in there.
FUNK: Well, it`s -- it meets the minimums. And you know, the old joke in the aviation basically is if the minimum wasn`t good enough, it wouldn`t be
the minimum. But we`d all like more runway at LaGuardia. Unfortunately, they`re somewhat geographically limited. You got two 7,000-foot-long
runways. Every transport category of jet, airline pilot will tell you (INAUDIBLE) 9,000 feet. But it is what it is. And until the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey is willing to extend those runways, you know, these things are a possibility on a regular basis.
BANFIELD: Two of these in a year and a half. Mike pence and everyone riding on that plane in the background. They are very lucky that they ended up in
grass, that the plane ended up in grass. Because there is -- island at that runway all the time. I`m always nervous about it. Water from the very
moment you almost feel those wheels touchdown, you see water underneath you, water on either side. Captain Funk, stay tune for one second.
Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst knows a thing or two about this kind thing because she is a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of
Transportation. Mary, you and I had a lot of conversations about things like this. And I think you and I talked about the incident at LaGuardia a
year and a half ago as well. Give me your thoughts about Mike Pence`s incident tonight.
MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: We`re very glad that nobody is hurt. I`ve actually worked a
number of these accidents, these runway incidents where not everybody.
BANFIELD: Mary, let me interrupt you. We have new video, people can see the vice presidential candidate right there on the tarmac. I only interrupt
you, because we were told he was shaking hands of first responders. We now have the video to prove it. He is uninjured. You can see him in the middle
of your screen thanking those who rushed to the scene. I wanted to draw our audiences` attention to Mike Pence in the middle of the screen. But go
ahead.
SCHIAVO: That`s actually a very important shot, because we you can see how incredible the weather is. There`s just so much rain coming down, when I
worked these accidents in the past, often what we find is at a particular time when the plane is landing, there`s an awful lot of water on the
runway.
I worked one in Little Rock, Arkansas where when it came down, the pilots in that case did not put on the spoilers and did not deploy all the
equipment they had to slow the plane. But there`s no indication of that here. There might be a problem of unequal application.
It looked in one shot, for example, like perhaps one of the thruster reverses wasn`t deployed to the same extent as the other. Who knows? There
could be a plane malfunction. I`ve had cases where the plane comes down and there`s just so much water on the runway, just like your car when it
hydroplanes, the plane wheel can`t get braking action and what happens then is literally it`s hydroplaning just like a car.
BANFIELD: Mary, a couple of things I just want to update our audience watching this video. Mike Pence is there in the middle of many of the first
responders and others who were rescued at the back of that 737. We`re now learning from CBS that -- there is a campaign reporter on the plane from
CBS who said that the Fire Department in New York said that the 737 actually went through a fence, as well. So not only skidding off the
runway, but going through a fence, as well.
And that Mike Pence, what a guy, checked on everyone in the press to make sure that they were all okay. We`ve all ridden on these campaign planes.
Typically the press rides in a very sort of compacted area in the back. It`s like coach on steroids. And then the candidate and his campaign staff
ride up front. So Pence coming out to check on everybody as everyone`s out back is a pretty big deal. Everybody is okay. That`s a great thing to
report. There`s Pence thanking the first responders who got there. Real quickly, as well. He`s apparently en route to the hotel.
These pictures were shot just moments ago before he left the tarmac, uninjured, thank God, on his way back to his hotel. His event is canceled.
I think that is safe to say. Doesn`t look like he has a case of the jitters. Who would want to do a campaign event having just gone through
that with water on all sides as you land at LaGuardia Airport. But apparently, he`s going to be back on track for the campaign tomorrow. Wow,
I would probably want to crawl into the sheets and have ice cream all day if that happened to me.
But a lot of great folks coming off that plane and dealing with that as well. Mary Schiavo says, look at all the water and rain, that makes it
dangerous. Mary, if you`re still with me, I see water and rain and snow all the time. Please help me understand why is it that it doesn`t seem
dangerous when I`m landing or taking off in a plane and tonight it is?
SCHIAVO: Well, because sometimes there`s just so much water on the runway that the plane, just like your car, can`t get braking action. There are a
couple of things on the plane that help. There are flaps like speed flaps on the wings that help slow it down and of course you have the thruster
boosters and then you got the brakes on the plane.
And here from the description, it sounds just like in you car, the pilots applied, in addition to the other braking equipment, they applied the
brakes then might have taken them off because they were getting this hydroplane action, and the tires literally, it don`t look like a scrubbing
action on the runway.
You see white streaks sometimes when you investigate these accidents and it just literally cannot get traction. But many airports have safety equipment
at the ends of the runway. They`re called a rester bed. They`re like cubes made out of hollow cement. When the plane goes on them, the wheels crush
down in them and so the plane doesn`t go into flushing bay.
BANFIELD: Vice presidential candidate Mike Pence, safe and sound tonight, off of his plane through the back with the rest of the press corps and his
campaign staff after sliding off the runway at LaGuardia. Mary Schiavo, you are fantastic in terms of your on the spot analysis of this thing. We are
happy to say that Mike Pence is okay.
There`s the proof right there, shaking hands with the first responders who got there. Full ground stop. If you`re expecting anybody in from LaGuardia,
don`t hold your breath. We don`t know when that airport gonna be reopened, when operations are gonna be, you know, fully restored. But right now,
LaGuardia is currently closed until further notice. Mike Pence probably could use a big, stiff drink right about now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We are following breaking news at LaGuardia airport. Look at the video on your screen. It is still raw because we`re still trying to get all
the details in from LaGuardia Airport. One of the runways there where vice presidential candidate Mike Pence`s charter campaign plane had a very rough
landing. So rough, in fact, it skidded right off the runway and came to a rest through a fence on the grass.
There is the candidate right there, shaking hands and thanking the first responders who came out and evaced everybody on that plane out the back
entrance through a jet way. They scramble to the back of that plane. 37 people, according to the Daily News, were on board. Eight crew members as
well on board that 737.
I can also report to you tonight that Mike Pence`s wife, Karen, was also accompanying the governor as he flew into New York for a private fund-
raising event, which, understandably, has been canceled tonight. With a scene like that and the number of emergency responders on LaGuardia
airport`s tarmac, water I`ll remind you on either side of many of those runways, we can understand why that event has been canceled.
But we are hearing that he`s still on track to do his campaign stops tomorrow, Pennsylvania tomorrow morning, North Carolina tomorrow night.
Here`s my guess, they`re going the use another plane. I can tell you this as well. There was some reporting from inside the plane, Newsday is saying
that the pilot had to slam on those brakes, that it was very rough impact, and that the people on board the plane could smell burning rubber.
That was one heck of a rain slicked tarmac, as well. This happening just after 8:00 p.m. So roughly just not even 40 minutes into this incident. A
lot of that video just coming to us raw as it was fed in. We don`t even know exactly at what point this video was taken. But here`s another tidbit
from the campaign reporters, who are following the campaign riding on that plane as well, saying that Mike Pence actually came back and checked on all
the press to make sure everyone was okay.
You are looking at a live picture from WCBS of the action at LaGuardia. What`s going to happen to that campaign plane that has Trump obviously
emblazoned across the side of it? We don`t know. But this is not usually something that can be remedied quickly. When a giant 737 is in the grass
and smashed through a fence, usually takes several days. Such as the case with another flight that went through the fence with teetering over the
side of the runway and looked like it was half over the water back in March of 2015.
Noam Laden, news director for WABC Radio here in New York City. Noam, I feel like we`ve been to this rodeo, and it wasn`t that long ago where we
saw another plane skidding off the runway at LaGuardia. LaGuardia is no picnic.
NOAM LADEN, NEWS DIRECTOR FOR WABC RADIO, NEW YORK: You know that airport. You`ve been there I`m sure many times. You`re coming in over water. There`s
water on either side. You have flushing bay there. There`s been -- when you see what happened and you see those shots which you are watching right now,
you realize how lucky these 37 on board this plane are.
There`s been fatal accidents at LaGuardia. I looked back to 1992, there was a U.S. air flight that slid off the runway and went into the bay. There
were 25 fatalities. So yeah, this airport has seen its share of accidents. So this is not the first time.
BANFIELD: So I just want to do a real quick update, because New York City Emergency Management sent out a tweet. We`re sort of getting a lot of this
information from those who are on board, those who are on the tarmac, and then of course the official release. New York City Emergency Management
tweeted out, due to a plane skidding off the runway at LaGuardia, it is currently closed until further notice. Check with your airline for
additional information, the agency said.
By the way, it should be known Donald Trump at the time of this incident was campaigning in Ohio. For his part, the vice presidential candidate was
coming in from a campaign to stop in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, and was supposed to do a fund-raising event in New York City tonight, but clearly that`s off.
If you are just joining us though, the good news here, well the Make America Great Again Trump plane is disabled and not going anywhere. Mike
Pence is fine. He is fine. He was shaking hands. He already made it to his hotel. He checked on others. Everyone seems to be okay. There is the proof
right there.
He`s right there with the silver fox hair in the middle of the screen looking like he is okay. But he`s shaken, you would not be able to tell by
schedule. He`s still on track for his two campaign events tomorrow. That`s a rough night. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Continuing with our breaking news. We`ve got pictures from LaGuardia airport. 37 people, eight crew members, and one very important
man, Mike Pence, the vice presidential candidate, involved in an incident at LaGuardia today, skidding off the runway as his campaign plane, a 737,
tried to make a landing in really bad weather in New York City. He was on his way here for a fund raising event. That is canceled.
Here`s some live pictures for you. Obviously, doesn`t look too clear, because the weather is the pits. The weather is so bad here in New York
right now. The Make America Great Again plane was actually stuck and delayed back where he took off from in Iowa. You can see the wheels there,
stuck in the grass. Not a place where an airplane should be. But it has skidded right up the runway.
The reports from the scene were that it actually went through a fence and ended up in the grass. Disabled there for who knows how long at this time?
The good news, though, Governor Mike Pence is okay. There he is. These are pictures of him after he was evaced off the back of that plane when they
get the jet way up and everybody, including all the press corps and the campaign workers, had to evaced through the back of the plane.
He is fine. He actually checked on all the press to make sure everyone is all right. And then went to thank all those first responders too. Pretty
big considering that have to be a pretty bad landing.
I do want to tell you that the Newsday, one of the organizations here in New York area reported that Mike Pence told some of the folks on location
there that mud actually slashed up into the front windows of the cockpit. So that`s how bad that got.
I`m guessing that the mud was coming from the grass, hopefully not from the runway. But New York`s LaGuardia Airport has taken on fair share of
criticisms in the past without question for some of its facilities but also for its extraordinarily short runways. In case you don`t know about it, it
is a very busy place. Extraordinarily busy place. 28.4 million passengers went through that airport just last year in 2015.
I`m gonna continue to show these live pictures. You just have to forgive us for some of but you are gonna get them at the same we are getting them. Our
cameramen are out there live. You can see all of the first responders as they just came to a stop wherever they were on that tarmac. In 2015, there
were 360,000 plane movements. 360,000. So maybe it`s not so unusual with that many that tonight I`m reporting on the second plane skidding off the
runway in about a year and a half.
The other was a delta flight in March of 2015 which skidded off the runway, too. Mike Pence`s wife, Karen, was on the plane as well. She was probably
headed here for the fund raising too. She is okay. He is okay. Campaign staff okay. Journalists are okay. But I want to show you, if we do have it,
when he was delayed, Mike Pence was actually on the runway, waiting for the weather to clear up in New York. It clearly didn`t. The weather delay had
him board and out on the runway in Ft. Dodge, Iowa, throwing the football around.
So things were obviously in -- he was in much better spirits about two hours ago before leaving Iowa and landing here only about 50 minutes ago or
so. We were told he was already on his way back to the hotel. My guess is that he may be just arriving at the hotel. Takes about an hour to get from
LaGuardia into the city in bad weather without question.
But man, two main runways at LaGuardia, four terminal buildings, 72 gates, and it`s been called a third world country by Mike Pence`s running mate,
Donald Trump. And by the vice president himself, Joe Biden. They have both criticized LaGuardia either for its facilities or its functions. They said
it`s akin to a third world country. We are happy to report, they are okay tonight, everyone from that plane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: I have more more breaking news right now for just joining us. That`s Mike Pence`s campaign plane, and it is not on the runway. Behind
that reporter you just saw during the broadcast, it is in the grass. It skidded off the runway at LaGuardia just about an hour ago. But they were
evaced less than 50 minutes ago.
I got a tweet from Mike Pence. He has put out his communication to the rest of us saying, so thankful everyone on our plane is safe. Grateful for our
first responders and the concern and prayers of so many. Back on the trail tomorrow. Man, that guy is like MacGyver, I tell you. He`s headed for
Pennsylvania tomorrow morning, North Carolina tomorrow night.
There is the tweet from Mike Pence. Disaster where it skidded off one of the most dangerous runways in America at LaGuardia. There he is, shaking
hands with first responders who came. Mary Shiavo, as a former inspector general of the Department of Transportation, you are the perfect person to
ask.
That guy is not stopping his campaigning, but he does not have a plane that`s likely to take off tomorrow, that`s my guess, but when you have a
737 in the grass, how long it`s gonna take for them to get that back and operational?
SHIAVO: Oh, it could take a very long time. It will be at least tomorrow before they even move that plane. The NTSB has to get out there and look at
it, because it`s possible there could have been a malfunction with the aircraft, and of course they want to make sure there were no issues
concerning the runway, the rester beds that stop the plane. So that plane is not going anywhere. What they`ll have to do is get another plane for the
governor to use to continue his campaigning. This is another line of investigation.
BANFIELD: And we know now the FAA is investigating already. Elizabeth Landers, my colleague from CNN, CNN politics producer, just so happened to
be on that plane, she joins me. How are you doing? Are you okay?
ELIZABETH LANDERS, CNN POLITICS VIDEO PRODUCER: Hi. I`m okay, thank you, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: What a night.
LANDERS: We were definitely rattled. Yeah, definitely what a night. I mean, when the plane landed and actually we had kind of a bad landing earlier
today on this airplane in clear weather in Iowa. So, I`m not sure exactly what -- you know, what is going on with the plane. But when we landed, it
was a hard landing, and I felt it. And I said, oh, my gosh. And the plane skidded on the runway.
BANFIELD: Any warning from the pilot to brace or anything like that?
LANDERS: No, no. Definitely not.
BANFIELD: Just bang.
LANDERS: And I`ve got to go, Ashleigh, I`m sorry.
BANFIELD: No, I understand. It`s been a rough night. I appreciate it you have given us a few seconds. Elizabeth Landers is on the plane when she
said earlier, not seemed right with that landing. It was hard landing and it skidded off in rainy slick weather at LaGuardia. LaGuardia officials are
telling us something right now, that they`re actually hoping to open one of those runways in the next half hour.
That is a huge feat, considering the weather, considering what`s going on there, considering the video that you`re seeing, much of this is live. And
there are emergency vehicles still scattered all over those runways. But there are two significant runways at LaGuardia and they want to get one of
them open because it is a very place. That is going to cause a lot of people to be very, very late or missed a lot of planes and back up a lot of
traffic. That`s not fun for anyone.
Hey, thank you for bearing with us through this breaking news. We`ll have you right back here. See you next week. This is where we spotlight
injustice and breaking news when it happens. Thanks for watching. Stay tuned. "Forensic Files" is next.
END
