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Families Of Boeing Crash Victims Object To Company's Plea Deal; Houston-Area Chemical Leak Kills 2, Injures Dozens; 23 People Rescued From Colorado Gold Mine After Fatal Accident; Biden Gives Update On Federal Response To Hurricane Milton; Biden Dings Trump On Disinformation On Money For Hurricane Response; "Why Springfield?" Airs Sunday At 8PM ET/PT. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired October 11, 2024 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:31:57]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Boeing is back in court today. The families of the 346 people killed in two Boeing crashes are fighting for the company to face harsher penalties.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: They want a federal judge to throw out a plea deal made between Boeing and federal prosecutors, which the families criticize as a sweetheart deal that doesn't go far enough in holding Boeing leaders accountable.
CNN business correspondent, Vanessa Yurkevich, is following this for us.
So, Vanessa, where do things stand?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Since very early this morning, a judge in Texas has been listening to arguments from both sides, from Boeing and the Department of Justice saying that this deal is, in fact, fair and just, this guilty plea deal.
However, you have the families of these victims from these two 737 Max plane crashes saying that this deal does not go far enough. Boeing struck this deal with the Department of Justice this summer, in part, to avoid a public trial where they could have faced harsher -- they could have faced harsher penalties, both financially and also in terms of charges.
But here's what the deal looks like. They pled guilty to defrauding essentially the FAA because they did not disclose a software system update that ultimately resulted in these two crashes.
They also are paying out a sizable amount of money, but not as much as maybe they could have paid out if this went public to a trial and close to $1 billion in fines.
But the families saying this really does not go far enough. They were asking for close to $25 billion in penalties for Boeing. And they were also asking for executives to be held personally accountable for these fatalities, for the loss of their family members.
Ultimately, today, the judge could do three things. He could choose to accept this deal. He could choose to reject it, which means the two parties would have to go back to the table and figure out a more suitable deal.
Or he could listen to arguments today from both sides. But then say, I'm going to take a little bit of time to figure out exactly what I want to do here.
But obviously, Boris and Brianna, for these families, this is excruciating. This is now years of having to relive what has happened to their loved ones.
For Boeing, in part, they're on very shaky financial footing since these two plane crashes in 2018 and 2019. They've lost $33 billion. There's currently a strike going on with their union. They're losing potentially up to $1 billion a month.
So they do not want this to go back to the table. They do not want to have to pay out any additional money.
But the DOJ and Boeing saying this is a fair and just deal, asking the judge to say that, too. But the families arguing this morning that this does not go far enough to make up for what happened to their loved ones -- Brianna, Boris?
SANCHEZ: Yes, obviously, a difficult episode for those families to have to relive. And a difficult time for Boeing, a slew of negative headlines for that company.
Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much.
[13:35:01]
Up next, a tourist adventure goes horribly wrong in Colorado. One person is dead, nearly two dozen more having to be rescued after they we're trapped a thousand feet below the ground.
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SANCHEZ: A chemical leak has killed two people and injured dozens of others at an oil refinery in Deer Park, Texas. That's just outside of Houston.
KEILAR: Officials say the leak was hydrogen sulfide. It's a toxic gas that you cannot see, but you can smell it. It smells like rotten eggs.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is joining us with details on this.
Ed, what's the latest there?
[13:59:58]
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, investigators today are saying that the investigation into what caused this intense chemical leak is still ongoing. But as you mentioned, two people killed 35 others required medical attention.
And this happened just before 5:00 yesterday afternoon in the city of Deer Park, just southeast of Houston, along the very prominent energy corridor there, where there are oil refineries.
And this particular refinery belonged to Pemex, the Mexican national company. They were -- have said that this is -- the cause of this is unknown. They're continuing to investigate it.
But it did lead to a shelter-in-place order throughout the city of Deer Park and in a neighboring community as well. But after several hours, that order was lifted.
And the mayor explained how it all unfolded yesterday afternoon.
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MAYOR JERRY MOUTON, DEER PARK, TX: We're, at this moment, lifting the shelter in place in the city of Deer Park. We have a confirmation from our air-monitoring sources that there has been no detectable or reportable narratives.
With that said, we do know there's still going to be some remnants of odor in the air that our constituents will be smelling at times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Investigators also said it was taking some time for crews to get into the area, inside the oil refinery area where this chemical leak had transpired.
We have not heard today if they'd been able to reach that area fully at this point.
But the city of Deer Park, guys, has also been dealing with other issues as well. Just last month, there was a pipeline explosion that caused a similar event where families and homes had to be -- people had to shelter in place.
So two massive incidents here that have happened in this city in just the last month or so.
KEILAR: Yes, serious stuff.
Ed, thank you for that report.
Let's head now to Colorado, where 23 people were rescued after they were trapped during what was supposed to be just a fun educational tour --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: -- of a gold mine that was turned into a tourist attraction. One person actually died in the incident.
SANCHEZ: And they were all trapped about 1,000 feet underground found because an elevator malfunctioned.
CNN's Lucy Kafanov is live for us in Cripple Creek, Colorado, with more.
Lucy, what are the details here?
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we are waiting for officials to brief us in about 20 minutes and we're hoping to get more updates.
But look, going down into a 1,000-foot-deep mining shaft is probably scary on a good day. They we're only expecting to be there for about an hour.
The 12 people who were trapped were there for nearly six hours, a harrowing ordeal that resulted in one person losing their life after an elevator malfunctioned.
We do know that by 8:00 p.m. last night, all of the people were safely aboveground.
The sheriff says that they asked for pizza. So that was waiting for them upstairs. They were in good spirits, according to officials. And one official actually described it as a big happy ending to an otherwise tragic day.
Now, according to the sheriff, all this began to unfold at around noon. That's when they got reports about one of the groups -- there were two groups in the mine.
One of them got stuck about 500 feet below the surface in that elevator. That group included 11 adults, two children. That group also included the person who lost their life.
Now we know that four other people had minor injuries. They we're pulled up in that elevator almost immediately. And then the officials didn't want to use the elevator anymore because they didn't know if it was safe for use.
The other folks were stuck there for hours. They did have blankets and water and chairs. They had a tour guide there who was a mining experts, so he was keeping them calm.
And they didn't know about the death. The sheriff, though, tearing up when describing the trauma of the incident. Take a listen.
JASON MIKESELL, SHERIFF, TELLER COUNTY, CO, SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: It really is a big concern of ours is to make sure everybody is -- especially at a traumatic like this with children.
You know, it's one of those things, you threw up a little bit when you're dealing with the kids that have to go through these types of things. I'll tell you that's one of the things that touch my heartstrings.
But they're safe and that's -- that's all we can hope for right now. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KAFANOV: Safet but obviously traumatized.
Now we don't know how that one individual lost their life. We are hoping to get a little bit of an update on that shortly.
But this was an all-hands-on-deck scenario. The only description that officials gave about the death was it that it was, quote, "a tragic accident." And we know that the person's body was retrieved in that first group that was rescued.
And just to give you some context, you see that white structure behind me? That is the top of that elevator shaft to get down into the mine. And just for more contexts, a thousand feet is like the height of the Empire State Building.
You know, they spent -- two -- two minutes, oh, OK. Thank you. That's it. Back to you.
SANCHEZ: Lucy Kafanov, appreciate you, from Colorado.
We wrapped Lucy because we have to go to President Biden, who is giving an update on Hurricane Milton. Let's listen.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (INAUDIBLE) be for some extreme people. I don't think it's what the country's about. We're breaking through with it or breaking through with the truth.
[13:45:02]
And you'll notice, and I'm really proud of, been on the phone to talk a lot of Republican mayors and governors, who are standing up saying this is not -- not Joe Biden, but conservative hardcore Republican governors, hardcore Republican mayors, who stand up and say, it's just got to stop. It's got to stop.
And I -- I believe it's -- there's nothing permanent about it. But I'm pleased that more Americans are coming together in a purely voluntary way. This is who we -- how we are. When Americans are in trouble, we all jump in and try to help, help your neighbor. And that's making -- basically what's happened.
But what -- the thing that bothered me the most is there's a lot of people who get caught in these crises who are basically alone, you know, widows, widowers, people in hospitals, people who are by themselves.
And they don't know -- and they lose contact. And they get - they just get scared to death, scared to death.
And anyway, so I think it's -- I think those who have been spreading these lies to try to undermine the opposition are going to pay the price for it. (CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- to blame --
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BIDEN: Nobody messes with me. It's just the biggest mouth.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- Speaker Johnson?
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: We're going to have -- I've spoken to Republicans who want to speak for Speaker Johnson. And I think Speaker Johnson is going to get the message that he's got to step up, particularly for small businesses.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you spoken to DeSantis in Florida?
BIDEN: I've haven't spoken to him, no. If he's -- if he's available. Yes, he's been very cooperative. I've had no -- we've had -- we got on very, very well.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
BIDEN: Absolutely, positively.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
BIDEN: I'm sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
BIDEN: Well, you the truth, Mr. Trump's request (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) in the final stages of the campaign?
BIDEN: As long as it's asked by the 15th.
(CROSSTALK)
BIDEN: Well, I spoke on -- what I've told the department to give him every single thing he needs his for this and any other -- as a sitting president, give all that he needs. If it fits within that category, that's fine. But it doesn't, it shouldn't.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: We have been listening there to President Biden and he's really dinging former President Trump for the disinformation that he has been spreading about storm response, that there isn't money available for people who are in dire need of it when there is money available.
And he said he doesn't singular -- he was asked if he singularly blames Trump for it. He said, no, he's just got the biggest mouth and he's imploring Speaker Johnson to step up.
SANCHEZ: Yes. He was actually asked whether he believed that this plethora of misinformation that's out there is a permanent thing, is IT temporary or is it a permanent state for the country?
He said, there's nothing permanent about it. More Americans are coming together in a voluntary way. He also added that he had a good correspondence with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after Hurricane Milton struck the Sunshine State.
On Speaker Johnson, he said that the speaker had to step up on small business. The Small Business Administration is wary of running out of money as so many are trying to build back up from Hurricane Milton.
And lastly, there had been some reporting that President Trump had additional -- former President Trump had additional requests for resources from the federal government when it came to protection in light of so many threats, specifically coming from Iran.
There, the president saying that he's greenlit just about everything that Trump has asked for, and he will likely continue to do that.
[13:49:11]
Still plenty more news to cover from the White House and from Florida. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.
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KEILAR: Springfield, Ohio, has become the center of a political firestorm surrounding false immigration claims. Since 2020, roughly 12,000 Haitian immigrants have moved to this city that has somewhat taxed some of the services there.
But we should also note that it's a city that once struggled to find workers.
SANCHEZ: And former President Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, have spent a large portion of their campaign targeting these immigrants, almost all of which have legal status, through misinformation and threats of deportation if they're elected.
CNN's Omar Jimenez spent time in Springfield speaking to a lot of those folks.
Omar, what are you learning about how this is impacting the Haitian community?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for starters, this was something that was happening in Springfield long before any presidential debate, which, of course, that debate was back on September 10th.
So there are these issues in this community. You've got a population increase. You've got language barriers with the community there in Springfield.
They were stressors that -- on different aspects of society that would have come with any population increase but, in this case, happens to be Haitian.
And then, since then, of course, the former president and has still spoken about some of the Haitians that have settled in Springfield, saying he's going to deport them if he's elected.
And that messaging has made it to some of the Haitians there and it's contributed to an era of fear.
[13:55:02]
Take a listen to one of the Springfield Haitians that I spoke to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
JIMENEZ: You couldn't do that for her birthday?
DANIEL AULA, HAITIAN RESIDENT: No.
JIMENEZ: Is that hard?
AULA: Very hard.
JIMENEZ: Why?
AULA: Very hard. Because she's represent my heart. She is my first born. She said to me, Poppy, never leave let me alone, never leave me alone, stay with me, I miss you.
Sometimes when I went to bed, I want to cry but I have to take power. I have to stay strong because I've to take care of them and to stay alive. Because I expect to meet them again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: And Daniel, in particular there, who we were talking to, I mean, he started working for that company about a year ago. And he's been working on his English every day.
And he actually says that's where he finds the biggest problem is communication. He doesn't under understand English as well. They don't understand Creole.
And to use his words, as we're going to hear as part of the story Sunday night, he says, "You under -- you fear what you don't understand."
And he thinks that's where the central point of a lot of the issues are there.
Despite what the national conversation has been, whether it's been on actual claims or things without evidence at all, regardless, it has put again this added stress on the election of what will happen if the former president and is elected.
And it's why a lot of them have been going to see some immigration specialists to figure out what their options might be if there is any sort of mass deportation effort -- Boris and Brianna?
SANCHEZ: Yes, the former president has vowed to deport those folks. So important to get the facts on the ground and to hear directly from those people that are being attacked.
Omar Jimenez, thank you so much for doing that.
Be sure to tune in. An all-new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," one whole hour, one whole story, airs Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.
We'll be right back.
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