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Survivor Twitters Following Plane Crash; Mixed Verdict in Fort Dix Case

Aired December 22, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everybody.
Don't adjust your Twitter boards. It's T.J. Holmes here sitting in for Rick Sanchez this week. And welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. We have got a lot to talk about this hour, including that plane crash we saw out in Denver, the plane crash right off the runway, the update on what's happening out there.

Also, we are certainly your comments, as always, about the stories of the day. This is in fact your newscast, using out Twitter boards. We can give you a shot of it already. We are starting to get things in, been getting it in all afternoon.

But we're asking you -- and I will let you know why we're asking. We're asking you, what is the craziest place you have ever Twittered? Now, keep it clean here. I know it's probably some crazy places many of you all have when using your Twitters before, but the craziest place you have Twittered. We're curious to know.

And the reason we're curious is because we know that at least one person was using his Twitter page after he had just been in a plane crash.

Yes, in fact, just to give you the background, Continental Flight 1404 ran off the runway Saturday night 6:00 out in Denver, 38 people injured. For the most part, everybody got out of there with just some bumps and bruises, some broken bones to report as well and we know one serious injury. Don't know exactly why this crash happened. The weather was cold, but not necessarily blizzard-like. Not a lot of snow or precipitation coming down.

NTSB is right now on the scene out there. They have been collecting evidence all day. They collected the flight recorders. Here you see a picture of that plane now. It certainly looks battered and bruised. It was on its way to Houston, but certainly had a layover in a ravine. And that ravine it's still in right there, the right side of that plane caught on fire, according to a lot of people who were on that plane, but, again, no one killed in this accident. The investigation continues.

But, again, many of the news networks, news outlets getting this information to you as quickly as we could over the weekend when this crash happened. But there was somebody who was getting the information out even faster than we were.

His name is Mike Wilson. And he could get it out so quickly because he was on that plane. And, yes, in fact, he was using his Twitter board. He was tweeting, if you will, right after that plane crash. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE WILSON, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: I'm at Denver.

HOLMES (voice-over): It's 7:10 p.m. and a software engineer named Mike Wilson is one of a million faces taking off, landing, or killing time at Denver International. An hour and 15 minutes later, he punches these words onto his Twitter account.

WILSON: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I was just in a plane crash.

HOLMES: He calls himself 2drinksbehind, but Mike Wilson was right on top of the airport crash a little early, keeping his Twitter followers abreast of the accident, the rescue, the panic.

WILSON: My glasses fell off in the mass exodus getting off the plane. Can't see very well.

HOLMES: Passengers say the luggage racks were burning. The evacuation slides deployed. And for the first time that we know of, someone who had just escaped was documenting the scene in almost real- time on to the Internet. He even took a picture. OK, it's not the greatest picture, but give the guy a break. He had just been in a plane crash.

WILSON: Can't see much, but that's the crash site.

HOLMES: Then, while the world watched, amazed that nobody died in the crash, Mike Wilson, or 2drinksbehind, kept all of his followers in suspense until 2:00 in the morning.

WILSON: Thanks for all the well-wishes, everyone. Sorry for the radio silence. But my battery died in the middle of all this, and I just made it home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: He just made it home. Well, again, that was Mike Wilson there. And, again, that investigation continues. Investigators were on the scene today collecting evidence and whatnot. They got to the scene yesterday after the crash. But certainly today is when a lot of that evidence collection really started.

We do expect some new video from the scene. We're expecting that this hour. Certainly, we will bring that to you as soon as we get it.

But, right now, we want to bring in Mike Wilson, the man who was keeping his Twitter followers updated right after that crash. Mike Wilson is on the phone with me right now from Austin.

Mike, I guess you escaped this thing all right.

First of all, a lot of people were battered and bruised. Did you suffer any injuries, first of all?

WILSON: No, I didn't at all.

HOLMES: You didn't at all. All right.

So, why then -- I guess a lot of people who do Twitter, they are into it and into it big time. But why did you think to start doing that and start giving those updates as soon as you had gone through this traumatic experience?

WILSON: Well, you know, after I had gotten off the plane and gotten away from it a bit and didn't see anybody in my immediate area that really needed any assistance, my first thought was to contact my wife and let her know what happened, but that I was OK.

So, I immediately tried to call her. And everyone around me was on their cell phones as well, of course. And the lines were just jammed. So I couldn't get out. So, pretty much, right after that, I'm just -- I'm so emotional apt this point, I was just kind of looking for any way to vent and let everybody know that this had just happened, but that I was OK.

So, I immediately thought, I will post it on Twitter.

HOLMES: Well, it certainly proved to be convenient for you there. Like you said, you were looking for somebody to vent to, and Twitter happened to be the route to go.

Tell me about the experience itself. What was it like on that plane? I mean, we have all been through this before. What I mean by that is, while we're sitting on a plane, we know what it is -- the plane makes a few rights and lefts on a runway and then it gets to that point and it takes off.

So, when did you realize something was wrong?

WILSON: It was pretty late into the takeoff. Right about the time I would have been expecting the plane to rotate and start to leave the ground, you know, just kind of felt a little lateral movement, a little shimmy that I have never felt that before on a takeoff. And I immediately said, that's not normal. And pretty much immediately following, the plane veered off to the left.

And it was clear at that point that something was going horribly wrong. And it seemed like we were pretty much out of control at that point.

HOLMES: Which side of the plane were you on? We heard many passengers talk about they could see flames. They could see the right side of that plane on fire. Were you able to see any of that?

WILSON: Yes.

I was on the right side about three rows back behind the -- behind the exit row on the right side. So, I had a pretty good view of the flames on the right engine. So, yes, I definitely was seeing that. At one point, I think the lights were completely out, and the whole plane was pretty much just lit by firelight at that point.

HOLMES: Oh, my goodness. Well, a harrowing experience that, again, Mike Wilson -- I don't know if you can see your picture up that we have on TV right now, but it calls you a crash survivor/Twitterer.

But that tweeting, as it's called, certainly proved to be a level of instant reporting. So, we're glad that you're OK, glad that a lot of those other passengers escaped with just minor injuries as well. But, sir, we appreciate your time and your help and sharing your story with us today. You take care.

WILSON: Thank you. You, too.

HOLMES: And we certainly will continue to follow this story out of Denver.

We're expecting actually -- a news conference expected around 4:30 from the NTSB out there, again, at 4:30 Eastern time. When that happens, that will be around the time of Wolf Blitzer and THE SITUATION ROOM. Certainly, we will be giving you updates about what they're saying.

Also, we're expecting new pictures this hour, during this hour of the NEWSROOM. When we get those out of Denver, we will pass those along to you as well.

Coming up here, it's a story many of you remember really from last year of five men accused of plotting to attack a U.S. Army base here in the U.S., Fort Dix up in New Jersey. They were caught after they went to try to convert some of their video into a DVD format, and some might say a good citizen, a citizen soldier, turned them in.

Well, their trial wrapped up today. They were convicted on some counts, but not convicted of attempting to murder U.S. soldiers. That was the whole point of the plot, wasn't it?

We will explain. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And, again, you can always join the conversation on this show. This is after all your newscast. And you can join in on Twitter, on Facebook, on MySpace. Those are all Rick Sanchez's Facebook, MySpace, Twitter pages, even though I'm the one sitting right now. But, still, send them all to his pages.

We're asking you this hour, what is the craziest place you have ever used your Twitter? We just talked to a man a minute ago who actually survived that plane crash out in Denver and began to Twitter right afterwards. So, where is the craziest place you have ever used your Twitter board, or your Twitter page, or your Twitter account, whatever you want to call it? So, send those in to us.

Moving on now to another story that has gotten a lot of attention today, a verdict in the case of the Fort Dix men accused of trying to attack Fort Dix in New Jersey, an Army base, a U.S. military base, here in the U.S.

The verdicts have come out, and they have been found guilty on some charges, but not found guilty on others. The one that kind of stands out for a lot of folks is that they were not convicted of attempted murder, even though authorities said they were trying to murder U.S. soldiers.

Take a look at some of this video. This is the video really that led to them -- really led to their arrest. This is the video that the men, those accused and now convicted on some charged, shot of themselves, video they took of themselves out at a retreat firing rifles.

Now, they took this video -- after they took it themselves, shot this video themselves, they took this to a shop to try to have it converted over into a DVD format. So, when they did that, the person at the store they took it to kind of raised some red flags and handed it over to the authorities. And it ended up in their arrest.

And you might remember that particular part of this case. But you see some of this video. It's kind of some frightening images to some to see these men firing rifles out there. They said this was innocent, and that was their case. But the government thought otherwise. This video, of course, was released by the authorities during the trial.

Mary Snow with us now from New York, been following this case as well.

And, Mary, they were convicted on conspiracy charges, not convicted of attempted murder. So, just, I guess, just kind of take us through what -- there were several counts. Take us through exactly what they were convicted of and now what they're facing.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., they were five Muslim immigrants, and they were found guilty, as you just mentioned, on charges of conspiring to kill soldiers at Fort Dix Army Base in New Jersey.

Now, these men lived around Philadelphia, Fort Dix is nearby New Jersey. All, however, were acquitted on attempted murder charges. Some were convicted on weapons charges. Now, that video that you just showed, the government has largely based its case on two paid FBI informants who had infiltrated the group.

They secretly recorded conversations, obviously making that video, also other tapes. But prosecutors say the men bought assault rifles supplied by those FBI informants and practiced shooting in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.

HOLMES: Well, Mary, how -- Mary, how does that translate, I guess? I guess what was the case they were making, that, you know, we see these guys firing rifles off -- I guess anybody can go out there. That doesn't mean you're exactly going to attack anything or you mean anybody any ill will. So, they based so much of their case on this particular video, and it wasn't enough to get that particular charge, at least, get a conviction on it?

SNOW: Right.

And the defense attorneys in this case, T.J., had made the case that these men were doing a lot of talking, but they say they never really had firm plans. They also questioned the credibility, that is, of those two paid FBI informants.

And they said that that was their case, and trying to put a lot of holes in these -- in the government's case. Now -- and, also, we should point out that none of these men were ever linked to any foreign terror group.

HOLMES: And what are they facing now, lastly here, what kind of -- excuse me -- what kind of time in jail? What are they looking at now?

SNOW: They face life in prison. When they -- they face sentencing in the spring, and they could spend the rest of their lives in jail.

HOLMES: All right. Mary Snow on this case for us, reporting from New York -- Mary, we appreciate you, as always.

We are going to get more on this coming up in just a minute with one of our legal guys, always helps us out on a lot of these cases, Kendall Coffey going to break this down on a legal -- from a legal standpoint, how these convictions came about and how the government was not able to get a conviction on that attempted murder charge, and a whole lot more coming up.

And, remember, we're asking you what is the craziest place you have ever used your Twitter account, the craziest place you have ever tweeted. And do I have this language right? Is it tweeting? The craziest place -- close enough, I'm told by my producer. Tweeting, that is close enough. Send those into us. We will be reading those, again, Rick Sanchez on his Twitter board, on his MySpace page and Facebook as well.

I'm T.J. Holmes. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, something else to take note of now. If you're a regular viewer of this program, not going it surprise you. Rick Sanchez has been all over this all year, really.

"The New York Times" released its annual list of buzz words for 2008. And Twit made the list, yes, Twit, in all its forms, Twitter, tweet, Twit. If you use it, you know all these various forms, you know, all the networking sites, and Twitter, and you see a lot about it here on this program, of course. To all of Rick's "tweeps" -- Chris, our guy, has been in my ear -- "tweeps," apparently, he doesn't like that word. Now that I have to say it out loud, I'm not a big fan of it either, I don't think.

Keep on tweeting, 140 characters or less. And keep watching, because, when we come back, where are all those new jobs coming from, you know the ones Obama is talking about? It was 2.5 million. Now it's three million? That's one of his top priorities. Where are they going to come from?

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Once again, we are asking you to comment -- send your comments to Rick's Twitter page or MySpace or Facebook about the craziest place you have ever used you Twitter page, the craziest place you have ever Twittered or tweeted. I don't know the terminology -- the craziest place you have used your Twitter account.

We talked to a guy of course earlier who used his Twitter account right after he got out of that plane crash in Denver. So, wondering where you have Twittered, the craziest place.

We will move on and continue with the story we were just talking about, the Fort Dix men who have now been convicted of conspiracy and trying to attack and kill members of the U.S. military, trying to attack Fort Dix. They have been convicted on conspiracy charges.

I want to bring in Kendall Coffey, one of our -- one of those legal minds who helps us out oftentimes.

Kendall, good to see you.

That was the whole point, according to authorities. These men wanted to kill U.S. soldiers. And that was a big part -- a big count in that whole charge, is they tried. Well, they weren't convicted of attempted murder. Tell us why not.

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, I think, from the Justice standpoint, that would have been a great conviction to get. But the Justice Department knows going into these homegrown terrorism cases that it's all about preventing crimes before it happens.

So, they're not going to wait until somebody starts firing bullets. They're going to move in with an early intervention, because they want to stop these things, shut them down, when they're still in the plan-making stage, before they never get to the bomb-making stage.

HOLMES: Get to the bomb-making stage, but is the punishment going to be just as severe? Or how severe will the punishment be with this conspiracy count and conviction vs. having that other attempted murder conviction?

COFFEY: Potentially just as serious, because a conspiracy to commit the substantive offense can get you to exactly the same place. That's why a conspiracy is called a prosecutor's best friend.

And even if most of what they did seemed like local trash- talking, at the end of the day, even if they were wannabes, what the jury found is, it was a conspiracy of wannabe terrorism. And that's a plenty serious federal crime, as these guys will be finding out when the sentencing arrives.

HOLMES: And tell me, is that where we are now? Because we have this video that showed them rifles. And, you know, in itself, it's -- it could be seen, if you didn't know the background and everything else associated with this case, you see there are other people in that video firing rifles in there.

But this video and given that you called it wannabe terrorists, is it enough in these -- this day and time that all -- you know, you don't have to be in advanced stages; you don't have to have a lot of training; you just say the wrong thing, you talk the wrong smack, and you have the wrong thing, and people surrounding you, you're going to get convicted?

COFFEY: Well, the defense strategy is always going to be it was nothing but bad talk, rather than bad actions.

And the Justice Department doesn't win every one of these cases. For all the reasons you're describing, they're not necessarily slam dunks. Consider the Liberty Six case in Miami, where there was a hung jury this past jury.

But, in this case, they had enough, because if what you're talking about is committing serious crimes, like terrorism, if it goes to enough of a point -- they were actually trying to buy some automatic weapons. It wasn't just talk around a locker room. It was actually starting to do some serious things. They got a conviction this time.

But it's not an easy area. At the end of the day, we all I think strongly endorse the philosophy of prevention, even if it complicates a case. So much better to have arrested or made too early than arrested or made too late.

HOLMES: How damaging was this video that we're all looking at? I hope you have a monitor there. Maybe you can see it. But, if not, you're probably familiar with the video. But how damaging was this video that the prosecution had?

COFFEY: Oh, I think it was a centerpiece to the case, because a lot of the talk can be explained.

But what we see with our own eyes, a picture is worth 1,000 words. A video can be worth a conviction.

HOLMES: What grounds would they have for an appeal? I assume there will be one. But what do you see possibly in this case that could be working for them?

COFFEY: Well, I they are going to argue the sufficiency of evidence. Again, it was all planning. It was all preparation, at most. It was never a true perpetration of a crime, that they were talking, not acting.

But we have seen these cases with a law of conspiracy. It is very broad. And if you are agreeing to commit the actual crime and take some overt acts, that's enough. You don't have to pull a trigger. You don't even have to hold a gun in your hand to be liable for conspiracy to try to kill U.S. military personnel.

HOLMES: Will it hold us as well or do they have a case to make that many of the informants the FBI had and the federal government had, had ulterior motives; maybe they weren't on the up-and-up?

COFFEY: Informants almost always have ulterior motives.

HOLMES: Yes.

COFFEY: And the defense lawyers are great at attacking them.

But if a jury believes them, that's going to be good enough for the appeals court.

HOLMES: All right, Kendall Coffey, as always, appreciate you. Glad we have your mind to tap into on a lot of these cases. We appreciate you. Thank you so much.

If we don't talk to you this again week, happy holidays to you.

COFFEY: Thank you, T.J. Merry Christmas.

HOLMES: All right. Thank you so much.

And again, a reminder to our viewers out there, you are welcome, as always, to join in on the conversation here on this show. Rick Sanchez is out. I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in for him today. But, still, Rick Sanchez, his Twitter board, his MySpace page, Facebook, asking you today, what is the craziest place you have ever Twittered, tweeted? Somebody help me with this verb at some point. I have got to get this right.

But send in your comments. Again, we talked to a guy a little while ago who got off that plane in Denver that had just crashed, and he was using his Twitter board. That's kind of a crazy place to be tweeting. So, what's the craziest place you have ever done? So, send it into Rick Sanchez, MySpace, Facebook, or his Twitter board page.

We're going to be talking to another friend of our show on this network, Paul Begala, talking about Obama. Obama has got a lot going on these days. He's out in Hawaii, taking it easy. But the work never stops for the president or the president-elect. But he's promising to create or save 2.5 million jobs. That was the original promise. Now he's saying three million jobs. Will he be able to do it?

Paul Begala coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everybody, T.J. Holmes here sitting in for Rick Sanchez this week.

We're again always asking you to join the conversation here on Rick's show, on his Twitter board, also on Facebook, his Facebook page, also his MySpace page.

The questions we're asking today -- or the question for you -- what is the craziest place you have ever Twittered? We're getting a lot of responses in. We're using and showing those responses at the bottom of our screen right now. I see across that white board a lot of people's responses coming in. We're getting people saying they -- somebody that Twittered during an earthquake at their school while they were under a table.

Somebody else said they Twittered at a wedding. So, continue to keep those coming in. And we are showing those at the bottom of the screen.

Also, talked about out in Denver the plane crash over the weekend, if you could call it a plane crash -- certainly the people on board would call it that -- but a plane that slid off the runway, went into a ravine. Right side of that plane caught on fire, 38 people injured, at least one person seriously. Everybody survived, though, nobody killed in this thing, but NTSB on the site today collecting evidence, doing a lot documentation.

Well, we're expecting new video out of Denver this hour. When we do get it into you, we will pass that along to you.

Also, I talk about on the political front, on the transition front, president-elect Barack Obama. He's out in Hawaii right now, a place he spent a lot of time, coming up. He's back out there for vacation during the holidays. Certainly, the work never stops. A big part of the work being done -- there he is right there. Got a little video of him out playing golf.

You know, a two-year campaign and a tough election time, you know, the guy maybe deserves to swing a golf club or two every now and then. But the work certainly does not stop. A big part, the number- one issue on his plate and the number-one issue on a lot of American families' plates, the economy and jobs. He's promising an ambition plan, a stimulus package that you see there on your screen some are saying could cost up to $775 billion, a package maybe that could be ready by the time he takes office on January 20.

But a part of that plan, he hopes to create some three million jobs.

Paul Begala, can he do it?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, T.J., he can.

The thing that I'm impressed by is how gutsy he's been by laying out that marker, right? I'm not a golfer, but it's like going out on a golf course and saying, I'm going to break 90 today.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: Well, if you say it, you, by golly, better do it. And I'm impressed by that. I think it takes a lot of guts.

And it shows that this president-elect is an interesting guy. He's very -- he's not very ideological. He's very practical. And then he's willing also to commit to something very specific. And I think that will resonate with people who are in the real world of business, right, where you set out a marker, and you have to meet it.

HOLMES: But, Paul -- yes, Paul, we talk about specifics there, but does he give himself some cover in some of this language?

Because people have talked about, you know, originally, it was two-and-a-half million jobs he was going to create.

BEGALA: Right.

HOLMES: Now, it's three million jobs that he is going to create or save.

How can you measure a saved job, really?

Does he give himself a little political cover if he doesn't reach that benchmark of three million?

BEGALA: Well, maybe. But I think people -- basically, what he's saying is we're going to stop the hemorrhaging. And that's as much as you can hope for, I think, in the first two or three years of this new presidency...

HOLMES: But how can you measure that, though, Paul?

BEGALA: (INAUDIBLE).

HOLMES: How can you measure that?

BEGALA: Well, I think you can look at -- at industries, say, for example, we're stepping in now to try to save Detroit, right?

HOLMES: Yes.

BEGALA: If that goes under, that could be two million jobs gone. If he does the right thing and tries to save Detroit, as President Bush is trying to do now, but then also get them retooling, I mean I think you can probably -- they'll have debates and fights over it...

HOLMES: Yes.

BEGALA: But to me, politically, the interesting thing is he put out a specific marker that folks like you and I can save that videotape and hold him accountable to that. That's not something that most politicians like doing.

HOLMES: How much more is this thing going to balloon, if you will?

Because we started out during the campaign -- what was it, 170 plus, I think, billion was the stimulus package during the campaign.

BEGALA: Right.

HOLMES: And then certainly after that -- and I know we've gotten new economic indicators that show just how bad and how worse things were getting and he had to change things.

But now we've crept up to about $800 billion -- $775 billion possibly. Those are just the numbers out there. The Obama campaign hasn't said specifically.

So how big can this thing get to where Americans and everybody will still look at this and say OK -- I mean, these numbers that have been coming at us, Paul, have just been out of the stratosphere.

BEGALA: Well, that's the thing. It's a $13 trillion economy, so it takes a lot to jump start it. You know, back 16 years ago and a day, when I was working for Bill Clinton, and we tried to stimulate the economy, we had a stimulus plan -- get this -- $20 billion. $20 billion.

Well, it was ridiculous and it actually failed. And it wasn't really big enough to jump-start the economy. So we did some other things to try to take a different approach.

That flexibility is also very important. You know, Franklin Roosevelt came into office saying he would balance the budget. He wound up creating the New Deal.

You have to change with the times, right?

The president-elect, as you said, he campaigned on what, about a $150 billion stimulus. Now it's going to be $800 billion. It will probably be bigger. But the problems are that big.

And, look, I didn't do economic policy for President Clinton, but all the people I trust who did work on that and who know those things, they're giving me very dire briefings. This is just -- you know, campaign season is over. They're not trying to win votes. They're trying to explain to the country that we are in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and we slide into another Great Depression if we don't really act boldly.

HOLMES: We all hope, Paul -- nobody out there, Democrat or Republican, doesn't want this to work. We all hope it does, because we want this country and this economy and the world economy to get back on track. But Democrats are in charge in Congress a, Democrat in the White House. If this doesn't work, I mean is there a level of political risk like we have never seen here in that there is going to be nobody else to blame if this doesn't work?

BEGALA: Sure. That's right. And I think the Democrats understand that. I will say, I think it's important that the president-elect has included Republicans in his cabinet -- thus far, not very many on economic policy. And he'll have to reach out to the Republicans on Capitol Hill to make this a bipartisan thing.

But make no mistake, the Democrats -- and that's my party -- President-Elect Obama, the House and the Senate -- they will be held accountable. They are going to have to deliver here.

That's why, though, that that flexibility and that boldness and that innovation is going to be so important.

Basically, as we're stopping the hemorrhaging, I think this new president is also going to be trying to find a new source of jobs. And he thinks, I'm told, that that's green collar jobs. In the new economy, green collar jobs is, I think, the thing he's going to try to focus that stimulus toward, so we can clean up the environment, but also create jobs that can't be shipped overseas.

HOLMES: And, Paul, like you said -- and we all know you are a Democrat, this is your party.

BEGALA: Right.

HOLMES: But just for a second here, President Bush -- is he completely out of this equation?

BEGALA: Yes.

HOLMES: Is there any way he can help out right now?

BEGALA: There's not much. I think he did step up, I have to say, on Detroit. When the Congress failed -- it was, frankly, his party that blocked it -- blocked the bailout for the automakers in -- on the Hill here. And he stepped in. And he didn't have to. And I do -- I do think that's something that he should get some credit for. And he said I didn't want to just dump the collapse of the auto industry on my successor's lap.

Now, what he did was just postpone it maybe for 90 days and the president-elect will have to deal it. But he is largely out of the equation right now. I mean he still is keeping the seat warm. But I think people are just holding on until January 20th to see what this new president will do.

HOLMES: All right.

Finally here, Paul, do you Twitter?

BEGALA: I actually don't Twitter. You know, Rick Sanchez, Leslie Sanchez, who is also a CNN buddy, they're trying to teach me how. But I'm so old tech, T.J. , I have a rotary cell phone. That's what my teenagers tell me.

HOLMES: OK. Don't admit that to anybody else, Paul.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: I'm trying to get a (INAUDIBLE).

HOLMES: All right, Paul Begala.

Good to see you, as always.

BEGALA: Thank you.

HOLMES: Appreciate you spending some time with us here in THE NEWSROOM.

And once again, we are continuing to ask you to help us and give us your comments about the craziest place you've ever Twittered, because this all comes around -- we actually talked to a guy a little earlier who was on that plane out in Denver that crashed -- that ran off that runway. And he began Twittering right after he got off that plane.

So what's the craziest place you've ever Twittered?

We're using your comments now at the bottom of the screen on that -- on that white strip there. We're using your comments. But getting some about people at school during an earthquake, people who were at a wedding and were Twittering.

So they keep coming in. Please bring them to us.

And about that plane crash, we're expecting some video -- new video to come in this hour out from Denver. Investigators got there -- NTSB got on the ground there. And so they're taking measurements, taking documentation. They also have the black box and the video recorder from the -- or the voice recorder, from the -- from the cockpit. So they are -- that investigation well underway.

We'll get that video to you as soon as we get it.

But stay here with us. A lot more to come. And including a story about "man parking" or something or the other. We'll explain. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Something else a little different we want to take note of here on this show.

Do you remember Michael Vick?

It was a year ago this month he had just been sentenced to 23 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal dogfighting charges.

A year ago this month, the City of Atlanta was divided about his guilt or innocence and even divided over whether race played a factor in his treatment by the NFL, by his team and by the media.

A year ago this month, Bobby Petrino, the then first year head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, quit with three games left in the season to take a job at my alma mater, the University of Arkansas. A year ago this month, the Atlanta Falcons had a record of 3-11. Needless to say, things weren't going so well, for the Falcons or for the City of Atlanta.

Now, let's move forward to April of this year. The Falcons pick a quarterback at number three in the draft. Some questions to move (ph). Paid him a lot of money -- $72 million, $34 million of that guaranteed.

Move forward to today. The Atlanta Falcons, 10-5 is their record. And yesterday, they clinched a spot in the play-offs.

Now, quarterback Matt Ryan a shoo-in for rookie of the year, becoming a front runner for league MVP.

What a difference a year makes. A lot of people would like to say congratulations to the City of Atlanta.

Congratulations to the Falcons for the recovery.

So if you were a Falcons fan, would you remember Michael Vick?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): There are just enough days left in 2008 to get your 2009 budget in check. After all, keeping your household budget in the black should be your number one resolution.

HILARY KRAMER, AUTHOR, "AHEAD OF THE CURVE": When it comes to budgeting, especially in 2009, look for these big expenses that you are incurring but that you don't realize what a hit it is to your bottom line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first step in developing a budget know -- where you're spending your money now.

KRAMER: The beauty of credit cards, the beauty of the debit card is that you're able to sit down and look at an extended period of time and review your spending habits and your patterns and pick up on certain expenses that you didn't realize are adding up over the long- term.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cutting back is helpful, but big monthly costs like an expensive car loan or high credit card bills, can create the biggest drain on your bank account.

KRAMER: The most important part of your budget planning is to get rid of those big huge expenses that are really dragging down your portfolio and the value of your personal accounts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's this week's Right on Your Money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: You just saw one of the tweets we got. We were asking people the craziest place you've ever Twittered. Somebody there say cars, airplanes and school all the time. Parents think they're crazy.

All right, a Native Texan. Well, that explains it. Just kidding. I love Texas.

All right. We will -- we asked this question today because we had a guy on earlier who was actually Twittering from that crash site out in Denver -- you know, the plane out there, Continental Flight 1404.

We're just getting some new pictures of the scene today. But it ran off the runway this weekend. It was actually Saturday evening when this happen -- about 6:00 local time. It veered off the runway and caught fire.

And we've been hearing the reports that the right side of that plane was what caught fire. And here are some of the best pictures we have seen of it -- if you can call these best pictures, if you can understand the sense of the word I'm using there -- in that they show the right side of the plane. And they show that gaping hole there that appears to have been burned out on the side there.

No word on what caused this accident -- why this happened. Again, the weather was cold, but it wasn't necessarily storming, if you will. Not a lot of snow or precipitation there.

But this Flight 1404 veered off into a ravine. The right side caught fire. Thirty-eight people injured, at least one seriously. But of the 115 people on board, everyone did survive.

The plane was on its way to Houston. Again, all those passengers were able to get off and they had to use those big inflatable Portland off the side of that plane.

Again, we talked to Mike Wilson, a gentleman who was actually on that plane. He was Twittering and just described the scene. It was a -- and he said he certainly knew something was wrong.

But there we go. That's one of the pictures. That's the best picture we have maybe seen of this -- that gaping hole on the side of that plane that certainly looks burnt out.

We've heard reports that certainly some of those flames made their way into the cabin. But no reports of any burns to people. Those were not the injuries people had. A lot of broken bones and bruises, people getting battered around and beaten up a bit, getting tossed around in that plane, but no burns to report. Those are not any of the injuries. So everybody got out maybe before that -- that right side of the plane and many of those flames were able to make it inside the cabin of that plane.

But those are the new pictures we are getting in and we wanted to share those with you.

NTSB investigators on the scene today collecting a lot of evidence -- the voice recorder and also the black box has been collected. Expecting NTSB to have a press conference at 4:30 Eastern time. Of course, that will be in Wolf Blitzer's hour, coming up next hour.

So we expect certainly we'll bring you the very latest out of that when that happens.

And today, our Susan Malveaux is sitting in for Wolf Blitzer. So she and the crew from "SITUATION ROOM" will be bringing you the latest from the NTSB.

When we come back here, we will continue to show your Twitters at the bottom of our page here. A lot of people writing in about the craziest places they've ever Twittered. Keep those coming in to us here on this show.

And when we come back, we will, as promised, "man parking?"

Really?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. You've seen this scene play out Christmas season after Christmas season.

You go to the mall, what do you see?

You see a car pull up to the front door, a woman hops out, the man continues on and parks the car. Or you go into the mall and you see -- in some middle sections of the mall, you know, in the center there -- a bunch of guys sitting around on the benches. Maybe they're holding bags, maybe they're holding purses, maybe they're holding babies.

Well, there is a particular mall that has been able to alleviate this type of scene and this type of situation.

Frederik Pleitgen and Diana Magnay with the story now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The little town of Celle in Germany is well-known for its lovely Christmas market. (on camera): Christmas is drawing closer and it's time to get those presents.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I love Christmas shopping.

PLEITGEN: I despise Christmas shopping.

MAGNAY: Luckily this year...

PLEITGEN: We can have it both ways.

MAGNAY (voice-over): That's because this Christmas market is offering something special. They call it "man parking" -- as in parking your man.

(on camera): Hello.

FRANCY: Hi.

MAGNAY: This is Fred.

FRANCY: Hi.

PLEITGEN (on camera): Hi.

FRANCY: I'm Francy (ph).

PLEITGEN: How you doing?

FRANCY: Hi.

MAGNAY: Please, could you look after him?

FRANCY: OK.

PLEITGEN: See you.

(voice-over): And that means I can relax with the boys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Fred.

UNIDENTIFIED MEN: Hi, Fred.

PLEITGEN: Hi, guys.

MAGNAY: While I hit the shops.

(on camera): And is this bee's wax, too?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(VIDEO CLIP)

MAGNAY: Das ist nett.

Danke schoen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Danke schoen.

PLEITGEN (on camera): All right. Thanks.

I could end up losing more money here than going shopping.

MAGNAY: Oh, it's huge.

(LAUGHTER)

MAGNAY: Who an earth wears one of these?

PLEITGEN: Merry Christmas. (voice-over): The makers of "man parking" say it doesn't just offer a flurry of activities to pass the time, it can even save relationships.

PETER FELHABER, CHRISTMAS MARKET CELLE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Of course, there is a serious side to all this. It can be so stressful when the lady goes and wants another present and there, and the man just doesn't feel like it. So we think this could help restore peace at home.

MAGNAY (voice-over): Or peace in our CNN office. In the end, I bought all my presents without Fred hassling me.

PLEITGEN: And I just didn't get hassled.

MAGNAY (on camera): Fred?

PLEITGEN: Bye, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MEN: Bye, Fred.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bye, Fred.

MAGNAY: Bye.

Have a good time?

PLEITGEN: Yes.

What took you so long?

(LAUGHTER)

MAGNAY: Thank you.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Frederik Pleitgen...

MAGNAY (voice-over): Diana Magnay.

PLEITGEN: CNN, Celle, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Yes, what took you so long?

Get me out of here with these guys.

All right. Susan Lisovicz and Chad, I know this isn't your specialty. Chad, you do the weather. Susan, you do the New York Stock Exchange.

But I've got to ask you all about this -- Susan, first of all, would you want to leave your guy in there with a woman dressed as that little Santa helper?

I mean that was kind of -- did anyone else notice that? It's...

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: These are desperate times.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. I didn't notice that at all.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: These are desperate times?

LISOVICZ: These are desperate times. And if that's what is needed to prop up the economy, T.J. , I'm all for it.

HOLMES: All right.

Chad, would you want to be "man parked?"

MYERS: No. I have to protect my credit card.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Yes.

MYERS: If I'm not with her, you never know what's going on that card.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: So I'm not really there to help her shop, I'm here to just kind of slow her down a little bit. That's what I'm there for.

HOLMES: You're there to protect your own personal economy. I got you.

MYERS: Exactly.

HOLMES: I got you, Chad.

All right, Susan, we're going to be checking in. We'll see you in here in a second.

But, weatherwise a lot going on.

A lot was going on over the weekend, Chad.

It's just been a mess.

MYERS: Oh, yes.

HOLMES: We got these pictures from Portland, Maine. (WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: After all of this snow falls in your community, what is there for one to say?

Let's take a listen to what one person had to say who was -- who succumbed to all of this snowfall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE KOHAIRAN, PORTLAND, MAINE: I got up about 4:00. I started shoveling off my porch. And it's the most I've seen in a long time, since I was a kid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, that sums it up, Chad.

MYERS: It's just going to be one of those winters where you tell your grandkids about how you had to go to school with no shoes on in the snow, walking uphill both ways.

HOLMES: Well -- one of those.

All right -- and...

MYERS: It's going to be one of those.

HOLMES: And this touched a huge portion of the country. Really, we're talking about -- I mean there was so much weather, from the Northwest literally to the Northeast. But, of course, that's going to cause all kind of travel delays. People are trying to get home, get somewhere right now.

How's the travel forecast now?

MYERS: You know, the biggest problem I have is in New York City, with wind delays, not so much that anything is falling out of the sky but it's windy still. And that wind is slowing down LaGuardia, Newark and, also, now, JFK, at almost two hours. So you're sitting around in airports -- Atlanta, Memphis, St. Louis, Chicago -- waiting for your plane to get there. The problem is these airports -- they're only allowing -- the FAA only allowing about 30 planes an hour to land because when the wind is so strong, you have to allow a bigger separation between the plane ahead of you and the plane behind you and your plane. You can't get them a minute apart. They have to be two minutes apart.

Well, compared to one minute, two minutes, you only get half as many planes in any one spot. So 14 below is the wind chill factor; one below in Minneapolis. It's not going to warm up very much today and you see temperatures in Kansas City and National -- I know it's the first day of winter and we're not breaking news because it's winter and it's cold.

But it's cold and it's snowing. Every little county or box that you see that is red, that's a warning. Heavy snow warning, avalanche warning, I don't know. I just -- if you picked this week to go skiing, you win. You just picked the right -- you picked the right time, because you're getting that new, fresh powder almost every day.

There you go -- LaGuardia, JFK, Newark. LAX now at 30 minutes and San Diego at about 15 to 30 minutes. But everybody can deal with that. When you get over that hour and two hour mark, then you start to get frustrated.

HOLMES: Yes. In 10 minutes I get frustrated, Chad.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: But I know I need to calm down.

MYERS: Yes.

HOLMES: Before we let you go, we've been asking all our viewers today -- we'll ask you, the craziest place you've ever Twittered?

Or do you Twitter, first of all?

MYERS: No.

HOLMES: You don't Twitter?

MYERS: I don't. I'm sorry, I don't.

HOLMES: OK. Well...

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: Sorry. Sorry to throw that water on the -- you know, on the fire.

HOLMES: That was fine. We've lost out like a two minute segment here to talk to you about your Twittering. Now we don't know what to do with the rest of our time, Chad.

MYERS: Well, I -- I don't even have a BlackBerry, because it ended up in a hurricane somewhere and I haven't found it since so.

HOLMES: All right.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: People usually don't recover those after a hurricane, I don't think.

MYERS: No.

They don't come back.

HOLMES: All right, Chad.

We appreciate you, as always, buddy.

MYERS: All right. See you.

HOLMES: And we appreciate everybody sending in -- those of you who do Twitter -- sending in those Twitters to us.

Don't go away.

We're not done -- done just yet.

We've got The Fix is in for you today right here in THE NEWSROOM.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. This is the part of the show now where we like to show you some other things that caught our attention over the past -- over this day. So check it out -- The Fix. It's in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE VIEW," COURTESY ABC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, shopping at the mall...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The problem with (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have questions.

Remember when you could buy stuff?

You would give people money and you could take stuff home.

Can we have your address?

Do you get coupons from us in the mail?

Do we have your e-mail?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we have our card?

No, I have this money.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, hear me out. I could give you this money and you could give me my shower gel.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would whack.

(LAUGHTER) I don't do well in stores. I really don't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Except the food court, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The food court -- oh, I always get the lady in front of me that goes how big is the small?

(LAUGHTER) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you've asked that in your life, I want you to know that I love you. But I also want you to know that the smalls are small. Some are bigger, but for the most part, they're small. Take a chance.

If the small is too big, what happens?

Nothing. You move on with your life.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How big is the small?

A little more than none.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't -- so, listen

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: OK. That's pretty good.

How big is the small?

Susan Lisovicz, I don't know if you have asked that question, but he's right. He makes a point. You try to go buy something now and they want your area code -- I mean your zip code. They want your phone number, your address and this and that. I always just say, you know what, I just want to do a straight up purchase.

And they look at me with the worst look, like I just said something bad about their mother.

LISOVICZ: Well, they just want to know everything about you, T.J. .

HOLMES: No.

LISOVICZ: And that's pretty much true for everyone who comes into contact with you, T.J. .

HOLMES: Oh, stop it.

Let's move on to the Stock Exchange -- Susan.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: What's going on down there?

You sent me a note a second ago that said things weren't looking -- things weren't looking so well.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT) HOLMES: All right, Susan Lisovicz, always good to see you.

LISOVICZ: Likewise.

HOLMES: Thank you so much.

Thank you all for being with me here in THE NEWSROOM for Rick Sanchez this week.

But we now want to hand it off to "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Sitting in today for Wolf Blitzer, Suzanne Malveaux.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, T.J.