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Spike Lee Debuts Latest Project at Sundance; Passengers in Downed Aircraft Feel Lucky to be Alive; Obama Makes Case for Economic Recovery Plan; Investigation Underway on Plane Crash into Hudson; Witnesses Describe Crash
Aired January 16, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT: Take the example of wind power. We've got representatives from the biggest wind-power companies in America here, all who flew in, as John said, on a day's notice, because they recognize the importance of this moment.
If we don't act now, because of the economic downturn, half of the wind projects planned for 2009 could end up being abandoned. Credit markets have frozen up. It's very difficult because of the capital-intensive nature of these projects for them to move forward if they can't get loans, if they can't get access to credit.
Think about that. Think about all the businesses that wouldn't come to be; all the jobs that wouldn't be created; all the clean energy that we wouldn't produce. Think about what's happening in countries like Spain, Germany, and Japan, where they're making real investments in renewable energy. They're surging ahead of us, poised to take the lead in this new industry.
This isn't because they're smarter than us, or work harder than us, or are more innovative than we are. It's because their governments have harnessed their people's hard work and ingenuity with bold investments, investments that are paying off in good, high-wage jobs, jobs they won't lose to other countries.
There's no reason we can't do the same thing right here in America. And that's why, as part of our recovery and re-investment plan, we are committing to double the production of renewable energy in the next three years and to modernize more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of 2 million American homes. That will put people to work. It will save us on our energy bills. It will free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil.
In the process, we'll put nearly half a million people to work building wind turbines and solar panels, constructing fuel-efficient cars and buildings, developing new technologies that will lead to new jobs, more savings and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain.
Here at Cardinal Fastener, that could mean going from operating at 50 percent capacity to 90 percent capacity and creating even more good-paying American jobs right here in Ohio.
With our recovery and re-investment plan, we'll also create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care, transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that won't just save money but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors.
It will create hundreds of thousands more jobs in educating, equipping tens of thousands of schools with 21st century classrooms, labs and computers to help our kids compete with any workers anywhere in the world.
We'll put nearly 400,000 people to work by repairing our infrastructure, our crumbling roads and bridges and schools. And we'll build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology and laying down miles of new broadband lines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world.
Finally, we won't just create jobs; we'll also provide help to those who have lost theirs. I was talking to Governor Strickland, obviously, about the enormous strains on the unemployment insurance system and on Medicaid and Medicare that are being placed during this time. So we're going to provide help to folks who have lost their jobs, to states and families who have been hardest hit by recession.
That means bipartisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts and essential services like police and fire and education, health care, daycare.
Given the magnitude of these challenges, none of this is going to come easy. Recovery is not going to happen overnight. It's likely that, even with the re-investment package that we're putting forward, even with the measures that we're taking, things could get worse before they get better. I want everybody to be realistic about this.
But if anybody doubts that we can dig ourselves out of this hole, I invite them here to Ohio and look what you've done here at Cardinal Fastener. It hasn't been easy here either. What John started wasn't without risk. But, here at this company, and in this state, and all across the country, the history of America has been to set our sights higher, to look at the future, not to look back.
In an economy that's losing jobs, we're creating them. They're the kinds of jobs that support families and sustain communities but also help transform our economies, spurring growth not just today but for decades to come.
That's what we've always done in moments like this. We've looked ahead to the next big idea, that next new break-through. We've experimented and we've innovated. And when we failed, we picked ourselves up and we've tried again. I know that, if we can summon that determination and that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and we will build a better future for our children. I ask all of you to join me in making that happen.
Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you. Thanks.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: All right. Four days before the inauguration, the president-elect, Barack Obama, there pushing, making a hard sell now of his $800 billion stimulus plan. He's there in Ohio.
And of course, he admits that there are challenges, he says; recovery certainly won't happen overnight. But he says if anyone has any doubt about the recovery of this economy, they need to look at this plant right here in Ohio as one -- as that of inspiration.
There, right there, the president-elect now shaking hands. A lot of folks turning out for his -- his talk there at Bedford Heights, Ohio, talking about the -- his plan for economic recovery plan.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is there at the White House in Washington. She's also keeping close watch of Barack Obama's plans on the stimulus plan. She's going to be joining us momentarily when she has an opportunity to do so.
This is really interesting, because many have said that President-elect Obama has come across as extremely presidential, even though he's made it very clear there's only one sitting president at a time.
He's receiving a lot of encouragement from Capitol Hill, because Capitol Hill, many lawmakers say they want him to start on the right foot. They want to send the right message to the rest of the nation to be supportive of his, if not the economic stimulus plan, then at least his ideas of trying to create somewhere between two and perhaps even four million new jobs.
He has already made it clear, however, while he's been very ambitious about his plans and very confident about the plans of this economy being turned around, he says in fact kind of revising some of his plans, it may take a little bit longer than initially thought. Maybe some of the turnaround will be taking place in the first year of office, but somewhere in and about maybe year two or year three.
He's getting a great reception there in Ohio at Bedford Heights, Ohio. Folks getting a chance to meet and greet, get to know as best they can the president-elect. Just now four days before inauguration. Many already descending on Washington.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is already in Washington, not just for the inauguration but, of course, she's a White House correspondent, been keeping a close watch on the president-elect's promises.
Seemingly very well received, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not surprising that he's being well received here. As you know, at least in the industrial Midwest and particularly in Ohio, that's where a lot of people are suffering from this recession.
And really what Barack Obama is doing is he's taking a page from President Bush's playbook here. He is going directly to the people who are affected by all of this and making his case for this huge economic stimulus package, that this is necessary, that this is important. What he's hoping to do is, by going and talking to workers, to folks who are actually creating these jobs, these new jobs, folks who are losing jobs, is that they'll put pressure on their lawmakers and that the lawmakers, Republicans as well as Democrats, will put -- will put pressure on those lawmakers to actually go forward and pass this legislation.
Because that really is the challenge here, Fred, is that he can talk about this, but he actually needs Congress to back him on this and from both sides of the aisle.
And so he's got a lot of work to do and he's essentially kind of laying the groundwork now, trying to set the tone, and also trying to convince people. It's really -- it's a very aggressive sales pitch at this point.
WHITFIELD: He's got a lot of work to do, but at the same time you're hearing a tone from him that sounds as though he is convinced a lot of folks who were maybe a little reluctant on the Hill to back his plan who may have turned that corner.
MALVEAUX: Well, there are already some people. There are some moderate Republicans that he was actually working the phones with on the Senate side when it came to releasing part of that bailout money that we've been talking about, when that vote happened yesterday on the Senate side. And you actually saw a lot of Democrats who were on- board, also some Republicans, as well.
That is -- that's really the outcome of a lot of personal and political capital that Barack Obama has already invested in this, in that money, the bailout money, and then also in this kind of economic recovery plan.
Also these things, very, very expensive. Tough sells, but Barack Obama using that rapport, some of the trust, some of the relationships that he's already had with lawmakers to try to bring them around. And now what you're seeing, as well, a direct appeal to just ordinary folks, to people, to say, "Look, you know, this is what I need you to do. I need you to get on-board with this so that your congressmen and Congresswomen will do so as well" -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux there in Washington. President-elect in Bedford Heights, Ohio. Pretty impressive turnout there in Ohio. Suzanne, thanks very much from Washington.
All right. Pretty impressive turnout there. Pretty remarkable event yesterday, with a multitude of stories. We're talking about the plane rescue in the Hudson River.
One person we haven't heard from, however, yet: the one whose story everyone wants to hear. The pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, known to his friends as "Sully," he has a key to the New York City waiting for him as a result of the mayor bestowing it upon him today, even though he wasn't quite there. The nation also singing his praises.
Thanks to him, his crew, rescuers were saving people instead of recovering bodies from that remarkable plane -- I guess accident, or crash landing -- splash landing, as it's being called, yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DET. ROBERT RODRIGUEZ, NYPD HARBOR SCUBA: I really don't think that we had that opportunity to be scared at the time. We were -- we looked at the situation at that point. People needed help, and that was the job that needed to be done. We didn't really have time to be scared at the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. We know how this story ends, but there are still a lot of questions about how it all began. So we hope to learn more about what went wrong exactly with the U.S. Airways this afternoon. The NTSB is holding a news conference at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, and we'll be on it, live.
Meantime, 155 people are very happy to be alive. Some of those passengers have already caught new flights home. We spoke to several of them after they landed at the Charlotte airport.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARL BAZARIAN, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: We were hitting the Hudson River with full impact. It went boom! And then we stopped. And then we looked, out and they said, you know, like raise and so forth. But we all wanted to see what was going to happen. Were we going to die?
BRAD WENTZELL, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: It was probably the most amazing moment of my life. Honestly, there was a lady and a child. And she -- she was trying to climb over the seats because everybody was like -- it's like wrecked, you know. For the most part, everybody was all behaved and everybody was organized, but she got blocked off. And I grabbed her and her child and walked them to the exit. And from there Josh, I believe, got them onto the raft. But I'll never get over it.
JOE HART, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: When we got outside in the cold water -- and I mean the water was cold. Within seconds my legs were numb standing in the water. So I'm guessing it was, you know, 30, 40 degrees. It was ugly.
VINCE SPERA, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: The fire and rescue up in New York, if you're going to go down in an incident, you want to be in this New York, I promise you. Those people took care of us. The ferryboat drivers, the fire and rescue, they were on top of it, took us out.
WENTZELL: This pilot, and if this guy doesn't get the recognition he needs...
BAZARIAN: Unbelievable.
WENTZELL: He's the reason my daughter, my 2 1/2-year-old, has a dad and my wife still has a husband.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we know the pilot has received some recognition but more on the way. That man, who's a husband and a dad, Brad Wentzell, had the presence of mind, in fact, to snap these incredible pictures we're about to show you while he was waiting to be rescued. Some pretty great close-ups of a very surreal scene right there on the Hudson River. That right on the plane's wings. Many of the passengers while they were waiting for these guys right here to come to their rescue.
Pretty extraordinary events all unfolding on live television in some parts yesterday afternoon.
All right. Still, a lot going on down by the river today. But one thing that's not happening: that plane is not going to be pulled out of the water just yet.
CNN's Allan Chernoff is live now with the very latest.
And why is that, Allan?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Fredricka. The plane right behind me, you can see one of the wings sticking out of the water. Most of the rest of the plane is actually in the water. So it is no easy task to haul any aircraft out of a river. And here in particular, you can see it's especially difficult.
There are two huge cranes right behind the plane. We can't see them from our location, but apparently, that's not enough. So it's going to take a little more time. Maybe tomorrow they'll be able to actually get that plane out of the river.
They're going to put it on a barge, and then bring it to a secure location, perhaps Floyd Bennett Field which is an airfield that's very secure in Brooklyn, not heavily used. And then the NTSB will be able to go through the entire plane.
The NTSB today is talking to the crew. In addition, they will be debriefing that captain, Captain Sullenberger. And he is getting plenty of recognition, as you mentioned before, "The Daily News" calling him "the Hero of the Hudson." Few people would doubt that. Certainly, a very heroic, very spectacular performance.
Just a minute after taking off, both engines on that plane went out, apparently what they call a double bird strike. Flocks of birds, apparently, sucked up by the engine. We'll know for sure after the investigation, but it appears that's what happened.
The captain made a left turn right over the George Washington Bridge, came in for a landing right onto the Hudson River, basically used the river as a runway. And as we all know, everyone was rescued.
Lots of ferries were in the water. They came over very quickly. A hundred fifty-five people all safe and sound right now.
The takeaway from here in terms of how do we make sure that air safety improves as a result of this? Well, the NTSB will look at -- be looking at that very question of jet engines and how they can potentially suck in birds.
Now, I asked an NTSB board member right here about that question. They're tested before they're put on the plane. Shouldn't they be tested afterwards?
Let's have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KITTY HIGGINS, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: They're certified before they're put on -- when they're manufactured. So the question is what are those standards, and are those the right standards? And maybe the standards should change.
CHERNOFF: Should they be retested, do you think?
HIGGINS: I don't know that. We'll look at that. Again, we want to first of all determine exactly what happened before we speculate about what to -- what to do next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: But certainly, this could have been a catastrophic story. Instead, a very, very happy one -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And we know, in part, Allan, you know, the reason we haven't heard from the crew and Sullenberger or "Sully," as folks like to call him, is because they're going to be interviewed by the NTSB for a while. Who knows if it's going to be a matter of days or even a week before we finally hear their story firsthand?
CHERNOFF: Well, hopefully, we'll hear it before then. I would think it wouldn't take the NTSB longer than a day or two, at most, to complete their interviews with the crew.
WHITFIELD: All right. We look forward to that. Allan Chernoff, thanks so much there in New York.
All right. Well, when both of those engines blew out, the pilots were powerless, as many described, over a sprawling, crowded city, as you saw there. They didn't have much time to think, but they did. All of it went down just like this.
After taking off from La Guardia in Queens, they ascended to about 3,200 feet. Just take a look at the graphic there. Somewhere over the Bronx, things started going wrong there with the impact of those birds. The pilots report a double bird strike. Air traffic control directs them south along the Hudson for an emergency landing at Teterboro in New Jersey.
But after clearing the George Washington Bridge by 900 feet, it's pretty clear to the cockpit that they've got to ditch in the water. So they splash down off midtown Manhattan, as we've seen the results of that splash landing -- splash landing that we've been hearing described by a lot of folks there. Miraculously, all 155 people on board able to be rescued by the first responders there that got to the Hudson in time.
All right. So what about the pilot of that plane, Captain Sullenberger? We can't really say anything until the feds, as we described, finish investigating. But a pilot's union official says the Hero of the Hudson is fine, both mentally and physically.
We did hear from Mrs. Sullenberger earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORRIE SULLENBERGER, PILOT'S WIFE: We are very grateful that everyone is off there safely. And that was really what my husband asked to convey to everyone. And of course, we are very proud of Dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us how he feels? I mean, I know nothing about the crash, but what did he say to you?
SULLENBERGER: He's feeling better today. He's -- you know, he's a pilot. He's very controlled and very professional. And we haven't actually talked a lot. But we're very, very proud.
My husband has said over the years that it's highly unlikely for any pilot to ever have an incident in his career, let alone something like this. So I'm not afraid. You know, it never crosses my mind. And like everyone else, I was stunned when he called and said, "There's been an incident." And even then, I assumed it was, you know, a tug that maybe had bumped the airplane. I had -- you know, your mind just never goes to something like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, talk about one of those "I've got good news and bad news" kind of conversations. So can you imagine the phone call that took place between the co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, and his wife? Here's how she described it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA SKILES, CO-PILOT'S WIFE: He called me before --the first I knew of it was he called me to say that they'd had to ditch the plane in the Hudson River but he was OK, and that they believed that they'd gotten everybody off and everybody was OK. And he wanted me to know that before I started hearing things on the news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, the Skiles live in Wisconsin. He has worked for U.S. Airways for more than 25 years now. Mrs. Skiles says she's not sure when he's coming home. She does expect that investigators will keep him in New York for several days, in her view.
All right. Just four days from now, the other big story being watched today and throughout the weekend, in fact, Barack Obama will take the oath of office as the nation's 44th president. A lot of Americans are filled with pride over the history-making inauguration. We'll find out what filmmaker Spike Lee has to say in a live interview coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Enough can't be said about the miracle on the Hudson. There have been a lot of stories being told about exactly what took place yesterday. Today we're hearing about some of the emergency calls that were made right after the plane went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a U.S. Airways airlines jet in the water, approximately a 60-passenger jet. Also at this time we have numerous people on the wings of the airplane, and like I said we got about 4 or 5 Circle Line boats around the plane at this time. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) units are jumping on Circle Line boats and heading out to the incident. Copy that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Pretty controlled there. It was a miraculous day and a heroic one, as well. Crews from all sorts of agencies rushed to the scene to help. Among them, divers from the NYPD. Two of them also talked with Kiran Chetry this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": Michael, as I understand it, you were in the actual -- you were the one with the full scuba gear on, so you were in the actual plane. What was that like?
DET. MICHAEL DELANEY, NYPD HARBOR SCUBA: Well, you know, at first we needed to make an assessment before we went inside the plane, make sure it was a bit stable before we entered.
And as I entered in, I went into the middle aisle, went in about 15 feet. Didn't see anybody. And Mike made the call from the outside. He noticed that the water was rising above the head rests, and he made the call for me to come back out. It was the safest thing to do at that point.
CHETRY: And this type of situation, I mean, you have to assess things moment by moment and as you're seeing it. What were you guys prepared to do at the time when you got there on-scene?
RODRIGUEZ: When we originally got the call we didn't know, that the scene was going to be this large. We were expecting a small biplane, something like that. And when we showed up, you immediately assess the situation and you start changing your game plan.
When we pulled up on the scene, the NYPD aviation unit did a great job putting us in a perfect position. We saw one victim in the water that we needed...
CHETRY: You mean the perfect position from your helicopter?
RODRIGUEZ: Exactly. We saw one victim in the water that we needed to get to, and the aviation pilots put us -- put us in a position where we were out of -- out of the way of the ferryboats and other rescue boats. And we had a direct line right to the victim. So we deployed out of the helicopter at that time.
CHETRY: I still marvel at the fact that everybody else wants to get out of the situation you guys are willingly jumping into. And there were some people there that were unable to move, right? Because of the hypothermia. The frigid waters had set in. How were you rescuing these people? Tell us a little bit about that.
DELANEY: Well, you know, they're scared, obviously. You know, the cold waters make them lethargic and not able to swim very well after a short period of time so they're basically helpless. And when we get there, we got there, the first victim was extremely happy and glad that we were there.
CHETRY: Now, when you're under water, I mean, it's pretty much dark. Right? How are you determining who's in there? How are you able to see who is in the plane?
DELANEY: Well, we have a lot of training in the bodies of water that we work in, and the nature of bodies of water in New York are basically pitch-black-type diving. And we train for feeling. We don't rely on sight. We do a lot of our diving based on just feel.
CHETRY: Were you guys scared yesterday?
RODRIGUEZ: I really don't think that we had that opportunity to be scared at the time. We were -- we looked at the situation at that point. People needed help, and that was the job that needed to be done. We didn't really have time to be scared at the time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Two of the divers from NYPD. Just incredible effort by all involved yesterday all the way around.
Well, he's chronicled the experiences of African-Americans on film. You know the face. Now he's sharing his own thoughts about the nation's first black president. Spike Lee joins me live from Park City, Utah, at the bottom of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. You and I now own a little bit more of the Bank of America. Overnight the feds agreed to sink another $20 billion in Bank of America stock and guarantee another $118 billion in shaky bank assets.
Well, Bank of America had received $25 billion in bailout money already but needed more to cope with devastating losses from Merrill Lynch, which it recently bought. Citigroup also is at its second helping of taxpayer capital. Today it announced that it's splitting up into Citicorp and Citi Holdings. Both Citi and Bank of America today reported losses in the billions for the quarter that just ended.
And speaking of losses, two big bankruptcies of note. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has filed for Chapter 11. The newspaper hopes to restructure debt, lower costs and stay in business.
Not so for Circuit City. The electronics chain says it's liquidating the 567 stores that haven't closed already. Thirty thousand employees stand to lose their jobs.
Now, back to the bailout. The Senate says the incoming president may have the second half of the $700 billion in the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. A measure that would have blocked the remaining $350 billion failed late yesterday, though eight Democrats voted for it, against the wishes of the president-elect. Lawmakers of both parties say the bailout to date has done far too little to spur lending and curb foreclosures.
It's quite the surreal sight, a passenger jet right there floating down the river. Amazing enough to see, but imagine actually being on it? A passenger's going to tell us what it's like.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, that US Airways jet is still in the Hudson River. And we hope to learn more about exactly what went wrong at a news conference later on this afternoon. NTSB officials will meet with the media at 4:00 Eastern time, and we'll carry that live for you right here on CNN.
All right, one thing's for sure right now -- 155 people are happy to be alive. Some have already actually caught new flights back home. But one of those passengers is Joe Hart. He says what happened is one giant miracle.
Joe is joining us now from Charlotte, North Carolina. That was supposed to be, of course, Flight 1549's destination. You eventually made it, but not without that very rocky adventurous journey. All right, Joe, so glad you're with us to tell us your story. So, if you can recall for me when you heard, as a passenger onboard that flight, there was trouble, what were the words coming out of the pilot's mouth?
JOE HART, PASSENGER, FLIGHT 1549: Well, Fredricka, it was kind of interesting in that once we made contact with the birds and the engines started to have problems, everybody kind of knew we were in trouble. Not much discussion was going on in the cabin. And then the three most conclusive words I've ever heard over the P.A. was when the pilot came on and said, "brace for impact." And that's when we knew we were going to have a serious problem on our hands.
WHITFIELD: And what went through your mind when you heard that? Were you, you know, thinking, impacting what? I mean, give me some of your thoughts.
HART: Well, shortly after takeoff, the birds went through the engines. And the pilot did a fabulous job. We were heading north or northwest. He made a hard bank south. I make that route often, so I knew we were following the Hudson River. I actually was hopeful that we were heading for Newark Airport until I looked out the window and saw we were actually below the rooftops of the Manhattan skyline.
At that point I kind of recognized we weren't going to make Newark, and then those famous words came out, and I knew we were heading for the water. So, you know, what goes through your mind? It's almost like a movie.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Were you starting to reflect on, you know, on everything in your life and how loved ones would be learning of this? I mean, what were some of those thoughts?
HART: It goes through quick. The first check-off list is, you know, how are my kids going to handle this? How's that going to work through? You run through, you know, things you could have done differently or better through your life. And then quite frankly, that goes pretty quick. For me, maybe 30, 45 seconds into it, I just kind of came to peace and said, I guess this is my time and I'll have at it.
WHITFIELD: And then the flight attendants, I understand, were letting everyone -- kind of giving folks instructions on what to do, you know, bracing for that impact. And what did that mean to you? What did they tell you to do exactly?
HART: Well, this crew was phenomenal, in all respects. Once the pilot said brace for impact, the flight attendants made sure everybody knew that they had to be buckled in and bent over. Then they sat in their chairs, strapped themselves in, and in a regular cadence, until we hit the water, they just continued to chant brace brace brace so that nobody would sit up. And that I think helped prevent a lot of injuries on impact.
WHITFIELD: You know, and, Joe, just as you are praising the entire crew, we're getting word directly from the White House through our Ed Henry, chief White House correspondent, President Bush actually spoke with the pilot Chesley Sullenberger and he, too, gave direct praise to him for his amazing skills in bringing this plane down safely for his bravery and for his heroic efforts to ensure the safety of the passengers and the people in the area.
There were so many routes in which this plane could have taken. You fly this route all the time, as you mentioned. You know, this Hudson River, that was the best place for this pilot -- you've heard from so many experts who say he reacted, or they reacted just so precisely, did all the right things. Certainly could have turned out very differently.
HART: Absolutely. There's 155 people today that are absolutely thrilled that he was in charge and made the decisions he made. It could have been a lot more catastrophic. We're very appreciative. WHITFIELD: And I would think -- I know you wanted to go on to Charlotte, but I would think after that, you know, who wants to get back on a plane? Maybe Greyhound or something, but you did get on a plane and eventually made it to Charlotte. What was that flight like?
HART: Well, it was not quite as interesting as the first flight, but we got the second one right, so that's a good thing. There were quite a handful of us, maybe ten or 12 of us, on that flight that were on the original flight and we took every opportunity to celebrate the success of the second flight over the first flight.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Well that's fantastic. And great thing it didn't leave you uneasy about flying again because I know you have to do it a lot for your business. Joe Hart, thanks so much. Passenger onboard that flight. Congratulations and thanks for taking the time to talk to us as well.
HART: Thanks, Fredricka. God bless to all.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much.
Well, a lot of people are feeling exactly that way. And they saw this whole thing unfold right before their eyes. And so, we've got some incredible iReports coming in that we want to share with you. CNN's Josh Levs joins us now from the iReport positioning there.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. I'm right over here. What's up?
You gave away the secret. I'm like ten steps from her. Hey, everybody.
First of all, our iReporters, I mean, did they tell this story or what? It's amazing. It is amazing what they did here. As it was happening, they pull out their cameras.
In fact, let's start at this map. I want you to see something. You've got the Hudson right here. This is from us at iReport.com. And these are just a few of the pictures I'm going to show you right now, people who were right up there as it was happening. There are more. I'm showing you the locations of some that I want to click to right now.
Let's go over to this spot on the screen, right here, because I want you to see some of the many pictures we're getting. You could spend an hour looking at these photos on the iReport to get a sense from all these different angles of what it looked like to people who were right there in New York.
But I want to start off closing in on this one which comes to us from Lou Fromansky. And if you take a look really closely, in the center of your screen, see that little do the right there? That is the plane. Look right in the center, right where the clouds seem to meet the horizon. You can see the plane right there. He was right there. He tells us he was basically at the right place at the right time. Being a New Yorker, he was stuck in traffic. Let's go to the next one right now.
I want you to see these photos from Julie Pukelis, who tells us that what she did from her building where she was working, she basically took a camera and put it up to a telescope. She didn't have a telephoto lens, so she just put it up against a telescope, and she was able to see that and check it out. I mean, that's the very well- known walking on water picture that a lot of people are referring to right now. These people being saved.
And we can tie it up with this, from Neil Marshad, who has some more photos for us. He says he looked out, he saw a parade of police cars heading north, so he and his son went to the scene. Check that out, Fred. I mean, it is so powerful.
These are the kinds of things our iReporters have for us. Keep them coming, everybody, ireport.com. We're going to keep following them today and through the weekend, and we'll keep showing them to you right here on TV.
WHITFIELD: Wow, Josh, and of course through seeing those images, no wonder why people are calling it this miracle on the Hudson. All right, thanks so much for sharing those iReports. We appreciate it.
All right, well, the survivals -- survivors, rather, some of them are struggling, you know, whether to feel fearful after this or euphoric. We'll look at the aftereffects of enduring such an ordeal.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPIKE LEE, FILMMAKER: I'm thinking about my grandma. My grandma lived to be 100 years old. Her mother was born a slave. And I'm five generations removed from slavery. What Barack said tonight is true -- this is the only place in the world where this could happen, America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Filmmaker Spike Lee was there in Chicago the night Barack Obama won the race for the White House, and he's going to be in Washington for Obama's inauguration. But right now, he's in Park City, Utah. And that's where Spike Lee, with quite the topper there, is joining us now. Good to see you, Spike. I like that.
LEE: How you doing, Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: I'm doing good. You're there at the Sundance Film Festival. I'll talk to you about your latest project in a moment. But first, let's talk about inauguration and really this pre-inaugural event taking place at Howard University, my alma mater. And it's --
LEE: Oh, you went to Howard?
WHITFIELD: I did! I'm a bison. And it's called...
LEE: All right.
WHITFIELD: ... "Refresh the World," which is what this entire forum is all about.
LEE: Right.
WHITFIELD: How important is it for you to play a role?
LEE: Well, it's very important. I have an advertising agency called Spike DDB, and we're the agency of record for Pepsi as far as the African-American community's concerned. And we came up with the idea of having a symposium on Howard's campus all day on Dr. King's birthday in Cramton Auditorium.
We're having five different panels: Refresh Education, Refresh the Economy, Refresh Gender, Refresh Hip-Hop, and the last one, which is going to be the barn burner, Refresh Black America and Impact Barack Obama. So, it's all day. It's going to be at Howard's campus -- on Howard's campus, Cramton Auditorium.
WHITFIELD: And it's incredible, I mean, that the --
LEE: And Roland's going to be the moderator for the final one.
WHITFIELD: I see that. I see that. There are so many folks who are involved in this besides yourself and Roland, Charles Ogletree, Joel Klein, the list goes on and on. Dr. Andrew Brimmer --
LEE: Reverend Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Jr., a whole bunch of people.
WHITFIELD: Yes, it's going to be incredible. This really is quite impressive, I mean, and it's all day at Cramton Auditorium. This is something that begins at 8:30 in the morning. It ends at 7 p.m. You know, a lot of times people go to symposiums and forums --
LEE: You need tickets to get in, though.
WHITFIELD: You've got to have tickets. OK. And they want to hear solutions.
LEE: Got to have tickets.
WHITFIELD: How much of this is a solution-driven symposium or forum?
LEE: Well, I just kind of figured that anybody that's going to be anybody is going to be in D.C. this weekend. So, I said, let's reach out to the people who are the experts in these various areas, and almost everybody, like I said, was going to be in D.C., and almost everybody agreed to be a part of this panel. We want to have a discussion about where we go forward, and it would just be great it's happening on Dr. King's birthday. This is a significant event.
WHITFIELD: Very symbolic in so many ways.
LEE: And the next day, Barack Obama puts his hand on the same Bible that Abraham Lincoln took his oath on. I mean, it was -- that's not a coincidence that these two things are happening next to each other.
WHITFIELD: And then you are going to be the next day -- on that historic day, you are going to be there front and center to witness this.
LEE: Well, I don't know -- whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't know about front and center.
WHITFIELD: OK. You're in the nation's capital. That's front and center.
LEE: I'm going to be there. I'll be in the mix.
WHITFIELD: OK. You'll be in the mix with the other up to 4 million or somewhere between 1 million and 4 million people. If you're there, you're front and center in my book. What do you suppose that moment is going to be like? You described so eloquently what it meant to be at Grant Park in Chicago, but I guess it is difficult to know what you're going to be feeling inside on that day of, that moment of.
LEE: I would like to answer your question, but I'm not going to try to anticipate. I'm open. I don't know what I'm going to be feeling. But it will be an emotion. What that emotion will be, I really can't tell you yet.
But in fact, I know it's supposed to be 30 degrees but it will be tropical to me. I don't care. I don't care if this is taking place in the North Pole, I wanted to be there. I'll be bundled up with my wife, Tonya. We wanted to be there to witness this historic occasion.
WHITFIELD: And let's talk about why you're in Park City right now, and how you're going to make that quick turnaround to the nation's capital. You're in Park City in part to launch your latest project "Passing Strange." We know you for so many -- a variety of projects: "She's Gotta Have It," "School Daze," "Jungle Fever," documentaries, "Four Little Girls," "When the Levees Broke."
What's this one all about? This is a huge departure for you.
LEE: Yes. "Passing Strange" was a Broadway musical. And I got approached by the producer to film the last three performances before it went dark on Broadway. And this is the result.
So it's a combination of a film and a Broadway play, so we're very -- a Broadway musical. Very happy about it. And today is going to be the world premiere for it. And tomorrow, I'm jetting straight to -- you know...
WHITFIELD: To Washington.
LEE: ... we're in a little of the same generation. I'm just calling it Chocolate City. Can we say that?
WHITFIELD: We can say that.
LEE: Like Parliament Funkadelic?
WHITFIELD: People have said it forever.
LEE: Chocolate -- P-Funk, Chocolate City.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, I will see you there. I'll look for you in the sea of up to 4 million or somewhere between 1 million and 4 million. I know nobody wants to put the finger on how many people, but I'll look for you.
LEE: And I know you're going to be busy, but if you could make it over to Cramton Auditorium, please come.
WHITFIELD: My old stomping grounds. I will, indeed. All right. Thanks so much, Spike. Appreciate it. Good to see you. Safe travels.
LEE: Thanks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. All right, well, through all of this, a lot of excitement taking place in this country. And meantime, still taking place in the Middle East, the conflict between Israel and Gaza, and now a very rare opportunity being extended to a number of journalists who are getting a limited view now of Gaza.
Our Ben Wedeman joins us now to give us his take on exactly what you're able to see, Ben, and how this is really a milestone in the type of reporting that we've been able to do over the last two weeks -- what, three weeks now.
All right, looks like we're having some audio problems. We're going to try and work that out so we can get -- oh, here we go.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Go ahead, Fredricka. I can hear you now.
WHITFIELD: OK, Ben, give us an idea what you've been able to see because we understand journalists have been given a limited view of Gaza, perhaps the first view of how people there are being able to survive now three weeks into this conflict.
WEDEMAN: Yes, Fredricka. Well, we were able to enter from Egypt so we're not under any sort of Israeli restrictions here. The only restrictions are that the Israeli forces have cut the road between the southern part of the Gaza Strip, where we are, and Gaza City, where most of the real intense military action has been taking place. What we've been able to see since we've come from Egypt -- we've been here more than 24 hours -- is that, for instance, along the border between Gaza and Egypt, intense destruction from the Israeli bombing. Of course, that is the area where all those tunnels, as many as 300, according to the Israeli army, have been dug over the last year or so. And so, many of the houses right next to the border have been utterly demolished. Pulverized might be a better way to describe it. And of course, as a result of that bombing, thousands of people have fled their homes. Many of their homes destroyed. Others have left simply because they were terrified by the bombardment.
They've gone to the United Nations schools in the area, where the U.N. has provided blankets and food. But they are crammed into classrooms in these schools, as many as six to seven people -- families per classrooms. Of course, Palestinian families are very big, so you're talking about very crowded conditions.
We also had the opportunity to go to the biggest hospital here in Rafah, where we saw very difficult conditions. We were able to go into one of the operating rooms to see Egyptian and Palestinian workers -- doctors working together, surgery under the most difficult conditions. They're really working around the clock trying to save as many people as possible.
But, of course, they are running low on things like medicine. And one thing that's a problem here in Rafah, Fredricka, is, of course, the power. Power is off in much of the city. We found one area that does have power.
And in addition to power, water seems to be in short supply as well. The taps in the place we're staying are simply dry. So, very difficult conditions. As far as the bombing, I can hear an Israeli drone overhead. We heard warplanes as well. There's occasional bombing. But we're told the level of the intensity of the bombing is less over the last two days than it was before -- Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Wow. Extraordinary view, Ben Wedeman. Thanks so much for bringing it to us there, from Rafah.
All right, well, back in this country now, it is called the miracle on the Hudson. But will the survivors struggle once the euphoria actually subsides? We'll look at the after-effects of enduring such an ordeal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, surviving a potentially deadly plane crash. Of course, it can speak -- spark, rather, powerful and overwhelming feelings of joy. But it's possible that once those feelings subside and life gets back to normal, survivors of US Airways Flight 1549 will face a wide range of emotions.
Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins me now. So, Elizabeth, you know, we have information now on, I guess, what a lot of the folks have been through. Do we have a good idea of what they're feeling?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's talk first about some of the physical injuries, because I know that's always first on people's minds when you see a plane goes into a river. The approximately 15, 20 people ended up in the hospital, but we are told that most of them have been released.
Most of them were treated for hypothermia, which is very easy to treat when it's mild to moderate. There also were some folks treated for injuries like lacerations. For example, one flight attendant was treated for lacerations in her leg. So, it looks like most everyone is out and on their way home.
WHITFIELD: And when we look at the images here, at least there were some photographs, too, that showed a lot of, you know, kind of pumping the fists in the air, just looking excited. So, the psychological impact, I guess on the immediate is, whew, relief, and, wow, that was close. Happy.
COHEN: And you know what? It really depends, actually, on sort of how you were when you walked onto that flight. There's going to be a whole span of reactions. So, for example, we want to play you one man who said pretty much what Fred just said now. He really was quite happy. So, let's listen to him and hear what he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you feeling?
JEFF KOLODJAY, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: I feel like a million bucks, man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Feels like a million bucks because he is still alive. But probably not everyone felt that way. I mean, it's obviously a very scary thing to be told to brace for impact and to land in a river. And if you started that flight with a certain level of depression or anxiety, you might not feel like a million bucks.
But other folks would feel very life-affirming. They made it. Things are good. And especially if you did something to help other people, it can really, you know, improve your self-image. You feel great. Not only did you survive, but you helped others.
WHITFIELD: And I would imagine they'd be riding on that probably a long time. This is not just something that just lingers with you for a matter of days, but maybe months, maybe really forever.
COHEN: It could. It absolutely -- the psychiatrists I talked to said this could really be a life-changing event in the positive for some people. Now, of course, not for everyone. I mean, some people may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, just from the stress of thinking that you might lose your life. But it really depends on the person.
WHITFIELD: Given the outcome was positive, something tells me you only walk away from this feeling really good.
COHEN: Right. Feeling good. WHITFIELD: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
All right, well, practice just doesn't make perfect. It can mean the difference between survivor and victim in a plane crash. Even though you might not give the safety features much attention, you know, at the beginning of that flight, be glad that the crew does.
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