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Multiple Corporations Announce Big Job Cuts; Obama Scores Legislative Victory; TARP Funds Will Be Released
Aired January 16, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Just plain lucky. Survivors' incredible stories of their splashdown in the Hudson River. The crash, the calm, the cold.
And salesman in chief, President-Elect Barack Obama goes to work explaining how your billions will help our economy. Got to sell that stimulus, sir.
Hello again, I'm Fredricka Whitfield live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Everyone agrees, the plane rescue in the Hudson River was one remarkable event, with hundreds of different stories. In a couple of hours, the NTSB will report the latest on the crash itself. But for now, we're seeing the pictures, and we're hearing all the stories. All of them quite incredible.
Among them, the story from the pilot's wife. Imagine how the last 24 hours have been for her. Shock, disbelief, relief, and pride. Plus the story has a happy ending in large part because of people who practice for such an event like this. The payoff came in lives saved.
First, though, let's run through what we know about what happened yesterday. Everyone aboard US Airways Flight 1549 is safe and sound, if shaken today; 155 people were onboard. Only 25 or so were taken to the hospital. Most treated and released. A flight attendant with a leg injury does remain under doctor's care.
NTSB investigators would really like to get their hands on the plane's flight data and voice recorders. Right now they're still underwater. The plane, tethered to the pier at the southern tip of Manhattan.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg already handed out certificates of appreciate to civilian and uniformed rescuers. He says the crew of Flight 1549 will be getting a key to the city.
This is a story best told by those who were actually there, the passengers who found themselves floating in a frigid river, and the rescuers who moved in very quickly to save them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) water. We got numerous people on the wings of the airplane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God! (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got four or five Circle Line Boats around the plane at this time. They're jumping on the Circle Line boat, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Copy?
JOE HART, PASSENGER: That's really where people started to panic. Inside the plane there were only one or two who were really kind of -- not knowing what to do. It's when we got outside and in the cold water, and I mean, the water was cold, within seconds my legs were numb standing in the water. I'm guessing it was 30, 40 degrees. It was ugly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) At this time the Coast Guard is reporting they have four ferries around, and one Coast Guard skipper (ph) around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) supposed to be 146 passengers plus five crew on that plane, total 151, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Division when we get a report that the plane is in a floating (UNINTELLIGIBLE) there is plenty of room there to a line boats.
JEFF KOLODJAY, PASSENGER: The engine blew about three minutes into the flight, smoke came out everywhere. Couple minutes later, the captain came on and said we're going to dump this plane, brace for impact. And probably brace pretty hard. That's what we did.
Kudos to him, man. He did a great job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pilot stated he got all of the people off the plane, off of the wings. The pilot was dropped off by Pier 79.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have approximately 30 people who are at Pier 79. Nobody seriously injured. We should somehow get some blankets over there. Everybody's soaking wet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Engine 9 is at the waterway filter, which is on 40th and 12th, we have approximately 54 passengers in this terminal. Two were taken to the hospital. Nobody serious.
BRAD WENTZELL, PASSENGER: My daughter's name is Caylee Elizabeth Wentzell. She's in bed right now. And when I get home I want to take my nose and put it by her ear, and her little warm body, and give her a nice kiss from Daddy, because I'm alive.
GOV. DAVID PATERSON, NEW YORK: There is an heroic pilot who saved himself, and approximately 154 other passengers this afternoon. We've had a miracle on 34th Street, I believe now we've had a miracle on the Hudson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Wow! So what about that pilot? Captain Sullenberger, we can't really say anything, at least to reporters, as of yet, until the feds finish investigating. But the president, well, that's a different story. The White House says President Bush spoke with Sullenberger by phone today, commending his skills, and his bravery, and thanking him for saving so many lives. And we did hear from Mrs. Sullenberger earlier today.
LORRIE SULLENBERGER, PILOT'S WIFE: Obviously my daughters and I were very surprised. We're, first of all, we were very grateful that everyone got off of the airplane safely. That was the first thing Sully wanted me to convey, actually, just very grateful for everyone's safety.
And we were obviously very proud of dad. And that I was very surprised at, you know -- I know flying is very safe. And when he called and said there had been an incident, you know, I thought he had run into something in the parking lot of the airport. Never in my wildest dreams.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, most of Captain Sullenberger's plane remains where it was tied up last night. But its left engine we hear somewhere on the bottom of the Hudson. Let's go live not to CNN's Allan Chernoff for more details and developments. How long before they can actually remove that plane so they can carry on with their investigations?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, we hope it will be removed within the next few days. We have learned that they've decided not to remove it today. Keep in mind, that plane behind me, and you can see one wing sticking out of the water. Much of the plane is essentially under water. It's filled with lots and lots of water. So it is a huge task to get that aircraft out of the water. There is a major crane right behind it. You can't see it very well from where we are. But apparently there's going to have to bring more equipment over. It's going to take a little bit of a feat of engineering to actually get that aircraft out of the water here.
But an absolutely spectacular story yesterday. As you know, the plane took off from LaGuardia Airport, a minute after takeoff, both engines went out. Apparently a double bird strike, as it's known in aviation. Flocks of bird sucked up by the engines. And they shut down. The captain made a left turn, right above the Hudson River, and moved it in for a safe, very, very nice landing, right about 48th Street in Midtown Manhattan.
The plane has been brought down here to lower Manhattan. We're in Battery Park City. And, you know, one reason, in addition to the pilot and the co-pilot doing so well, one reason that everyone was able to be saved is that the ferries that cross between New York and New Jersey on the other side of the Hudson River, ferries came right away to pick people up out of that freezing cold weather, out of that freezing cold water. And ironically, there actually is a ferry terminal here in Lower Manhattan, maybe 100, 200 feet just below where the plane is right now. The ferries are actually not operating right now today. There's a lot of police activity surrounding the aircraft. But those ferries were a huge, huge help. WHITFIELD: Yes, they really were. Except for the birds, it seems like everyone and everything else were in the right place at the right time for something like this to happen.
CHERNOFF: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: All right. Allan Chernoff, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
We expect to hear more officially about this US Airways crash from NTSB themselves. They're planning a news conference in New York this afternoon at 4:00 Eastern. CNN, of course, will cover that live for you.
All right, airline crews, you've seen them, or you've heard about what they go through. The training, they're jumping through hoops, sliding down chutes, to ensure your safety in case the unthinkable happens. Even though you might not give the safety features that much attention, be glad the crew does. We're talking about plane crash survival this hour.
A grueling campaign, a trying transition, and now four days before he takes office, Barack Obama wants some R&R. That's recovery and reinvestment, the president-elect's term for an upcoming economic stimulus package worth more than $800 billion. And as you may have seen live here on CNN, the president-to-be tried last hour to pump up support for the plan at a factory in Ohio that makes parts for wind turbines. Alternative energy would be a big beneficiary of new federal spending, he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Jobs were created right here this week. The need for us to act is now. It's never been more urgent. We started this year in the midst of a crisis unlike any we've seen in our lifetime. Last month we lost more than half a million jobs, a total of nearly 2.6 million in 2008. Another 3.4 million people who want and need full-time work have had to settle for part- time jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The president-elect already has his first big legislative victory. Yesterday critics of the troubled asset relief program, or TARP, failed to block the second half of the $700 billion Congress authorized last fall. Those funds are better known as the bailout. Well, there wasn't too much doubt about the outcome of the Senate vote, but there was still plenty of hand holding and arm twisting. Our Suzanne Malveaux was watching. She joins us now from the White House.
Suzanne, what happens now?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred.
Of course, that really was a victory for Barack Obama. One of his aides saying that can't be overstated. He really used a lot of his personal political capital behind the scenes working with Senate Democrats, but also making phone calls to Senate Republicans to try to make sure that they didn't block that money. So they're feeling pretty comfortable about that.
What is uncertain, what's unsure, is what's going to happen with the economic recovery package, the $825 billion. Obviously legislation now that would look at some tax cuts, trying to create jobs, about 4 million jobs they say. It is far from certain whether that is actually going to pass. And so Barack Obama is doing the sales pitch, if you will. He's really taking a page out of President Bush's playbook, going directly to the people; and using kind of a back drop, a show and tell, this model of this plant that you see that he is visiting today, as an example of something that is actually working here. So Barack Obama today going to that plant to make the case that these are the kinds of jobs that are going to be created underneath this kind of economic plan. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: 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 reinvestment 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And Fred, what you're also hearing there is lowering expectations. Obviously very, very high expectations for Barack Obama, really within his first week or so. And he is saying, look, this is what's going to -- this is going to be a painful process for a lot of Americans, going to try to create these 4 million jobs. And 90 percent he says in the private sector, a lot of those jobs going to the renewable energy sector.
But this is going to be a process that's going to take some time. So he is really trying to lower those expectations by essentially emphasizing that this is going to be tough for a lot of Americans, Fred.
WHITFIELD: That's right. Just underscoring his words, he says, you know what, recovery won't happen overnight.
Suzanne Malveaux joining us from the White House. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
MALVEAUX: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Later on in "The Situation Room," much more on this, CNN Chief National Correspondent John King sits down for a one-on-one interview with the president-elect in Ohio there. CNN's "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer 4:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
One bite out of the bailout wasn't enough for 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. Bank of America received $25 billion in TARP, and that was just last fall, but needed more to cope with devastating losses from its new acquisition of Merrill Lynch.
So adding to the economy's problems, Circuit City says it will be liquidating all of its stores. That means thousands of people will be out of work. And Circuit City isn't the only one cutting jobs today. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange keeping track of the numbers.
Hello to you, Susan. I think a lot of folks were hopeful that maybe Circuit City would be able to get that last-minute help.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. But given the state of the economy, that kind of help was just not available. And now Circuit City will liquidate, Fredricka, and that means more than 30,000 people out of work. And as I mentioned, yeah, that's about 550 stores affected, so all over the place.
Hertz, meanwhile, saying that 4,000 employees will be let go. It's CEO says we can't predict when our markets will improve. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that Pfizer plans to lay off as many as 2,400 folks in its sales department. WellPoint, also cutting 1,500, according to "The Journal".
You know, rising unemployment is really hurting health insurers because they just have a declining number of people to insure. We also have Mead Westvaco, which is in the packaging area, it's axing 2,000 jobs. Saks, in retail, will cut 1,100 jobs. "The Detroit News" is reporting that Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan is going to cut 1,000 jobs. All together, that's over 45,000 jobs. Maybe because we're going into a three-day weekend, you know, we just have this, you know, just really terrible number of job cuts. Last thing employers really want to do, but they're coming fast and furious.
WHITFIELD: It is so sad and it only seems to get worse by the second.
Meantime, you know, pretty heroic, pretty miraculous, no matter which way you want to describe what happened yesterday with US Airways. I understand they're already receiving a little bit of a bounce on Wall Street.
LISOVICZ: That's right. Well, Wall Street is giving its applause as well, loud and clear to US Airways. Yesterday we got word of that emergency landing less than 30 minutes before the closing bell. There was an immediate and dramatic reaction to US Airways stock. Ticker symbol LCC, dropping dramatically. This is something that can be devastating, especially to a company like US Airways, which has filed for bankruptcy twice in the last seven years. With the rising jet fuel costs last year, it could have been a third time. But it rebounded.
You can see there at the close, got back to break even on the initial reports that maybe, just maybe everyone survived. And today a big rally for US Airways; its shares are up 12.5 percent. Airline shares are rallying. But no one is rallying like US Airways, so more applause for Captain Chesley Sullenberger, and the heroic action of the crew aboard that flight. What a great story.
WHITFIELD: That's fantastic. We all want all the airlines to stay in the air. That certainly helps the economy, too.
LISOVICZ: That's right. There are talented people who work there.
WHITFIELD: Extraordinary. That's true. Thank you, Susan. Appreciate it.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
More of that, a lot of people were witness to this story, this miraculous event. This is just a sampling of the many eye-opening iReports that have come in to CNN. Those images right there, we'll be sharing more with you as well.
They seem so harmless, but they can pose a deadly threat to any aircraft. Yesterday was a striking example of what can actually happen. We'll look at the surprisingly common occurrence of collisions between birds and airplanes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
When both of the flight 1549's engines went out yesterday, the pilots were powerless over a sprawling crowded city. They sure didn't have much time to think. This is how it all happened. After taking off from LaGuardia, in Queens, they ascent to about 3,200 feet; somewhere over the Bronx, things start going wrong. 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 have to ditch in the water. They splash down off Midtown Manhattan, and you know the rest.
So bird strikes like that, well, apparently that's what got in the way of Flight 1549. But it's really not that rare. Here is now CNN's Erica Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is an eerie irony, one of the biggest threats to a plane is its inspiration - birds.
RONALD MERRITT, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET): Birds can take aircraft down. And they have. This isn't the first time. You're never going to eliminate all birds from any airport environment. The key is to try to manage the risk.
HILL: Bird strikes, the official term used for collisions between aircraft and birds are estimated to cause more than $600 million in damage every year, according to the FAA. They're most likely to occur during takeoff and landing, and between the months of July and October. Between 1990 and 2007, there were more than 82,000 reported. Though the FAA says that's probably just 20 percent of the actual total.
The biggest threat to an aircraft, a bird being sucked into a plane's engine.
MERRITT: The engines are particularly vulnerable in the fact that you can shut down the power source. When you're looking at birds eight to 12 pounds, there's really not a component that is going to withstand that type of impact.
HILL: The key, as Merritt mentioned, is managing the threat, one that has grown in recent years. There are more planes in the air and more birds. Thanks to wild life conservation efforts and environmental cleanup. Airports around the globe use harassment techniques like dogs, fireworks, even falcons to frighten the birds. Merritt's company is developing radar technology to help give pilots a warning. But as the pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 demonstrated, good training can also make the difference.
MERRITT: Typically pilots have very little opportunity to avoid birds. It's really more a matter of training to deal with the in- flight emergency once that happens. I think pilots of all air carriers, and particularly military pilots, go through a great deal of time going through those checklists in simulators, practicing what happens when an engine's out.
HILL: Practice, that on Thursday proved to be a life saver. Erica Hill, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And if a number of things had happened differently in yesterday's jetliner crash on the Hudson, we might be reporting an entirely different story today. We'll find out how the weather played a critical role in the rescue operation.
Hitting the road to be a part of history. Three friends make the trip to Washington for the inauguration, but guess what, they're biking it all the way.
And pictures right now, President Bush making his way to Camp David; his last journey as the sitting president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Yesterday's splash landing on the Hudson River, nobody can say enough of it. It was so miraculous, and amazing on so many levels. But you know the weather component was pretty serious, too. Yes, it was cold out. Yes, it was frigid. And you heard all the passengers talk about how freezing cold they were when they were on those wings standing in, for those who actually fell into the water.
But Chad, you're going to tell me it actually could have been worse.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A lot worse.
WHITFIELD: You know, had we waited, I don't know, had this happened say next week. Even with the same air temperature, the water temperature would have been different.
MYERS: The water was cold for sure. But what do you see on that water? You see boats floating on the river. What is not floating on that water? Ice. Ice is not on that water. And there will be icebergs floating down that river quite soon. Those icebergs could have been just enough friction to tear the bottom of that plane off. Had that bottom of the plane come off and the fuselage basically lost its structure, that plane would have sunk a lot faster. Well, it never actually sunk, it is still kind of floating right now.
WHITFIELD: But with people on board, unable to get out, I can see exactly what you're painting a picture of, yes.
MYERS: This would have been a completely different story. This would have been a rescue obviously, but it would have been a recovery as well because that plane would have gone straight to the bottom of the Hudson. That is a very deep part of the river, the water was there. The good part is that this fuselage stayed together long enough for everybody to get out on the wings and get out on the life rafts and all get to safety.
Plus, they were very close to the ferries and the water taxis right there by the Lincoln Tunnel. So the Circle Line boats and also the ferry boats were right there as well. That may have been a little bit slower. Had there been a lot of ice on -- the Circle Lines usually don't go if there is a lot of ice. They don't want to have to go through -- have to break up ice with their boats. So that would have been significantly different.
Look at the cold temperatures last night.
WHITFIELD: Woo!
MYERS: And the weather here is going to make those -- it's going to make the weather, make the rivers freeze up. And so we're not going oh --
WHITFIELD: We're not talking about "feels like", actual.
MYERS: Yes. And there was one unconfirmed report of 50-degree- below temperature in Maine.
WHITFIELD: No!
MYERS: If that happened - they're going to go see if that really happened. If that happened, that would have been the coldest temperature for any day, for any city, for any year in Maine, last night.
WHITFIELD: Wow. That is brutal stuff.
MYERS: It truly, truly is. Then on the other side of this, we've been talking about this for days. Los Angeles was 85 degrees yesterday.
WHITFIELD: That's where I need to go.
MYERS: I know.
WHITFIELD: Those are my kind of temperatures.
MYERS: Look at San Francisco, 73. And 25 degrees warmer than you should be. Now the cold air is releasing from Bismarck and Pierre and it's moving to the east, so the core of this cold weather has slid a little bit farther into Green Bay and Milwaukee and Chicago and will slide into New York City as well; 16 is the high right now. The Minneapolis -- you know, your negative numbers will be gone for tonight. That won't be the same for New York City, though. And The Plains, around Allentown, Bethlehem, we'll actually see very cold temperatures. Temperatures getting colder basically on the next couple of nights because of the way that air is sliding into the East Coast.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. It is winter in a big way.
MYERS: It's even cold here.
WHITFIELD: I know.
MYERS: I don't want to whine, but it was chilly this morning.
WHITFIELD: I'm whining. It's cold. It's going right through my bones.
MEYES: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: Doesn't seem like I have a coat warm enough. All right, Chad, thanks so much. It's a big reality check, isn't it?
MYERS: Unbelievable.
WHITFIELD: If ever you thought that winter is going to become a little mild. Forget about it.
All right. We're going to talk more about this incredible occurrence there on the Hudson. We're going to be talking to one of the New York firefighters. New York's bravest joining us to talk about how this all took place. And very close to their most recent cold water training rescue.
All right. If something like Flight 1549 actually happened to you, on your flight, would you know exactly what to do? It's a good thing your crew does. The drill can be the difference between life and death.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The U.S. Airways jet is still in the Hudson River. And we hope to learn more about exactly what went wrong yesterday at a news conference this afternoon.
NTSB officials will brief the media at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. And we'll take that live.
Less than 24 hours after the crash, the heroic flight and rescue crews are being honored.
CNN's Ed Henry reports that President Bush has spoken to pilot Chesley Sullenberger, praising Sully for his skillful landing. And this morning, New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, handed out certificates of appreciation to people who rushed in to help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: This is a story of heroes. Something straight out of a movie script. But if it had been a movie, people probably wouldn't have believed it. It was too good to be true. The perfect landing, the phenomenal response, the rescue of every single person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, there is a happy ending in large part because of the crew. They knew exactly what to do with more than 100 lives in their hands.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick takes part in an emergency simulation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The captain has just informed me that we have an engine fire. And it's on this side of the aircraft. We're going to return back to the field and land and evacuate through the main cabin doorways once we come to a complete stop.
DEBIRAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Everyone is quiet as the flight attendant tells us what's happening and what we need to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put your seat belts on nice and tight. Very, very snug against your hips.
BLAIN STANLEY, EVACUATION EXPERT: Pandemonium and chaos and mayhem is not the norm per se. People look for direction. They get quiet. They look at the crew members and they want to be led.
FEYERICK: The pilot keeps talking to the flight attendant. The flight attendant keeps talking to us. Evacuation expert Blaine Stanley, who's running the drill, says communication is critical.
STANLEY: Without the communication, nobody has a plan to follow. You all need to be reading off the exact same sheet of music in order to be able to be successful in evacuating.
FEYERICK: Tracey Gross, our flight attendant, shows me how to open the emergency exit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you repeat that back to me?
FEYERICK (on camera): I remove the cushions, I take the panel off, then I pull the handle and do leg-body-leg.
(Voice over): It's important that all bags be tucked away tightly.
STANLEY: That laptop bag weighing in at 8, 10, 12 pounds in a crash where you're pulling 9, 10, 12, 14 G's turns into a gigantic catapult that will take your head off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You two, all the way over. Grab your arms on the back side of your legs. Do it quick.
FEYERICK: We get ready for impact.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody brace. Brace. Hold tight.
FEYERICK: The next drill deals with smoke. That, and fire are the two things many pilots and crew members fear most.
STANLEY: Most people who are alive when the airplane comes to a stop, but end up dead, die because of smoke inhalation. They are consumed by the smoke and fire because the evacuation does not proceed rapidly enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) see those exits?
FEYERICK: It's important to know exactly where the closest exit is. The smoke is blinding.
On commercial planes, equipped with emergency chutes, you can't just sit and slide. You have to run and jump, says flight attendant, Denise Goubin.
DENISE GOUBIN, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It's a time factor. You have to be able to exit an aircraft within 90 seconds.
FEYERICK: With the water landing it's important not to inflate your vest until after you're out of the aircraft.
STANLEY: Once you get that vest on, and you inflate it fully, it blows up to about twice your normal body size upfront. Now as you move towards the exit, if the exit is too small, you can't fit through.
FEYERICK: As for us on our smoky plane...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten seconds, ten seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold tight.
FEYERICK: As our plane crashes, we climb out the window, hearts racing. Even though it's just a drill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And there's -- even though that was a simulation, the adrenaline is really rushing. But there are a couple of things that you can do just before you get on the plane. The first thing is, look at that card, the safety card that the air -- that the flight attendants ask you to look at before the plane takes off.
Check to see that there's a life vest under your seat. Check to see how that seat cushion lifts off. Little basic things. Figure out the closest exit, whether it's in front of you or behind you. It is very important to stay calm but to move quickly, and just be patient.
Also, one other thing, Fredricka, and that is, is that sometimes we talk about an exit. Well, the exit may not be a door. It may just be a gash that has occurred in the plane because of the crash landing. So all of these things to keep in mind. But just to be very alert.
WHITFIELD: Yes, all of those safety checks that people don't do, they overlook the cards, et cetera, now after this, I think now when everyone flies they're going to be paying closer attention from now on.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: These are great reminders.
Deborah Feyerick, thank you so much, joining us from New York there.
All right. Well, a medical student was among the survivors of the U.S. Airways emergency water landing.
Alberto Panero was in New York interviewing for jobs. He called his mom in Florida with news that he had survived a major plane crash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA PANERO, SON WAS ON FLIGHT 1549: He calls me, and he says, I'm alive, mom. I'm alive. What? What are you talking about? Mom, I'm alive. What are you talking about? And you know, the plane crashed. I thought I was dying right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: She thought she was dying to hear that he had survived it.
Panero said that her son told her that he put his med school training to work right away, treating passengers and comforting them.
Great news all the way around.
Well, you don't have to be a doctor, of course, or a doctor in training to treat and comfort accident victims. For New York firefighters, it's all part of the job. My next guest is a third- generation FDNY who just completed his cold water training. And are you ready for this? Just three days ago.
Michael Povolny tells us now how all of that training paid off.
Good to see you, Michael.
MICHAEL POVOLNY, NEW YORK FIRE DEPT.: Good to see you, too.
WHITFIELD: Wow. So when you were all going through this cold water training, little did you think that you'd have to actually have to put it, I guess, to the test right away.
So what was it like when you all got that call?
POVOLNY: Well, you know, obviously, until you see it, it's one of those things -- when you see it, you believe it.
WHITFIELD: So...
POVOLNY: Go ahead.
WHITFIELD: All that training kicked in right away? I mean the instincts, just everything, you know, fell into place for you all?
POVOLNY: Yes. As soon as you see the plane in the water, you kind of realize, all right, we have something here. And we're going to have to go to work.
WHITFIELD: But it was really quite surreal. I mean it -- just must take a moment, even though you're trained for emergencies on this scale, to see this image of this plane in the water.
And at this point, are you seeing people on the wing? Are you seeing people upon your arrival? People climbing out of the plane? What is it that you had to take in right away?
POVOLNY: Well, I think the first thing we took in when we were making our way out there on the Circle Line cruise was that this is a commercial airline. I think a lot of guys first thought it was a small prop plane. And there wasn't going to be a large amount of victims.
That was probably the first thing we had thought. And making our way into the water, and swimming over to the plane, I think we thought that we'd have mass casualties here.
WHITFIELD: Wait a minute. Swimming over to the plane? Tell me about that.
POVOLNY: Well, the Cruise Line ship only got so close, maybe 10 or 15 feet from the plane, so me and Firefighter McLaughlin had dropped down into the water and made our way over to the aircraft.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So you had a dry suit on, I'm hoping? Or you really didn't feel the temperature of the water? Or what did you experience exactly?
POVOLNY: No, you don't really feel the temperature of the water. We do have a dry suit on. As soon as we made our way to the -- to the cockpit, just conducted our search. And, you know, after 20, 25 minutes in the water, like I said, you really don't feel anything. The -- dry suits keep you warm.
WHITFIELD: Hmm. So when you're making your way, as you're swimming, are you also talking to one another about what you're seeing and how you're going to approach this accident site and what you're going to do right away?
POVOLNY: Yes. Well, me and Brian had talked prior to dropping down into the water of what our plan was going to be. You know, we always stay together. He's always in our sight of each other.
And as -- like I said, we were attached to ropes going into the aircraft. So in the event of anything happening, we'd be able to be pulled out of there relatively quickly.
WHITFIELD: So you -- you've done the circumference of the aircraft at this point in the water and then you start making your way in, even though you've got the ropes, as you're describing, you know, how are you able to communicate?
What it is that you're seeing? Or did you have any worries about this aircraft taking on water and potentially sinking? What were some of the things going through your mind? What were you prepared to react to?
POVOLNY: I think when we made our way into the aircraft, we were prepared to deal with victims. You know, the last few survivors were coming off the wing onto the rescue boats. After a quick search of the cockpit, probably standing in maybe, you know, knee-deep water, in the front of the plane and as we made our way to the rear, water was coming up to our chest and neck area.
WHITFIELD: And when you were going into this aircraft, were you anticipating that you were likely to see victims? Or did you get any kind of verbal notice from the other passengers on the plane that, no, we think everybody's out?
Did you hear -- did you get any guidance like that?
POVOLNY: Well, when you're out on the water, you don't -- we're not -- we don't have radios with us.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
POVOLNY: So it's kind of more of like a nonverbal communication that we deal with, with the guys on the boats and whatnot. They were primarily taking victims out of the rear of the plane. And at that point nobody had known if there were any victims in the front of the plane or not.
WHITFIELD: So, so now, you know, 24 hours later, do you take this all in, you know, differently? How do you digest what actually happened and what you experienced?
POVOLNY: I just think it's something that, you know, we deal with on a daily basis. I don't think, you know, we put too much thought into it afterwards. It's our job and that's what we do.
I mean, on this particular day, I feel that we were the secondary responders. You know, the New York Waterway was a primary responder. I mean, they -- got everybody off the plane, they made our job a lot easier, what we had to do.
WHITFIELD: So really, you don't replay all this in your head, you know, thinking about what could have or should have, or what actually happened, you just -- you moved on and your head is prepared for the next emergency that you, as first responders, have to be ready for?
POVOLNY: Well, I think we all have to look at it that way. You can't sit back and say, what if. I mean you can learn things from it and -- to prevent things from making mistakes in the future.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
POVOLNY: But for the most part, it's just, you've got to just, you know, let's move on and see what else we got.
WHITFIELD: Right. All right. Michael Povolny, New York's bravest and your fire department. Thanks so much for your time and huge appreciation all the way around...
POVOLNY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: ... on the work that you all do.
POVOLNY: Appreciate it. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: So on this day after the crash on the Hudson, passengers are also recalling those terrifying moments. We'll hear from one man who'll tell us about the minute that he knew something was wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. When temperatures drop as low as they have, in many parts of the country, many people turn to alternative heat sources. That often leads to fire dangers.
So how can you save money and stay safe as well?
CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our energy fix from New York.
Hello to you, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey there, Fred. You know, gas prices are down, oil prices are down, but a lot of American families are really struggling, even though those energy prices have dropped. It's tough out there this winter. The heating bills have not actually come down that much.
And also couple this with mounting job losses, a lot of families don't really have a choice but to turn down the thermostat. But if you have a space heater, that can save you a lot of money. Just turn it off, of course, when you leave the room.
But you have to also be careful. Keep the heater at least three feet away from anything that can burn, of course, like curtains, like rugs. This may seem obvious. But just want to remind you, don't forget to turn it off, of course, when you go to sleep, or if you leave the room.
They might sound ancient, but burning, wood burning stoves, pellet stoves, those can save you a lot of money. There's actually a calculator online. You can check out to see how much you save. That is actually on the Web site of the Heart Patio and Barbecue Association, believe it or not.
There are important safety tips there as well. You want to have a professional install that. So get it inspected every year. But that should definitely save some money. Whatever you do, do not turn on your gas range to try to heat your home on your stove. That can, of course, lead to some dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
WHITFIELD: No.
HARLOW: But some tips to help out with those bills.
WHITFIELD: Right. Well, what -- what are some other things that people who can't afford heat can actually do? Where can they turn?
HARLOW: There's a lot of federal, a lot of government money. These programs are run at the state level. Pull up some information here to show you how you can apply. Take a look at those numbers there. More than seven million households are expected to get help this winter.
You can e-mail them, you can call that number. The eligibility varies by state. Usually for a family of four it's about $35,000. But the directors say, listen, no family who has applied at this point, has been turned away. They are, though, facing a record number of applicants. So you want to make sure to apply for that assistance as soon as you can.
Hope this helps, Fred.
WHITFIELD: I think it will. Thanks so much, Poppy. Appreciate it.
HARLOW: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: All right. Terrifying uncertainty, to say the least, for the passengers and crew on U.S. Airways Flight 1549. Today, passengers are recalling those moments. We'll hear from one man who'll tell us about the minute that he knew something was wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: I think it's time for a little Rick Sanchez. A big Rick Sanchez, I mean. There he is.
(LAUGHTER)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Do you know who Johannes Kroom is?
WHITFIELD: Huh?
SANCHEZ: Yes, well, do you know who Johannes Kroom is?
WHITFIELD: No.
SANCHEZ: See, Fred, I've been telling about this citizen journalism thing, man.
WHITFIELD: Make me hip.
SANCHEZ: This is the future. It's the next generation. This is what's going to be...
WHITFIELD: Inform me. School me, as they say.
SANCHEZ: This Johannes Kroom fellow, he's a Twitterer. A Twitterer, no less.
WHITFIELD: I don't want to be called a Twitterer. They've got to come up with some better names.
SANCHEZ: It's not a disease, all right? This is the first guy yesterday to take pictures and report on what was going on right there in that place on the Hudson when the plane went down.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
SANCHEZ: He took pictures, he reported it to the rest of the world. He's going to be on our show.
WHITFIELD: All right.
SANCHEZ: Right here, right now, as ED Sullivan would say, let me hunch my shoulders, yes, isn't that great? By the way...
WHITFIELD: And a really big show.
SANCHEZ: You know...
WHITFIELD: And that's (INAUDIBLE) something to say.
SANCHEZ: There's something else I've got to tell you about. Everybody's been talking about what really happened on this plane. Everybody's calm. Everybody was not calm. As a matter of fact, there was a lot going on in that plane when people -- when that plane first hit the ground.
We've got the skinny here. We've got a couple of people who are going to be joining us, telling us what it was really like on that plane.
One more thing, we've got a bird strike expert. WHITFIELD: I was waiting for more. OK. I think that's fantastic.
SANCHEZ: How often have you heard an anchor say coming up next, a bird strike expert. When have you ever seen those three words put together in a sentence?
WHITFIELD: We're hearing it today.
SANCHEZ: There you go.
WHITFIELD: You got to know that. A lot of the pilots are very privy to all of that.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And so now we're going to hear a little bit more on it. We appreciate that.
All right, Rick, looking forward to the really big show.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: More Ed Sullivan talk for you.
All right. 155 passengers in all, so we're talking men and crew, surviving that crash into the frigid Hudson River. So we wanted to share a conversation now. One of the survivors with CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
Our Kiran Chetry asked about the moment that he knew something was wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED BERRETTA, CRASH SURVIVOR: It made a loud noise, and looked out, saw the smoke and the flames coming out of the rear of the engine, and knew that it was pretty much dead engine at that point. And was hoping that the right engine was working.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And when did you guys quickly become aware that that was not the case as well, that, in fact, you guys had lost both engines on this plane?
BERRETTA: We were talking to the passengers on the right side of the plane and we're asking them, hey, what's going on? You know, is that engine working? And unfortunately we got a bad response. They said no. And at that point you could pretty much feel that we were just kind of gliding.
CHETRY: And what was the mood like in the plane? I mean knowing that, OK, both engines are out. You guys are going to have to make some sort of landing at this point. And really it's out of your hands.
BERRETTA: Well, it was actually very somber, sullen, and people were quiet. Not a lot of panic. Not a lot of screaming. Everyone was just stunned and kind of waiting for the pilot to tell us what was going to happen next. And he came on and said, prepare for impact. And at that point, pretty much knew that we were going in the water.
CHETRY: OK. Tell us a little bit about when the plane actually came in. You realized you're going to try to go down in the Hudson and you were needing to prepare for being in the water.
BERRETTA: Well, we -- when we hit the water, it was pretty big jolt. And don't have much of a recollection of that. It just was kind of jostling around. And was just glad the plane was intact. And at that point, OK, we're through phase one of this, let's just get out of this airplane and go on to the next phase and hopefully we'll, you know, we'll make it from there.
BERRETTA: Von, I want you to talk a little bit about what -- that initial call was like. What -- did you guys know what you were dealing with, that for the most part a lot of survivors that needed to be plucked out of the water?
VON RANKIN, U.S. COAST GUARD: Well, the initial call we got was just a plane, a reported plane in the water. So I didn't know the intensity of how many people were in the water until I -- about two minutes away from the crash.
Once on scene, I saw the FDNY and NYPD boats and the ferries. A lot of debris in the water. And just said to my crews had to prepare to get the people out of the water as safe and as fast as possible.
CHETRY: And that's the other amazing part, Fred, is how -- first of all, how quickly they were able to do that. But you guys seemed so orderly. I mean, what was it like as you were -- the plane's filling up with water, people are making decisions as to where they're going to go. One woman had a baby. How did it appear so orderly?
BERRETTA: I think it went, I think, as smoothly as it could have. I don't know how to describe it. Everything just worked out really well. The passengers were as orderly as you can be in that situation. They were helping each other. They weren't just looking out for themselves.
And people were helping folks get out on the wing or get on the raft. It -- went very, very quickly. And everyone was off the plane. And the emergency response was tremendous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: OK. Pretty tremendous. And tremendous is what's ahead of us now. They have never cycled so far before. But they're determined to be part of history. Three riding buddies from North Carolina saddle up and head for the nation's capital.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, they know the weather's going to be cold. And they don't really have a place to stay. At least not yet. But some guys from Raleigh, North Carolina headed for Washington yesterday morning on their bikes.
You see them right there. Well, they're making the four-day, 300-mile trip to see the presidential inauguration. They say they have never ridden this far before. But there's no way that they're going to miss out on Tuesday's big event.
And so Barack Obama will be sworn in on Tuesday. But CNN's coverage of his inauguration begins actually tomorrow morning. Don't miss a moment of the inauguration of Barack Obama beginning tomorrow only on CNN.
All right, time now for Rick Sanchez for his really big show.
