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House Passes $787 Billion Recovery Plan; What Went Wrong on Flight 3407?; Sizing Up the Stimulus

Aired February 13, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty clear that it was unlikely that anybody had survived. It was just an immediate fireball.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. And you knew that instantly?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just the immediate thought was that nobody's survived this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Plunging from the sky without warning, a doomed plane shatters an idyllic neighborhood, causing a fire that blazed for hours and a tragedy that will last forever. What went wrong?

Plus, it's been debated, questioned, poked, prodded, criticized and amended. Now, it's finally moving forward. The economic stimulus might soon be heading to the president's desk and to your of the woods.

Let's get right to our developing story; a fiery plane crash, a search for clues. Federal investigators now trying to find out why a commuter plane slammed into a home just outside Buffalo, New York, last night. All 49 people aboard Continental Connection Flight 3407 are dead, along with one person in the house.

The voice data and flight data recorders are on their way to Washington, right now, for analysis. The voice data recorder has everything that is said in the cockpit. Flight data recorder contains speed, altitude and other control settings. There was snow and sleet in the area and at least two other flights reported ice on their wings. But it's not known if that caused the crash.

Now, the plane was a 74-seat turboprop. The model was a Dash 8 Q400. Scandinavian airlines permanently grounded that model after what appeared to be faulty landing gear caused three crash landings in 2007.

Right now, family members are mourning and witnesses are in shock by what they saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I could see was fire. Fire, and explosions. That's all we could see. And then we saw the woman from the house where she fell to the ground. And she actually didn't have any shoes on. And you just don't know what to do. You're kind of just stunned. You want to help and we tried to get close to the house, we couldn't get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Chris Arbor's (ph) father, Clay, was on that flight. This is what Chris wrote about in his dad's -or his -wrote about his dad, rather, on his MySpace page. He says that it was his first time flying again since Vietnam. He had always said that he hated them, meaning aircraft, after the war since a helicopter he was in actually went down. It's also very shocking that the one time he flies, his plane would go down.

CNN's Deb Feyerick is in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence Center. Deb, is there anything more for investigators to learn at the scene at this point?

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's what we can tell you about the scene. Right now, we're at the command center, but the scene just about five, six-minute drive from here, we're told by somebody who lives right nearby, that in fact he needed a police escort to go back to his home.

Security around that area, very, very tight. Troopers, police officers, sheriff's deputies, they're all maintaining order in that area. Nobody is allowed to come and see what is going on. But for those who were able to see the scene from their windows, they tells us that in fact, NTSB investigators are on the scene, as well as FBI investigators; all of them trying to recover evidence. That is what is critical right now. They are there gathering pieces, trying to find out exactly what pieces of the plane remain. Also, we are told that the medical examiner's office there on scene as well.

Now, witnesses say the first they heard that anything was wrong was not because they saw something, it was because they heard something.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LUCE, CRASH WITNESS: It was pretty clear that it was unlikely that anybody had survived. It was just an immediate fireball.

FEYERICK (On camera): OK, an you knew that instantly?

LUCE: Just the immediate thought was nobody survived this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: All the witnesses say they heard something that sounded like the engine revving, that it was sort of shuddering, then they heard silence, followed by a big crash. And that 50-foot fireball that everybody who saw this has been describing to us.

Right now, investigators are there. They did recover the two voice data boxes -- I'm sorry, the voice data recorder, as well as the flight data recorder. Those on the way to Washington. Interestingly enough, Kyra, when you see wreckage of -- when you see video of the wreckage, the one thing that remained seemingly intact was the tail. And that's where those two recorders were located. And that's why investigators were able to get to them so quickly, even though they weren't allowed onto the scene until a little while later, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Deb Feyerick, appreciate it.

Well, no may-day, the chatter between cockpit and controllers seemed like business as usual just before flight 3407 went off the radar, moments after controllers knew something was wrong. And they told other planes to be on the lookout. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407, approach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407, Buffalo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407, now approach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delta 1998, look off your right side about five miles, for a Dash 8. It should be 43 hundred, you see anything there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh, negative, Delta 1998, we're just in the bottoms and nothing off TKs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407, Buffalo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407 Buffalo Tower, how do you hear?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Handler (ph), there's some ground communication, we need to talk to somebody at least five miles northeast, OK? Possibly Clarence, that area right in there, Akron area, either state or police or sheriff's department, we need to find if anything is on the ground. This aircraft was five miles out and all of a sudden we have no response on that aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I can tell you is the aircraft's over the marker, and we're not talking to them now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buffalo, I'll get right back to you, sir, but apparently we have an emergency, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, for all aircraft this frequency, we did have a Dash 8 over the marker that didn't make the airport. Uh, it appears to be about five miles away from the airport, there. Delta 1998 I'm going to bring you in, sir, on the approach. If you could just give me a power up (ph), when you get the 2300, and if you have any problem with the localizer or anything, you let me know however, we're showing it all in the green here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cactus, did you find Colgan?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh, unfortunately they said he went down about, right over the marker Klump (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh, Tower, Cactus 1452 is coming up on the Klump and we just saw the ground, you guys know what's going on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cactus 1452, Buffalo Tower, local tower, went 2614, went right 2300 to clear land. Yes, sir, we are aware.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, a key question for investigators, was bad weather a factor in the crash of Flight 3407. Meteorologist Chad Myers joining me now --.Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: If it was, what would have gone wrong? What are the potentials, if we had the weather issue? We probably think that weather was at least some issue. A couple of different icing scenarios. One's called rime ice. This is the leading edge of a wing. This is actually a cross-section of the wing. The ice actually builds up where the air should be going over the top of the wing. Well, on this particular plane, that's OK, because there are bladders here. Literally rubber, little balloons that will expand and inflate and that ice will fly off and completely clear -- there it is flying, and completely clear the leading edge, so this plane can go back and fly again.

This is either on fast or slow. The pumps are either going very fast or they're going slowly, depending on the amount of icing that's actually happening.

This is the plane itself. This is what the plane had. This is the leading edge of the wing right there. This is literally the picture of that fated plane. This is the leading edge. That's where that rubber bladder would be.

Also the propellers could have had ice forming on them. This plane wasn't iced for quite a long time as it came out of its 16,000- foot-high flight. Its flight was way up in the air. Way up here above the icing. This is about 16,000 feet right here above icing. This is what we call a skew T. It's kind of a technical term for what the atmosphere looks like.

Here's the temperature of the atmosphere. Here's the dew point of the atmosphere. The dew point, when they're close together like that, right there, that means the relative humidity is near 100 percent. That's when most of your icing is going to occur. When your dew point is way out here, your relative humidity may be 5 percent. Icing's probably not going to take place there.

So now we're going to take you to the bottom, this is the surface of the earth, right here. And from about the surface to literally 1,800 feet, carburetion ice, which means it could even get inside the engine, but this line right here is the rime ice, all the way from about 15,000 feet, right on down to the surface. It was an icing event last night.

Should the plane have been flying? Sure, no problem. That wasn't enough ice. This wasn't an unrecoverable event. Should have been able to fly, something else went wrong, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chad, appreciate it. We're tracking down the very latest information on the crash, of course, and its aftermath. Much more from Clarence Center, New York.

This hour, I'll also get some insight from a commercial pilot on icing and other cockpit emergencies. But now, let's take a look at the day's other top stories.

Well, $787 billion in new federal spending and tax relief is almost halfway home. Home, being the White House, and the president's desk. And as you know, if you've been watching CNN, the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act is being voted on now in the House. And, then, assuming it passes, it will go to the Senate. There, too, it's expected to pass, if not today, then tomorrow. And the president will sign it by Presidents Day. CNN's Brianna Keilar is watching it all for us. Hey, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.

This is a procedural vote going on right now. That vote on the actual economic stimulus package expected to get under way imminently. But yes, this vote, in the House of Representatives, is expected to pass. The House passed their version easily with Democratic support. It's expected to go the same way today. Then we'll see a vote in the Senate tonight. But ahead of this vote, we've seen continually debate between Republicans, who have not been on board, and Democrats who are pushing this plan. Some of those Republicans talking about the fact that the language, the final language in this bill wasn't available until very late last night, meaning members of the House have only had a matter of hours to review it.

Here are John Boehner, top Republican in the House, and Steny Hoyer, number two Democrat in the House, on the floor, moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: We're going to let the American people see what's in this bill for 48 hours. But nope, we don't have time to do that. We owe it to the American people to get this bill right. We owe it to American families, we owe it to small businesses, and we owe it to ourselves to get this right, so that we can in fact help our economy. I don't believe this is the way to do it.

REP. STENY HOYER, (D-MD) MAJORITY LEADER: I would hope that every member on this floor, of whatever party, of whatever ideological persuasion would pray that this bill works. Not for political purposes, because if this bill works, we will create those 3.5 million jobs. Am I absolutely assured that it will? I am not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So this plan expected to pass easily in the House. A different situation in the Senate, which is voting tonight. It's expected to be a squeaker. We're expecting 60 votes, which is the bare minimum the Democrats need to push this through the Senate and put this economic stimulus package on President Obama's desk.

Remember, when they voted on the version, they had 61 votes, so one extra. But Senator Ted Kennedy was there that day. He is not there today. And so, as I said, going to be a squeaker.

But Kyra, I think it's important to remind people, yes, we've been following this vote by vote, negotiation by negotiation, but this is one of the moments today. This is a day on Capitol Hill where history will judge Congress. On one hand, some Republicans have argued, are they going to make the most expensive mistake they've ever made, or are they going to take a step and help the American economy not slip into a depression? That's what's going on here today.

PHILLIPS: Tracking it with you, Brianna, thanks.

An about-face, by Senator Judd Gregg, he has changed his mind about his nomination as Commerce secretary. Find out what is behind his decision to drop out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: President Obama wrapped up a week of road trips and rallies with a closing argument for his Recovery & Reinvestment Plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As we meet, Congress is now poised to act. It's passed the House, it's passed the Senate. We expect a vote on the final version today. And one of the reasons we've come so far is because so many of you have recognized the urgency and necessity of taking action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We've just learned that the president will unveil his fix for the housing crisis Wednesday in Phoenix, Arizona.

President Obama says that he's a bit surprised by the latest Cabinet nominee to bail. Senator Judd Gregg has withdrawn his nomination for Commerce secretary. CNN's Jessica Yellin looks at the major reasons behind that move.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JUDD GREGG, (R) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Simply a bridge too far for me. JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A surprise announcement.

GREGG: The president asked me to do it. I said yes, that was my mistake. Not his.

YELLIN: New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg pulling out as Commerce secretary nominee, just 10 days after accepting the job.

OBAMA: And I look forward to working with Judd in the years ahead.

GREGG: Thank you for taking this rather extraordinary step.

YELLIN: But the deal unraveled even before his confirmation hearing began. The fiscal conservative says he was troubled by the amount of spending in the president's stimulus plan. He did not cast a vote on it, even though the president desperately needed every senator he could get.

But sources close to Senator Gregg say the bigger issue for him was the White House's effort to take control of the census, usually overseen by the Commerce Department. Results of that census are used to draw congressional districts, which can determine which party controls Congress. Republicans turned up the pressure on Senator Gregg, who was caught in the middle.

BOEHNER: This process continues to be controlled by the White House. We're opening the door to politicize the census.

REP. DARRELL ISSA, (R) CALIFORNIA: I was shocked when I learned that Rahm Emanuel was going to in fact direct what is otherwise an independent agency underneath a confirmed independent -- or semi independent agency.

YELLIN (On camera): A Democrat aware of discussions tells CNN, earlier this week Gregg told the White House he would be withdrawing. President Obama is telling a local Illinois newspaper that decision came as somewhat of a surprise to him. He says Gregg had approached the White House with interest in the job, and he seemed enthusiastic. Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: OK, and we understand, right now, that the final vote is under way. We are tracking it right now. Hope to have a decision soon there; the House voting on that $787-billion recovery plan. As soon as we have the final count, we will bring it to you live, about 3 minutes 23 seconds to go in the official time. Of course, we're waiting for it to get to the number of 218. Right now as it stands, you can see we're almost there.

Well, just ahead of her trip to Asia next week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is vowing to strengthen relations with that part of the world. Clinton spoke just a short time ago to the Asia Society in New York, a major focus of her upcoming trip, the global economic crisis, humanitarian security issues, and climate change. Clinton's stops will include Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, and China.

As we observe Black History Month, we're also observing 100 years of the NAACP. A lot has changed since 1909. How does the group keep up with the times? We're going to find out from their future.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. In live to the Hill right now. As you know, we've been following the voting, the final vote actually has now been completed. As we heard throughout the afternoon, various members of the House coming forward, and giving their agreement and disagreements, on a bill that nobody is completely in love with at this point. But we're almost there. Now it's going to have to move on to the Senate.

Brianna, this is just -- it's one step closer to the final process. It goes to the Senate now. And then hopefully to the president's desk, correct?

KEILAR: Yes, and this is what we expected. As you can see, right now, 245 yea votes, all of them Democrats. This is well over what was needed to pass the House. We're keeping our eyes open right now to see if any Republicans might switch over to a yea vote.

We should keep in mind, Kyra, as always, this hasn't gaveled to a close, so this may not be the final number. You can see, they're still changing, but we're not, obviously, expecting this to change. This economic stimulus package was expected to pass the House. It obviously is going to pass the House.

And yes, there's going to be another vote in the Senate tonight. It's a different story in the Senate than it is in the House. They need 60 votes to pass this economic stimulus package. And we're expecting that they will get 60. And that's it. Remember when they passed their version of the economic stimulus package, they had 61, because Ted Kennedy came to town. Obviously he's been battling brain cancer. He came to town so that he could vote. But we understand he's not going to be at this vote this evening.

So it's going to be all democrats and expected to be these three centrist Republicans, who have been on board, who forged the compromise, and had a big hand in shaping the final product that is this $787-billion economic stimulus package, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And how soon could that Senate vote happen?

KEILAR: Well, we are expecting -- I think the soonest it would happen, would be somewhat well into the evening, 8:00 p.m. It's not set at this moment. We do know there is one member who has some obligation that they need to attend to in their district, or in their state. And so it's being held open for them. But it's going to be sort of later evening at the earliest.

PHILLIPS: Let's go ahead and take a listen to the final vote right now.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED, IN PROGRESS)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The conference, and one voting present. The conference report is adopted. Without objection a motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

(APPLAUSE, CHEERS)

(END LIVE FEED)

PHILLIPS: All right. Of course, we could have guessed that, a very happy Nancy Pelosi, Brianna Keilar. So it's going to be a late night tonight. And if it doesn't pass tonight, then tomorrow. And then the president could sign it by Presidents Day, right?

KEILAR: Yes, no, that's right. Although we are expecting this vote tonight. We're expecting that to take place this evening. That's the understanding that we have, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. Got it. All right. We'll be tracking it. Brianna Keilar, thanks so much.

Well, yesterday it was Mr. Lincoln. Tomorrow it's Mr. Douglass, Frederick Douglass, that is. He was born a slave and died a symbol of the man who helped bring an end to slavery with his mentor, Abraham Lincoln; 191 years after his birth, his legacy is still very much alive. Douglass was the author, speaker, statesman, and the man that President Lincoln invited to the White House to talk about the treatment of black soldiers.

As we observe Black History Month, we look at living history. The 40th Annual NAACP Image Awards last night. It was the first-ever held with an African-American in the White House. They also honored a living legend, a man that you can just call "The Greatest".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Muhammad Ali is an international icon. We recognize him tonight, not only for his celebrated athletic achievements, but also for his courage for standing by his political and religious beliefs. He is a warrior who has devoted his life to peace. This year's President's Award goes to a true champion, Muhammad Ali.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Halle Berry and Tyler Perry, Berry and Perry, hosted last night's show in Los Angeles. That show honored people of color who excelled in TV, music, film and literature. Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, P. Diddy, Will Smith and Russell Simmons, also won awards for their work.

Tyler Perry's show, "Tyler Perry's House of Payne", won an award, too, for outstanding comedy series. Perry will be Larry King's special guest tonight. Catch that here on CNN at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

And the award show coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the NAACP, as we mentioned. Most of its leaders were in LA last night for the big show. Back in its home base of Baltimore, students at Morgan State University actually watched the ceremonies on the big screen and talked about the NAACP's next 100 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like we're losing sight on the children, again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they need to do a little bit more to relate to us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With our current president, how can it not be relevant?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And earlier this week, the NAACP put out a list of goals for 2009. They include pushing to reduce homicides in the African-American community and improving opportunities for education.

It felt like a mini earthquake. That's what one witness says about last night's fiery commuter plane crash in western New York. Now the tragic aftermath and an urgent search for clues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Just want to remind you, if you are just tuning in, that the final vote came through on the House with regard to the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. The House passed it; 246 Democrats voting yes, 183 Representatives voting no. Now the Senate is expected to vote actually later tonight. We thought it might be later today, but our Brianna Keilar saying it's going to happen probably pretty late tonight. And then, of course, it will move on to the president's desk hopefully with a signature by President's Day.

So what went wrong? The question investigators are now trying to answer after a commuter plane slammed into a house late last night near Buffalo, New York. The crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 killed all 49 people onboard, one person in the house, and sparked a fire that raged more than 12 hours. The flight's voice and data recorders are heading to Washington for analysis. But communication between the cockpit and controllers seemed routine just before that plane vanished from radar. Now authorities are just trying to deal with the aftermath.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. DAVID PATTERSON, NEW YORK: There are different kinds of needs. Some of the family members are traveling to this area as their family members were traveling. And they obviously need to be housed, and this seems to be being taken care of. And then all of the family members really at this point are grieving, and very much in shock, and trying to make sense out of this. And I thought that the clergy and the counselors and even the people from the FBI and the state police, just their human instincts are reaching out to those family members, was extraordinary to watch. It was something I'll never forget.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, it was snowing and sleeting at the time of that crash and at least two other flights in the area reported ice buildup on their wings. We don't know if that's why Flight 3407 went down, but there's no doubt that when it comes to flying, ice can be deadly.

On the phone now commercial pilot Len Anderson.

Len, thanks for calling in.

LEN ANDERSON, COMMERCIAL PILOT: Hey, Kyra, how are you?

PHILLIPS: Good. Let's go ahead and let's talk about the ice issue. Because a lot of our experts have been laying out, look, it could be man, machine or environment. Everything right now seems to be leaning toward environment as to why this plane went down.

Let's start with just how, you know, the ice is formed. And how you know if you've got a problem or not, as a commercial pilot.

ANDERSON: Yes, sure, Kyra. There's a few different ways. First of all, you know, ice is only there because there's some type of moisture in the air, and you've got super-cooled water droplets that are going to adhere and freeze to the surface of the airplane. Now, as that happens, you've got sleet and snow type of conditions that you have, of course, you run that risk. But we have detection capabilities on the airplane as to whether or not there is any icing forming. And also, with weather radar, other pilot reports, we know where the icing conditions are, even before we take off.

PHILLIPS: So when you detect it, you say you have a lot of things onboard that will tell you. What do you do at that point? Do you immediately hit the button for de-icing procedures, or what's the mindset?

ANDERSON: It's actually, Kyra, the mindset is actually a little more preemptive than that. If we see that there are favorable conditions for icing - i.e. a lower temperature or moisture in the area - we will activate the de-icing equipment before we even enter those type of conditions. So it's already up and running. And, you know, it's - in this particular time of the year, it's kind of common to see those icing conditions. Of course, you don't want to stay in there too long. It's not a favorable thing to do, but it's something the airplanes are typically capable of doing.

PHILLIPS: So Len, usually at that point, though, aren't you in autopilot and could that actually mask the evolution of the problem?

ANDERSON: You know, Kyra, not necessarily. I mean, during the approach, you may be on autopilot, but that's not going to mask any type of icing conditions. Yes, it's at night, it may be harder to see that ice forming on the leading edges of the wings or the front near the wind screen. However, you know, still there's light in the airplane, you're able to visually see it and know whether or not ice is forming.

Autopilot, I don't see that would really be a factor. But a late recognition of icing conditions and not using the equipment properly, sure, that could get you into some problems.

PHILLIPS: And tell us how the ice actually affects the flying capabilities? I mean, it can affect the engines, it can also affect the wings, right?

ANDERSON: Right. A couple of different things. Especially for the turboprop airplane that you're discussing today. One of them is the propellers. OK? So they have in this particular airplane, the propellers are heated to avoid icing. And especially during low- engine power situations like during the approach, if the engines are pulled back to idle, the propellers getting slower, you need more of a protective environment to avoid icing conditions on the propellers. That airplane is capable of doing that.

You also have what's called boots on the leading edge of the airplane. And they're called boots because they're pneumatically activated. In other words, they expand like balloons on the leading edge of the wing to break away any ice that is formed. Because as ice forms on the wing, not only does it make it heavier and the airplane slower, but it also deforms the air flow over the wing, decreasing lift. You're losing lift, the airplane's getting heavier and it's not a very good situation, obviously, as you're flying in that type of icing conditions.

PHILLIPS: So this pilot, he was five miles from landing. There was no detection of any kind of panic. There wasn't any "May Day" call, anything like that. And all of a sudden, boom, he was gone. And it took a nosedive. So just from your experience, for so many years, you know, civilian and military-wise, I mean, something catastrophic had to happen at that point. So would it be large ice chunks, you know, that fogged the motors? Could it be large ice chunks that somehow, you know, affected the capability of the wings?

ANDERSON: Sure. Those are all viable options. And of course, as the investigation goes on, we may be able to tell what actually happened there.

But like you said, it had to have been catastrophic. Communications were normal. You know, switching over to tower. Closing in on the approach. At that point, you know, the pilots are flying the approach, they're concentrating on ling the airplane. And quite honestly, it's probably the busiest time of the flight right at that point. They're lowering flaps, putting down landing gear, switching frequencies to tower. It's very busy and both pilots are at full concentration.

I assure you that, you know, being a pilot, nobody's more concerned about getting the airplane either on - you know, properly on the approach or landing in those type of weather conditions, than the two guys sitting up front. So, I'm sure they were doing everything, you know, according to plan. But there had to have been some other, you know, outside factor that we don't yet know about that caused this catastrophic event.

PHILLIPS: And hopefully we'll know soon when we hear those recordings in the orange cylinder that we've been looking at all day.

Commercial pilot, Len Anderson. Len, thanks so much.

ANDERSON: Thanks, Kyra. Good talking to you.

PHILLIPS: Good talking to you.

Our other top story we've been following is, of course, the passing of that stimulus bill. But members of the House did mention the plane crash that happened overnight and actually held a moment of silence for the victims of that plane crash.

Well, one of the victims of this crash was trying to recover from a tragedy of her own. Beverly Eckert's husband, Sean Rooney, died at the world trade center on 9/11. Now Eckert's friends and family are shocked to learn that she was on Flight 3407. The Buffalo news says she planned to mark her husband's 58th birthday and present a scholarship in his honor. Eckert co-founded a 9/11 Victims Advocacy Group, and last Friday she and other 9/11 members met with President Obama. Today, he called Eckert a tireless advocate.

Chris Kausner's sister was on Flight 3407. Emergency crews turned him away from the crash scene and later he talked to reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS KAUSNER, BROTHER OF FLIGHT 3407 PASSENGER: My parents are on vacation in Florida, and I had to call down there and tell my father what was going on. And I - I'm just thinking about my mom.

QUESTION: How are they taking it?

KAUSNER: To tell you the truth, I heard my mother make a noise on the phone that I never heard before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, in addition to the one person killed on the ground, two other people suffered minor injuries.

They were witnesses to a tragedy, the people of Clarence Center, New York, who heard a plane in trouble or felt the crash panic and rushed to the scene. Some of them documenting it all on camera.

Josh Levs here with a look at some of the iReports that have come in to CNN - Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Kyra, ever since last night, we've been getting iReports. People sending in videos and stories about what happened. The one that has got the most people talking is a video. It's very powerful, let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!

UNIDENTFIED FEMALE: Get some help for my daughter! She's hysterical!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh! Is there anybody in there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let go of my husband!

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Police! Police!

(SIRENS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it hit already and I talked to her.

(SIRENS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: OK, Kyra, what we're seeing here is a video from iReporter Will Charland. He took this and was talking to us about how it was. Obviously, just this shocking moment for people in this community. And we've been looking at pictures of what this neighborhood looks like. We're talking about a quiet, very typical, at least from what we've seen, typical looking suburb just outside Buffalo. And, you know, so much devastation. And one home that was hit literally by the plane. Incredible what he is seeing there.

Let me quickly show you full screens that we have, some graphics of some other iReports that we've been receiving from several of our iReporters.

These from Nicole Komin who lives in Buffalo and took a trip over there. She says the smoke was all around her. Even hours later, she could still feel it.

So Kyra, obviously, we're going to obviously keep getting these throughout the day. It's just one piece of how we're covering this story interactively here at CNN.com.

PHILLIPS: Speaking of interactively, you're actually going to show us how the data recorders work, right?

LEVS: Yes. In fact, you know what, that's another important element. A lot of people talking about the black boxes and they're not actually black boxes. Are they black boxes? They're not black boxes anymore. This is the kind of thing that they are. This from the NTSB website. They're now orange.

We're talking about two things. It's the cockpit voice recorder, which records not only voices but other sounds of the flight. And the other one, we should be able to get to right here - I think I just scrolled past it. The data recorder, there it is, the flight data recorder which records all sorts of changes in the flight itself throughout the day. These are the things that they're studying from this plane to see what happened. And we'll get you some of the answers that you were just talking about, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Josh.

Our T.J. Holmes tracking down the videos and eyewitness accounts of the crash. He's going to join us live from the NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: Well, this week's powerful storms left a path of destruction from the Southern Plains to the East Coast. In Indiana, high winds blew the roof off a school in Hanover. The sheer power of the storm caught by a surveillance camera right here. And the in Oklahoma where several tornadoes touched down, clean up is well underway. At least eight people in the town of Lone Grove lost their lives in one of those twisters.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: A year after a gunman terrorized the campus, Northern Illinois University remembers its lost and celebrates its survival. CNN special investigations unit has an exclusive look at suicidal gunman Steven Kazmierczak.

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PHILLIPS: Big win for Democrats. Nancy Pelosi at the mike talking about the passing of the recovery bill. Let's listen in.

PELOSI: ...take the country in a new direction. He said we will harness the sun and the wind and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And he went on to talk about 21st century education, investments in health and science, to making American people healthier, and innovation to make us competitive. These and other things were contained in his promise to America.

One week and one day after that, Congress passed a bill that did just that. And today, we followed through with a conference report that, as the president requested, swift, bold action.

The American people are feeling a great deal of pain. They have uncertainty about their jobs, about health care, about ability to pay for the education of their children. And sad to say in our great country, even their ability to put food on the table. And so today, we have passed legislation that does take that swift, bold action on their behalf. I could feel it myself when I turned in my voting card, that I was voting not just for myself and the people of my district, but for all Americans who want us to fulfill the promise of what President Obama had to say. And also, on issues that we've been working on for years.

I'm going to yield to my colleague, Mr. Hoyer now. But first, I want to acknowledge - do we have a list of the folks who are here - some friends who are with us who helped with the outside mobilization of this legislation. The Committee on Education Funding, Feeding America, the Coalition on Human Needs, the League of Conservation Voters, thank you and others who are here for the work that you have done.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to (INAUDIBLE) my colleagues, and the leadership will be speaking, but I want to acknowledge our chairmen who played a pivotal role in making this day possible for our country. Chairman Waxman of Energy and Commerce, Chairman Frank of Financial Services, Chairman Obey, master on Appropriations Committee.

(APPLAUSE)

Chairman Miller from Education and Labor.

(APPLAUSE)

And Chairman Olberstar on Transportation and Infrastructure. He wasn't here when we first walked out. We thought he was already working on a shovel-ready job.

(LAUGHTER)

Mr. Rangle, I walked in, this is Chairman Rangle from the Ways and Means Committee.

And before I yield again, I just want to say something about Barack Obama. Barack Obama in just a few short weeks as president has passed one of the biggest packages for economic relief in our country's history. Probably the biggest tax cut for the middle class. Investments in our future that I already mentioned. The American people know and historians are judging that this is one remarkable president. He did something faster than any other president ever has in our history, and that is to pass his economic package in just a matter of weeks. And we salute him for his leadership.

And now I want to yield to the distinguished majority leader who, again, championed these issues. We've been working on it for over a year. And Steny has the knows chapter and verse day to day, the work that went into getting us to where we are. Thank you, Mr. Leader.

HOYER: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, and thank you for your leadership. Obviously President Obama was critical, but I want to congratulate Speaker Pelosi for her leadership, untiring leadership.

(APPLAUSE)

He's not standing here with us, but I also want to congratulate Senator Harry Reid, who has gone through the fire of great difficulty in the United States Senate in putting together the votes to pass this critically important piece of legislation. We expect him to do that in a very short period of time and I want to congratulate him as well on this achievement.

(APPLAUSE) November 4th, millions of Americans went to the polls knowing that their country was confronting crisis. Knowing that their country need change. Knowing and having a confidence that they had the opportunity to vote for a leader who would bring change. Vote for a leader who would confront the crisis and bring solutions. A leader who would end gridlock in Washington. And by a large majority, installed a new president, Barack Obama, setting not only history in terms of being an African-American first elected ever in the history of our country, but in many respects from their standpoint, irrespective of that historic fact, a person who talked to them for 18 months about change they could believe in. And he said to them, the challenges are great, but together, yes, we can. They believed him. Today, that belief has been affirmed. Today, we talk about in historic terms the first 100 days.

PHILLIPS: Democrats responding, obviously, to the passing of the recovery plan. Waiting to hear from Republicans. We'll take that as soon as they step up to the mikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: Not one member's read this. What happened to the promise we're going to let the American people see what's in this bill for 48 hours. But nope, we don't have time to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Just some of the drama there on the floor as we were waiting for that House vote. John Boehner showing you the size, not just the price. It is the size. And critics of the bill complain supporters don't want to give anybody time to read it. You heard John Boehner right there. He said it was impossible. Well, guess what. It's not impossible. I eat my words, because I thought it would be impossible, too, to read such a stack of documents. But Lisa Desjardins of CNN Radio read all 1,071 pages overnight. So we called her up to give her a little quiz.

Just kidding, Lisa. But seriously, this didn't surprise me when I made my comment live on the air. I'm now eating crow because I'm thinking to myself, there's no way I could have gotten through that paperwork, but you, of course, being who you are, pulled an all- nighter. Why did you do it?

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO: You've got to read the bill. It's one of the largest spending bills in history. I really had to know what was in it. And of course, also, I'm a pretty big geek. So I love stuff like this. But I just still can't believe that they're moving, you know, they put the bill out last night and you had to stay up all night to read it by the time the House voted.

PHILLIPS: All right. And unfortunately all the breaking news took us up to the end of the hour. We've got to take it to Rick Sanchez, but I had to give you a shout out. And just so you all know, Lisa sent me this long email of all the winners and the losers and the tax breaks and every detail of that plan. Lisa, I continue to admire you. Great work. DESJARDINS: OK. Thanks.

PHILLIPS: OK. Rick Sanchez is going to take it from here in just about two minutes.

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