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Staten Island Ferry Crashes into Dock; Deadly Tennessee Floods

Aired May 08, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also there on Staten Island right now for us inside the terminal where this ferry crashed a short time ago is our Ross Levitt, one of our producers that we talked to a short time ago.

And Ross, we were so curious about seeing the actual ferry. I don't know if you've been able to get a better vantage point to see how much or the severity of the damage has been done to this boat.

ROSS LEVITT, CNN PRODUCER: Actually I've walked around now all the way to the side of the building and I've seen the length of the ferry. And still not seeing any damage and again that doesn't mean there isn't any. It's just -- you know, it's a big ferry and we're not given up-close access.

But where I am right now, I'm standing at the triage area as the wounded are being loaded into ambulances. And there are quite a few of those. Although we are hearing reports, confirmed reports that there are no serious injuries.

But as I'm watching people, many of them have their heads immobilized. This ambulance I'm seeing has two patients in it. So they are trying to double up because there are just that many people injured right now. And now they're starting to try to get those people stabilized and get these ambulances moving out of this area and to local hospitals where they could be further treated.

But there were about seven or eight ambulances and many of them have left. I believe we're down to about four right now. But there -- and I don't see any wounded where I am looking right now but the triage area is kind of off and under an overhang. So I may not be able to see whether all of the wounded have been attended to yet or not. But we definitely have seen some come right out from under that overhang and into some ambulances as they are being treated here.

Again, the ferry, we do not see much damage but that doesn't mean there isn't damage because we just aren't getting the vantage point of where we would actually see that happening. We are seeing the captains of the ship and other personnel being questioned by authorities and I'm sure that's going to be an ongoing process to try to figure out exactly why this happened.

RICHELLE CAREY, CNN ANCHOR: Ross Levitt, our CNN producer, trying to kind of give us the lay of the land that they're seeing. These people are being treated from these injuries. At least 60 people are injured on the Staten Island ferry today. The trip from Manhattan to Staten Island is about a 25-minute trip.

The last five to ten minutes has actually when the ferry is supposed to start slowing down and apparently that's not what happened. The witnesses, people who ride this ferry every day say that this thing started to speed up and the coast guard says that it seemed to imply a loss of propulsion. But this is really early on.

They are just now getting to the scene to start to ask the questions and figure out exactly why this happened.

Let's check in with CNN Susan Candiotti. She has made it to the scene and has been able to ask some questions to figure out what's going. Susan, what can you tell us?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't know how repetitive I will be but I'm standing now outside the terminal. Our CNN producer Ross Levitt has been reporting the view from inside.

And here I can see at least a dozen fire engines that I've counted up so far. A couple of them already have been packing up and pulling back as the Coast Guard has taken over at least part of the scene.

Occasionally some of the passengers who are on board are coming out by the terminal and telling us what they described as a harrowing tale, very frightening. One gentleman said that just before they approached the landing dock -- the docks here -- that all of a sudden, it seemed as though the ferry sped up a little bit.

Now -- and people were thrown forward, thrust forward. Another man said just before they landed at the dock, someone over the intercom yelled out red, red, red, as in the color red or presumably red alert.

Now, the U.S. Coast Guard is telling us preliminarily that it looks as though the captain lost control of the engine, for whatever reason, but, again, that's just a preliminary report about what happened.

Things do not appear to be chaotic here. I can tell you from the outside that the emergency personnel are responding very carefully and calmly to what is going on. We have seen some people on stretchers being taken to ambulances. As you, I'm sure, heard by now, Mayor Bloomberg has set out numbers of 60 to 65 people injured so far -- Brooke (SIC).

CAREY: All right Susan Candiotti with a great wrap up there. You said that it seems that people are being transported to the hospital but not really a sense of chaos. Does it seem like that situation like the area is very orderly?

CANDIOTTI: Yes it is. And occasionally I actually I have not seen any ambulances pull out since I arrived here 15, 20 minutes ago. Again, we have some people who are pulling back. Some firefighters who are pulling back but a lot of flashing lights here, obviously they spent a lot of fire engines, a lot of ambulances are on stand by and as you've heard so far.

We are hearing reports from the mayor's office that these injuries are only minor in nature. That is what we're hearing for now. Whether that changes, of course, we'll have to stand by and see.

But of course, what we have to do now is begin this investigation. Initially we had heard that the Coast Guard was going to set up a safety zone around the terminal area, water side, to prevent other boats from coming close to the area while they conduct their investigation. But now we hear that there is no need for them to do that as they continue to try to find out exactly what went on.

Needless to say, they will be doing extensive interviews with the crew aboard the ship. 252 passengers, that's what we're hearing officially and a crew around six, seven, or eight. I don't have that in front of me at the moment but any people.

So, remember, this is a very, very busy ferry that runs seven days a week; fewer ones presumably on the weekend but certainly up to 65,000 passengers on a daily basis; it's a main route from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan. One man said in fact, that had he been in Manhattan and had been visiting friends and was going back and forth on the ferry as he often does and he suffered just minor injuries but everyone, needless to say, is shaken by what happened.

People were described as flying and the ferry simply approached the dock and did not slow down.

CAREY: Susan, you said that someone said that they heard; "someone yell red, red, red". Have there been any other passengers who've said that there was any type of warning that something had gone wrong.

CANDIOTTI: So far, that's the only gentlemen that I heard that from. He is standing here and talking further about what is happening here -- further accounts, but I haven't heard that from anyone else yet.

CAREY: Ok, that will be interesting to see that other people have heard something as they started to feel that Fairy start to pick up team which is what we seem to be hearing from so many people on board.

All right, CNN's Susan Candiotti. Susan, thank you for that. We'll be checking back in just a bit.

HOLMES: And to our Susan, also our Ross Levitt both on the scene right now who are keeping an eye on the scene.

It sounds like they are starting to get some of the injured certainly out of that area. But the investigation continues in to what exactly caused this ferry accident, this ferry to crash into the dock about an hour and a half ago; this ferry that crashed into the dock about an hour and a half ago now, 60 people injured -- we are all over this breaking news story.

Quick break. We are right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAREY: We want to let you know about the breaking news we continue to follow for you. We have reporters on the scene. This is what happened. A ferry boat crashed into Staten Island. This is the boat that takes people back and forth between Manhattan and Staten Island. About an hour and a half ago now it ended up crashing.

You can see lots of emergency crews on the scene. We are hearing that there are some minor injuries; a total of about 60 and it appears that the majority of them are minor.

We're still trying to figure out what happened. The witnesses from multiple vantage points say that it seems to them, that for some reason the ferry sped up. Again, there is going to be an investigation, but that's what people on the scene are saying right now.

CNN's Susan Candiotti also spoke with a witness who said that he heard someone yell red, red right before the crash. So we're getting as many angles on this covered as possible. This is a very, very busy ferry. It wasn't Saturday but nevertheless, there were about 250 people on board. We're going to keep you posted on that.

HOLMES: Yes. Certainly during the week you would have seen so many more people on these ferries. But again, this one was about to dock. You can assume it left New York, Manhattan, at about 9:00. And then it was pulling in at 9:25 in Staten Island.

We've been hearing from some of the witnesses, the eyewitnesses, not just those who saw the thing coming in but some who were actually on the ferry when it hit.

Take a listen to some of the people we heard from.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TY WILBURN: There's a massive effort under way right now and dozens of first responders are downstairs helping the people who are injured responding to that ferry crash that happened about at 9:25. Eyewitnesses on the boat tell us as the ferry was approaching the dock it sped up and slammed into the dock. Again, it could possibly be dozens of people injured as a result of this.

Joining me right now is Alex Gonzales. He was on that ferry coming from New York to Staten Island about 9:25. Tell me what happened, Alex.

ALEX GONZALES, WITNESS: As we left the port from Manhattan, the boat was smooth sailing. As we approached the dock, it started speeding up. I got a little nervous because I didn't -- I was wondering why it was speeding up so fast. As soon as we got to the port, it just slammed right into the dock and pushed everybody back.

There was a young lady with a child there that flew literally. It was chaos, pandemonium. It was like something I've never been in, in my life.

WILBURN: What was going through your mind when this happened?

GONZALES: I hope I don't die. That's all I felt like. Just I don't want to die right here on the ferry. I came out here every Saturday. I just don't want to die.

WILBURN: Talk about the injuries. Did you see people around you?

GONZALES: There were a lot of people that were taken off on gurneys and on stretchers and it took us maybe 10 to 15 minutes before they let the people that were able to walk off. So it was chaos.

WILBURN: And so, again, take me back to the moment before it happened. As you were approaching the ferry --

GONZALES: It was normal as usual, everything was smooth sailing. Started raining and went back inside, sat down. And then all of a sudden as we approached the dock it just started speeding up, literally fast.

Like what's going on here? And then as soon as it was like maybe about 20 feet away, it was like this boat isn't going to stop. And as soon as it crashed, it pushed the whole dock in, the bridge and everything. And then all of a sudden that's when all the cops came running down and all the ferry -- I guess security, started coming down telling everybody to sit down.

There were people, old lady next to me who was having a heart attack. So it was scary.

WILBURN: What about the impact? I mean ...

GONZALES: It was like so hard it was like it threw you back. Like I said, there was a lady with a child on the front that literally got thrown from the front part out into where we were sitting. Like literally maybe about ten feet. That's how hard the impact hit her. It was like boom and everything got pushed back.

You see the bridge get pushed in and the sad part about it is, this is the same boat several years ago.

WILBURN: I don't know about that.

GONZALES: The Barbary (ph).

WILBURN: Are we sure about that?

GONZALES: Yes. We are definitely sure about that.

WILBURN: So where were you on the ferry when this happened?

GONZALES: Right on the first tier right in front. Right there, like literally I just walked in ten minutes before the impact.

WILBURN: And did you see it coming? Did you feel it coming? Was there any sense before it happened?

GONZAELS: It was more like usually when we come here it goes smooth sailing.

WILBURN: Right.

GONZALES: This time it just sped up for some reason. And then there were several people around me who were like, "Why are we speeding up?" And I was like, I don't know. And, boom, impact.

WILBURN: Obviously, I don't know if you know this, but was this -- could be a ferry-operated error? What did it seem like to you?

GONZALES: I would think truthfully that I don't know if there was maybe something wrong with the ferry but who knows.

WILBURN: Again, we're getting reports of dozens of injuries. Did you have the sense of that as you were on the ferry right after it collided into the dock?

GONZALES: Yes, absolutely. Because I see -- yes, there were a lot of people hurt. A lot of people were hurt.

WILBURN: Again, what do you make of this? I mean you take the ferry every Saturday morning.

GONZALES: And right now, like I'm scared to even go back on there because like it's unbelievable how this is like the second time in about seven years, I think eight years that all I do is come to Staten Island and go back and now look what just happened. You have people on gurneys literally laying in the station. It's sad.

WILBURN: Again, we're getting reports of 60 people injured. When you hear that number, did that surprise you at all?

GONZALES: No, not all. Not at all because there was at least several hundred -- I would say maybe 200 to 300 people on it but the impact alone jarred you.

WILBURN: Ok.

GONZALES: Like it just -- as soon as it hit, it's like your body rocked and if you didn't get a grip, there's a lot of people that probably were just sitting there like not even paying attention.

WILBURN: Right.

GONZALES: But once I saw what I -- boom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Boom. You heard the word there. But the update, 252 on board, 60 of them injured when a Staten Island ferry ran into the dock and reportedly sped up as it got to the dock. Some of those injuries said to be serious. We're not going to go too far from this breaking news story, keeping an eye on it. And I believe from our producer -- I heard you right -- we're going to go -- Janet Napolitano is in Nashville right now. She's speaking, she's there surveying the damage after the flooding.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: -- bet it volunteer effort that you see represented here at the gym and the efforts of the mayor and the governor, your federal representatives obviously have been very active here.

So I think Tennesseans can be assured that everybody is really focused on this and paying attention and now we've got to work our way through this.

Craig Fugate is here. He is the FEMA administrator nationally. He's been here I think three of the last five days. He's been all over the state and reporting back to me what he is seeing.

And we have been -- even as we have been traveling around today talking with the governor and the mayor about other things that will need to be done in the coming days and weeks to set up. For example, information centers where people can get information and other areas of the state to really begin thinking through the recovery efforts that will need be made in terms of housing, small business, you name it.

This is a -- this is a big flood that affected a lot of areas across Tennessee. Some parts are dry and open for business and people should know that. But other parts are going to need long-term help.

In that regard, let me just give you a few things, now. As of 7:00 this morning, my time, so in D.C., so there were 16,000 Tennesseans who had already registered for assistance with FEMA. Let me give you that number again. As of 7:00 this morning Eastern Time, there were already 16,000 Tennesseans who had registered for assistance with FEMA.

More than 650 inspections already had been completed. The inspections are done so we know what the damages number is for obvious reasons. And then more than $4.1 million already had been approved for assistance to individuals. That's not the same as the public assistance.

The President has already signed every disaster declaration that has been submitted. We turn those around very quickly for Tennessee so those resources could be immediately available.

So, people watching this may want to know what they need to do to register for assistance. This is the key number one step. We can't help if we don't know who you are and where you are. So it's 1-800- 621-FEMA; or go to www.fema.gov, www.fema.gov; or go to m.fema.gov, m.fema.gov. So those are three easy -- I have this high tech card we wrote, has the numbers on it. I'll hold it up here, take a picture of it, put it on your screens because that is the first step.

And then, of course, the volunteer centers located all around this area have all of this information and more. As we get into place people helping with their housing needs, with their other assistance needs and recovery from this flooding.

With that, let me just stop and see what questions there might be. Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Madam Secretary, (INAUDIBLE). I wonder are you confident that there will be enough assistance to (INAUDIBLE) and whose responsibility is that? Does that follow the state or federal government?

NAPOLITANO: Well, your question goes to one of the more difficult issues. We will be able to provide through FEMA assistance but only up to a certain level in terms of cash. We can -- we will be working with people right now on where they need to live.

For example, a lot of people went to live with relatives or they're staying in a motel. We can help with that but as soon as we know who they are, who is out of their house -- and again, 1-800-621- FEMA -- we will begin working with them and looking individually what their housing needs are going to be.

Are they going to need rental housing for a while? Is their house repairable or not? That sort of thing. But there will be individuals who will be -- who no doubt are going to suffer financial damage from this. And I'm not going to ...

CAREY: You've been listening to Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security. She is in Nashville right now. She just got a look herself at some of the pictures that we're showing you.

She's trying to tell people how they can get help; people are trying to get help. She said so far 16,000 people have registered with FEMA to get help. There's the Titan Stadium that's flooded there.

She is saying that they can do things limited when it comes to cash but they can do things more like if you're staying in a hotel with a family member right now, they can get you some place else or maybe you could have a more long term temporary housing if you will.

But she is trying to let people know, basically, that FEMA is there. She wants people to register. She says they can't help if they don't know who you are.

And also, CNN's Martin Savidge is there in Nashville as well. I know that Martin has gone through some of these neighborhoods where people's lives had been changed because of what happened in Nashville, the Cumberland River so far above its banks.

I mean these pictures are unbelievable. It seems to have receded now so people can take a breather.

What's going on now Martin?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it should be pointed out, by the way, that Secretary Napolitano is the highest ranking member of the Obama to visit the devastated area so far.

As you can see by the river here, it's gone back, not quite to normal. But let me point out how far we have come since the really serious days of flooding.

Down there is a stone marker. You can probably see it's got measurement levels on it. At its worse this river was actually three feet above the top of that marker, if you can even try to fathom that. That would mean the marker and those street lamps were all completely submerged.

The water, as we say, has gone down significantly. But as you can tell, there is still a lot more to be revealed of that riverside park down there. So it's got a ways to go but it's still above flood stage and of course, for anyone who lives near or has been affected by the Cumberland River tributaries, that's good news. But the impact though continues to be felt here within the state of Tennessee.

The death toll has now risen -- again it stands at 22. The damage in the Nashville area alone has been deemed so far to be $1.5 billion. So that's a significant figure and it's likely to go up. And then on top of that, there are all the individuals that have been affected by this storm.

We wanted to also point out something else. Tourism is huge in the community of Nashville. It's the home of country music so they get about a million visitors every year. One of the big drawers of that is Opry Land. That is a huge resort and entertainment complex. And that has been effectively shut down because 85 percent of that property and it is massive was touched by the flood waters.

And now we went in there -- actually yesterday, one of the first to see the entire set up there after the storm. And it's amazing the damage that has been done. It's quite shocking to see, reminiscent of what you would see in buildings of Katrina.

And then there's the economic impact because you lose that hotel and it will be closed at least until September. Immediately 10 percent of all of the hotel space in Nashville is wiped out with the loss of that hotel. And then on top of that, 25 percent of the hotel- run tax generated from that one hotel alone which means that it's a significant reduction of money just at the time that it's needed by the city of Nashville.

And then on top of that, it's also the site of the Grand Ole Opry. We got to look at the damage that was done. Water went two feet above the stage.

Colin Reed is the CEO of all of Gaylord Entertained and he talked about the responsibility of this very unique place. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN REED, CEO, GAYLORD: What I'm shocked about is the speed at which this stuff came over the levy. That's the thing that I find very, very hard to comprehend.

Pete, I think most of these benches are going to have to go, man. They are wet and warped.

What you see here are a lot of the costumes of the artists that have been removed from their lockers and bags ready to take out and be cleaned -- dry cleaned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Now the Grand Ole Opry show does go on. In fact, there will be a performance tonight; it will be at the Ryman auditorium, it won't be at the Grand Ole Opry house. But as you just heard there, significant damage inside but they are recovering and they do say that they will rebuild.

Back to you, Richelle.

CAREY: And you believe them when they say that. When you meet these people and you hear them, you're going to feel their spirit. You know they mean that Martin. Thank you very much.

SAVIDGE: You're welcome.

CAREY: To find out how you can help, if you want to make a difference, if you want to help these people rebuild, they say they want to. This is what you can do. Go to cnn.com/impact. There's a list of agencies there that are chipping in and helping those people that have been affected by this.

HOLMES: All right. Also coming up, again, the breaking news that we have this morning: a Staten Island ferry has run into the docks; several people have been injured. We will have the very latest developments when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Bottom of the hour here now. We are watching breaking news in New York. A Staten Island ferry has crashed into the dock on Staten Island this morning happening at about 9:25 Eastern Time. About two hours ago. 252 people on board and 60 of them injured. You're seeing some of the video that we've of those being treated. We don't know how many of those injuries are serious injuries.

We also don't know exactly what it was to cause this ferry to crash. Some witnesses say that actually this thing, instead of slowing down, as it approached this dock actually sped up. They describe people being thrown across the boat from the inside and 60 injuries at least have been reported. We are continuing to follow this breaking news. We'll bring you any developments as we get them. CAREY: Other big, big story this weekend, big story for days. This happened in the Gulf of Mexico. Crews right now are slowly, carefully trying to place a containment dome on top of that oil leak and they're doing this by remote control. What you're seeing there, it's about the size of a four story building.

We're told that this thing has reached the sea floor. That's about a mile below the surface. BP workers again using remote controls to try to get this thing into place to put it into place over the gushing well head. They're not sure it's going to work but they're certainly appear to be giving it their best shot.

HOLMES: Let's bring in Brooke who is live for us on the coast for us. Brooke, as we've been talking about and describing this process, quite frankly, when you hear some of the BP executives talk about this, they are not even sure this is going to work but it literally is something that has not been tried before.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. I think it was the BP CEO when he spoke with our own David Mattingly yesterday he said the process doesn't come without complications and you already stressed one of the biggest points is the fact that this process, this operation has never been attempted before at this depth. We're talking 5,000 feet under water.

The concern simply is water pressure in the piping and what we do know and you've said it is that this four story 100 ton containment dome, essentially think of a funnel, it's upside down going on top of that well head. They have to make absolute certain that it's perfectly positioned before they take the series of piping, place it in the top and then begin potentially we're hearing as early as Sunday to start siphoning the oil up to a ship to take it out of there.

Other efforts we know BP is making, they have aerial disbursements of chemicals that are working on breaking up the oil. Another process is called burning. That's when they're corralling the oil together and lighting it on fire. There's also 800,000 feet of booms to try to keep some of the oil and muck from really encroaching on the islands and the eco habitats. These are all the different measures that BP, the Coast Guard are taking to try to mitigate some of the damage, guys.

HOLMES: We talk about that. Everybody has an image in their mind at least of nasty, murky, dirty water. You have been looking into this water, quite frankly, literally and quite figuratively, trying to figure out what is going on with it. We're trying to, I know you are, trying to get this stuff tested to figure out how nasty it is. What have we learned? Have we heard just back yet?

BALDWIN: Right. Well let me jump on one point you made which is so important and that is you know I think because of Exxon Valdez, we're accustomed to seeing the dark tar, black oil, right? And now what I think we have seen, my crew when we went out a couple of days ago in the thick of things, it's really this orangish red ooze.

I grabbed some, put it in this water bottle and I spoke with a lab director. We wanted to get it tested to find out how bad it really might be.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We gave you our sample and now we look at this and we wait overnight for what?

HARRY HOWELL, MICRO-METHODS LABORATORY, INC.: Well, essentially we'll finish the extraction and concentrate it down and it will be taken to a TC and put on there and run. We're looking for oil range organics. We're going to be able to identify and actually quantitate the concentration.

BALDWIN: So do you think once we get our results you will be able to tell me how bad this stuff really is?

HOWELL: We'll be able to tell you what the petroleum level that is in that sample, yes.

BALDWIN: Do you have any best guess? We just don't know yet, do we?

HOWELL: No, I've learned not to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: T.J., Richelle, we will find out how concentrated this petroleum is in the water to find out how bad it really might be.

HOLMES: All right. We look forward to hearing the results of that. Brooke Baldwin for us, thanks so much.

CAREY: Republicans have a pretty big decision to make today in Utah. Is party purity more important than a three-term senator's experience? We'll tell you who is in trouble and what it says about the mood of the rest of the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAREY: It's not easy finding bargains for fruits and vegetables these days and in one part of Miami it's even tough to find an actual supermarket so some people have to take matters into their own hands.

CNN's John Zarrella visits their unique urban farming experience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI CORRESPONDENT: In the shadow of high rises, a garden of greens, turnips, broccoli, and something called Jamaican spinach. Here, once a week on Wednesdays, small family farmers sell their produce. This is over town, smack in the middle of downtown Miami. A supermarket? Not around here. In a unique way, this farmer's market fills that void.

Here, Eddie Stewart can use cash or his EBT card, known as food stamps, to fill his bag with fruits and vegetables. And you can't beat the prices. For every dollar in food stamps you get $2 worth of produce. This subsidized market is the brain child of Chef Michel Nischan. There are more than 100 now open around the country funded by donations and money from Nischan's foundation. Most importantly, this market provides fresh food at an affordable price to communities where access to groceries is limited.

MICHEL NISCHAN, FOUNDER, WHOLESOME WAVE FOUNDATION: When you provide the access and the resources both, miracles happen. It's pretty cool.

ZARRELLA: In this neighborhood, the seeds of healthy eating have definitely taken root.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Again, we are keeping an eye on the breaking story we are getting out of New York. Specifically, Staten Island where the ferry has run into, has crashed into the dock. We have at least 60 people injure injured. We're following the developments. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Again, the breaking story we're working on 60 people injured after a Staten Island ferry crashed into the dock. This happened about 9:25 Eastern Time. Inexplicable right now just why it ran into it but the investigation is still going on. 60 people injured, some of them described as serious but for the most part injuries are described as minor.

The Staten Island ferry ferries people back and forth between Staten Island and Manhattan every single day, including weekends, but not as busy on the weekends. This only had 252 people on it. We're staying on top of that breaking news story.

CAREY: Let's switch gears a little bit. Securing a spot on the primary ballot, let me get that out, usually, usually means it's an automatic from the incumbent. You would think so. That is not the case in Utah. Three term Republican Senator Bob Bennett is actually fighting for his political life. Conservative critics complain he is not conservative enough.

HOLMES: Not the best time for incumbents. This could lead to his defeat at the state GOP convention today and Salt Lake City.

CNN's national correspondent Jessica Yellin has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This could be Utah senator's Bob Bennett last dance.

SEN. BOB BENNETT (R), UTAH: I've been in the Senate for 18 years and some of you think that's too long but the wise ones among you realize I'm just getting started.

YELLIN: He's been targeted by tea party activists saying that he's not a true conservative.

When they say that you're not conservative enough, is that surprising to you?

BENNETT: My colleagues in the Senate say that that's hilarious. We don't know what the definition of a conservative is.

YELLIN: Bennett has a long record of opposing abortion rights and gay rights, defending gun rights. But those issues barely rate with the tea party. David's company builds these sports cars but he's also founder of the Utah tea party and he's determined to boot Bennett because the senator voted for the 2008 Wall Street bailout.

Senator Bennett is considered among the most conservative members of the Senate by groups, including the National Right to Life Organization, the Christian Coalition, and liberal groups, like the ACLU. How can that not be conservative enough for you?

DAVID KIRKHAM, FOUNDER OF UTAH TEA PARTY: I don't think it's a question of conservative. I think it's a question of responsible. He was not responsible when he voted for bailouts. It was not a responsible vote to vote to save companies that had literally destroyed themselves.

YELLIN: But should his career end over one vote?

KIRKHAM: His career will end over that one vote.

YELLIN: Do you regret it?

BENNETT: No, I do not. Because we were facing a very genuine crisis.

YELLIN: Bennett is no moderate. He voted no on healthcare reform, no on the stimulus, no on the auto bailout, but he does work across the aisle. Last year, he and a Democrat proposed a health care alternative. The bill went nowhere but for Bennett the damage was done. Many of these Utah Republicans will not forgive him for that health care proposal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you compromise things like that you compromise your own values.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like we need new people in the Senate who will show that they are conservative.

YELLIN: So after years as a darling of the right Bob Bennett can be the first Republican victim of the tea party's anti-Washington rage.

BENNETT: They want everybody in Washington out. Throw them all out and we'll start fresh.

YELLIN: Jessica Yellin, CNN, Salt Lake City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: We're keeping our eye on the breaking developments out of New York where that Staten Island ferry has crashed into the dock in Staten Island, at least 60 people injured. The CNN NEWSROOM will continue shortly at noon with our Fredricka Whitfield. She'll have a live report from this breaking story with our correspondent Susan Candiotti who is there on the scene.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: And, again, we're keeping an eye on the breaking news out of New York, Staten Island, where a Staten Island ferry has crashed into the docks. It happened at 9:25 eastern time. The updates on the number of injured. We're told that 37 people were treated at the scene, but another 18 had to be transported to the hospital. At least one person is in serious condition. But the update on the numbers, 18 had to be taken to the hospital, among those one was in serious condition. Another 37 treated at the scene.

CAREY: And CNN NEWSROOM with Fredricka Whitfield is going to kick off the coverage. You've got a couple of things you're working on.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, hello, T.J., I see you over there. Cool.

HOLMES: This is different for me. I am usually not used to be sitting this far away from you.

WHITFIELD: Usually we sit alongside each other but I like Richelle.

We've got a lot coming up, including incredible legal cases everything from a hall of famer, you know, facing pretty serious charges to a UVA student, one who is being laid to rest today, the other who is now facing, again, some serious questions. Our regular legal guys, Richard and Avery, will tackle these cases. Our Richard has some very strong thoughts about Lawrence Taylor and the allegations of sexual assault he's facing. Will the case even hold water?

And then, of course, I mentioned the UVA investigation now, police are investigating what happened involving these two UVA students. You're looking at Lawrence Taylor right now. Now we're talking about this young lady who is being laid to rest today. A promising student at the UVA as was her former boyfriend, a promising student and athlete at UVA, now he's facing some very serious charges, first-degree murder of this young lady as she is laid to rest.

And then we're going to pick up the pace a little bit later on in the hour, because don't you love that dynamic financial duo, the Dolans, they're going to be here with here, they're going to be here in the house, you all will see them, you can't miss them, because they bring incredible energy and knowledge, everything financial. From what happened on Wall Street, what's going on in Greece, how's that going to impact you and me? And some of the hottest jobs to be on the lookout for, you guys don't have to worry about it, but a lot of people are looking for jobs and they want great advice and they'll deliver.

And in the 4:00 eastern hour, it's time to go to the movies and there's one great movie that so many people are excited about, this one here, "Babies" how did this not make you smile?

CAREY: Oh, my goodness. Smile, T.J.

HOLMES: It's in theaters?

WHITFIELD: Yes, in theaters. And it profiles four babies all born at the same time different parts around the world and the different ways of being a baby. It's hitting the screens and so many people are talking about it, and we'll have someone talking about it in the house kind of via satellite.

HOLMES: You've got a lot.

WHITFIELD: We've got a lot. As we get to debut our weekend here in our beautiful new home here.

CAREY: We worked out all the glitches. It will be okay.

WHITFIELD: We like that.

HOLMES: She's not kidding you.

WHITFIELD: Okay, good. I'm happy.

CAREY: Thanks, Fred.

HOLMES: We'll see you in a minute.

WHITFIELD: Okay.

CAREY: Part of this week's craziness on Wall Street traces back, speaking of glitches, to a technical glitch. All right, we're looking into the pitfalls of electronic trading that's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Another sign that the nation's economy might be stabilizing according to the U.S. labor department, there was a gain of 290,000 jobs last month. That is up from a revised 230,000 jobs added the month before. April increase is the largest number of jobs added to the labor force since March of 2006.

The good news from the jobs report had little positive impact on wall vote, however. One day removed from the market's near 1,000- point roller-coaster ride, stocks slumped again on Friday. The three major indices ended in negative territory. The Dow fell nearly 140 points as the investors looked at the Greek debt crisis. CAREY: A technical glitch, violence in Greece, elections in the UK, just a few of the reasons offered for the midweek swan dive by the Dow. Did you panic a little? Experts warn it could happen again. Why?

CNN's Mary Snow investigates the troubles of electronic trading.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After Thursday's jaw-dropping plunge followed by its rebound, questions remain about exactly what happened. How could a stock of Accenture trading around $40 a share tank to a penny within minutes. Is that the worst yesterday that you've seen so far?

WILLIAM O'BRIEN, CEO, DIRECT EDGE: Yes, it was. It's something no one should be proud of and we have to work very quickly to make sure it doesn't happen again.

SNOW: William O'Brien is the CEO of Direct Edge just across the river from Wall Street. The company touts itself as America's newest stock exchange. It's an electronic exchange where the bulk of trading is done on a computer at the speed of milliseconds. The difference at the New York stock exchange there are humans that act as middlemen.

JONATHAN CORPINA, TRADER, MERIDIAN EQUITY PARTNERS: It shows investors, you know, you have to look at the markets that you're trading and you have to understand that human interaction is something we need and speed isn't always the answer.

SNOW: When the market started melting down Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange slowed trading on some stocks, like Accenture to get a better handle of what was happening. But roughly 60 percent of the stocks that trade here also trade on other exchanges, and when the NYSE went into slow motion mode, trading was able to continue on other electronic exchanges, and that includes O'Brien's exchange.

He says if there's going to be a time-out, it has to be system- wide, and not just on one exchange. He says technology isn't to blame.

O'BRIEN: Technology can allow things that are let to get out of control cascade, but I think on the flip side of the coin, technology can be used to prevent that from happening in the first place, if people are focused on it.

SNOW: One Georgetown professor says Thursday's meltdown was just a preview, and that the system is dangerously unprotected.

JAMES J. ANGEL, PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Where does human judgement come in? Well, where I think it needs to come in is what we need to have is an automated system in place that when markets get chaotic, we immediately have an instantaneous trading halt in computer time, not human time. Then, human judgement comes in. The humans can examine the situation and when it's safe to do so, re-open the market in an orderly way. That's where we need the human judgement.

SNOW (on camera): One House committee has called for a hearing next Tuesdat to examine what happened and two Democratic senators are calling for safeguards to be put in place to prevent a repeat of Thursday's plunge.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Hi.

HOLMES: We're going to hand this thing over to you, literally.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: OK. I will take it right now. You all have a great day.

CAREY: You too.

WHITFIELD: We have a lot coming up.