Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Emergency Landing at JFK; Cam Newton's Off-Field Troubles; Funeral Held Today for Murdered Hollywood Publicist Ronni Chasen; College Students Tweet Instead of Assisting Comedian Who Faints on Stage

Aired November 21, 2010 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We have some breaking news to tell you about here on CNN and it involves an airliner apparently from JFK airport -- reports of a fire on board. Now, here we're being told that the plane is on the ground, though, at JFK.

The reports and the details here are very slow to come in, but we want to get the very best information to you. So, we want to go to our national correspondent in the New York area and that's CNN's Susan Candiotti.

Susan, what flight is it? Do we know? Is it Delta? Is it American? What's going on?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. First of all, the good news is that the plane has landed safely. We just learned that moments ago.

Now, let's back it up. This was a Delta Airlines flight that was -- had just taken off from JFK and heading to Moscow.

There are unconfirmed reports of about 200 people onboard that plane. According to an airport source, we are told that there was a possible engine flameout involved, not all of the engines, but one engine on the plane. And, apparently, what caused the furor is that people on the ground thought that they saw some flames up in the air on this plane and they called 911.

In any case, as a precaution, we are told from our source that the pilot dumped fuel and then the plane turned around and landed safely at JFK.

So, it's on the ground. Presumably, the passengers will be deplaned, of course, while they try to figure out what went wrong with the engine -- Don.

LEMON: OK. Listen, Susan, stand by, because I want to tell our viewers if there are reports and if you have any, you know, video or if you're on Twitter or what have you, and you're watching, send us that information and if you have that, because we really like to figure out. We're also going to try to get our tower cam up and also talk to our affiliates there on the ground.

So, Susan, you said it was about 20 people and there was an engine flameout. We know that these planes, especially if it's a big commercial jet, if it had 200 people on it, more than one engine and they're OK without one engine.

CANDIOTTI: That's right. Now, I'm not sure on this particular, what kind of plane this is, to determine how many engines are on that particular model. But I can tell you that these are unconfirmed reports about the number of passengers onboard around 200 or so.

We can also tell you that the airport, JFK, was well-prepared for this emergency. They said that they -- the fire department of New York tells us that they had fire engines on standby in the event that there was a problem, but as we said, the plane has landed safely at JFK. Now, it's a matter of getting down to what happened aboard the plane. And, of course, authorities are looking into that and will be looking into that.

LEMON: Susan, just one more thing. It was leaving JFK, heading to Moscow, correct? So, it turned around and went back to JFK.

CANDIOTTI: That's right. It had just taken off when this incident occurred. Again, people on the ground apparently called 911 after seeing some flames, they said, in the air. And so, authorities said they immediately looked into that. They don't know exactly what happened, but they're talking about a possible engine flameout.

Now, if flames have, in fact, been shooting from the air, it -- they're careful to state that, that they're not saying that there was a fire in the engine because that could have aggravated the problem by dumping fuel. The flames, our source is telling us, might have caused more of a problem. So, we don't know exactly what went wrong with the engine at this time. You know, we have no other indication one way or the other about what caused the problem to begin with --

LEMON: OK.

CANDIOTTI: Yes. Go ahead, Don.

LEMON: All right. Susan, I'm being told that we are digging for more information. We're going to let you go because I'm told your producers need to you check to some information that we need to get. So, thank you. We're going to talk to you in just a little bit.

And I want to tell you viewers, as we said, if you have any information, here's where to go. You can send it to Twitter@DonLemonCNN on Twitter. You can also go to Facebook and send me a note there, DonLemonCNN -- @DonLemonCNN on Twitter.

And also, all of our affiliates are heading to the airport right now and we should get some information for you soon.

So, if you know anything about it, contact us, we'll check it out, vet it, and get it on the air.

(MUSIC)

LEMON: And we couldn't be a more apropos time to talk about this because there's outrage also at the airport. Frustration with the Transportation Security Administration is hitting a boiling point as we move into the Thanksgiving holiday.

We've gotten used to removing our shoes and putting our shampoo in baggies and taking off your belt and everything that's on your body except for your clothing, right? But the full body scans and aggressive pat downs have some saying enough already -- and it's because of things like this.

Look at this video. A hit YouTube -- a young boy strip searched by the TSA in full view of everyone. You can see him right there as he turns around, the little boy's shirt is off right in the middle of everyone.

People are outraged. The passenger who took his YouTube video was so outraged and that's why he took it and sent it. There you see the little boy in the middle of your screen without his shirt.

You know, this comes on the heels of a story that we brought you yesterday. A flight attendant, a cancer survivor says she was forced to remove her prosthetic breast and show it to a TSA agent. That happened back in August, but Kathy Bossy is just now going public with this and we're going to be talking with Kathy next hour. So, stick around. Don't miss it. I want to hear her story and I'm sure you want to hear it, too.

And despite growing backlash, don't expect the TSA to bend on any of this. Here's what agency head John Pistole said on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN PISTOLE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: No, we're not changing the policies because of that -- because of the risks that are -- have been identified because of the current threat in the extreme. We have a travel advisory to Europe now. We know through intelligence that there are determined people, terrorists, who are trying to kill not only Americans but innocent people around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Florida Congressman John Mica was also on the "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning and he strongly disagrees with Pistole.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN MICA (R), FLORIDA: I think he's trying to react to make certain that we have some means in place to detect the threat that we face. Now, I don't think the rollout was good and the application is even worse. This does need to be refined. But he's saying it's the only tool, and I believe that's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You know, Congressman Mica has been urging airports to get rid of the TSA altogether in favor of private security. (MUSIC)

LEMON: All right. This is called "news you can use" because you're going to need a lot of this coming up to the holiday season. If you're traveling this holiday week, expect plenty of company. Many Americans are feeling better about the economy and plan to hit the road. The nation's highways and airports are expected to be packed.

And here's something you don't want to hear. The weather is already getting dicey in some parts of our country. So, we're going to go to our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras, who's going to have a complete holiday travel forecast for you.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Don't me give that look.

LEMON: Fingers crossed, holding my breath, come on!

JERAS: I know. Well, we've got a couple of strong storm systems out there that are making their way across much of the country in the next couple of days. So, they're really going to be impacting everyone at some point.

The worst of the conditions today -- we want to start out and show you these pictures from Minnesota. The Minnesota State Patrol there is reporting hundreds of accidents late last night and today due to some freezing rain.

So, this wasn't a snow event in Minnesota. This was liquid rain coming down, freezing on the ground on contact. And all it takes is just a little bit. This was less than a tenth of an inch in most areas to make the streets an ice skating rinks.

There was one fatality unfortunately reported today and at least 50 injuries. Road conditions have improved throughout the day, but we are expecting those conditions to freeze back up tonight. So, those secondary roads you got to watch over.

The west coast, you guys have been dealing with some major snow especially in the higher elevations. Take a look at these pictures that we had for you from Utah. We had snow on the benches today, about a foot, about two feet into the higher elevations. And, yes, it's going to be dropping down to the valley floor.

And our second system comes into Salt Lake on Tuesday and into Wednesday. So, get ready for that next blow as it moves on in.

Now, if you're traveling by the airways, where we had troubles today, Chicago O'Hare has reported the most lengthy and the most frequent delays. Ground delays today right now still just under two hours. And that's getting into O'Hare because of the low clouds.

Departure delays increasing 45 minutes at Teterboro. San Francisco, you've been holding OK all day, but now, we're getting in other departures delays, about 30 minutes as we've been dealing with those wet conditions across parts of the west. And there you can you see the radar picture showing you the rain in the valleys and then the snow into the higher elevations.

All right. Let's forward this and advance this and show you what we can expect as we head back into tomorrow. We'll advance this and show you the forecast. Whether you're heading to work or maybe you're traveling still for tomorrow, more rain and snow in the west.

We'll watch for delays in the nation's midsection and expect to se airport delays again in Chicago tomorrow. Detroit, St. Louis, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City and San Francisco we think will be amongst the worst and then we'll watch this system make its way towards the east. As we head into that Wednesday, that big holiday travel day. And we'll have more on that coming up in the next hour as well.

And, of course, we're your holiday travel headquarters, Don.

LEMON: Yes.

JERAS: So, make sure you follow us on Twitter, CNN.com, as well as iReports. We want to see them all. There you can see all our addresses.

LEMON: You just stole my thunder, Jacqui Jeras.

JERAS: Oh, you're going to do that? I'm sorry.

LEMON: Yes, I was going to say, you can logon to CNN.com/HolidayTravel. It's where it is. You can also find us on Twitter@CNNTravel. And you can check out our iReport at iReport.com and it's also -- you can go to iReport.com/CNN, or CNN.com/iReport, or go to iReport.com.

JERAS: Yes. I'm going to travel -- that's all week, so I want to hear this, I want to see, you know, how long was your security wait time, what were the road conditions like, all that.

LEMON: What's your Twitter address?

JERAS: Just Jacqui Jeras. But we have a special one, CNN Travel.

LEMON: We'll forward it, we'll retweet it. You can send it to us here @DonLemonCNN, too.

Thank you, Jacqui. We'll check back with you. A very important week ahead for us.

And we have some developing news here, really breaking news as we told you at the top of this broadcast, a Delta Airlines flight was leaving JFK airport en route to Moscow. Apparently had to be turned around and this is what the initial reports are -- an engine flameout.

According to national correspondent Susan Candiotti in New York, she says about 200 passengers on board. She's checking with officials there, making some phone calls and digging. And we'll be checking as well. We also want to tell you that our affiliates, all of them in the New York City area headed out to JFK now to find out exactly what's going on. And if you need to get in touch with us, here is how you do it, @DonLemonCNN on Twitter. Or you can go to Facebook.com/DonLemonCNN or go to CNN.com/Don, to our blog. Also, you can go to iReport.com, send us information. We would really appreciate it.

Again, breaking news when we come back here on CNN.

Also, a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy from a team in the hunt for a national championship. It should be happy times for the Auburn Tigers, but instead, rumors of bribe requests are casting a dark shadow over the campus and all of college football. Really, we're talking about it with a former NFL player and a sports attorney who knows it all well.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: As we told you here on CNN, we have some breaking news that we have been following since the top of the broadcast. It involves a flight that was en route from JFK to Moscow. It's a Delta Airlines flight.

And here's what we're being told, the latest information from the FAA, a spokesperson, that it was flight number 30. It was a Boeing 767 airplane from JFK, again, to Moscow -- returned to JFK with a left engine problem.

We're not exactly sure, as has been first reported, that it was some sort of engine fire or an engine flameout or something like that. It was supposed to be 5:45 was the flight eastbound. It arrived back to JFK.

And we don't know -- again, it landed at 5; 49 and we don't know exactly how many passengers were on board this plane. But again, we're initially told that it was 200 passengers.

Again, all of our affiliates are heading out there and we'll bring you more information. If you have something, make sure you reach out to us here at CNN and we'll get it on the air again for you. Again, breaking story: a plane having to return to JFK because of an engine problem.

Let's move on and talk a little sports here, and something really that has been haunting the sports world, especially college football, for quite a while. Let's focus now on the Auburn Tigers. They are resting up this weekend ahead of their final regular season game versus Alabama on Friday.

Now, this has been an amazing season for Auburn -- ranked number two in the nation with a Heisman front-runner leading them. But something has dogged quarterback Cam Newton these past few weeks. There are allegations that his father, Cecil, was involved in a plan to ask for money to get Cam to commit to Mississippi State. Cecil Newton says he never received any money and Cam Newton says he did absolutely nothing wrong.

So, Jamal Anderson is here and he's joining me right now to talk about all of this. He's a former running back for the Atlanta Falcons.

JAMAL ANDERSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Right, University of Utah.

LEMON: Yes, I see you're out all the time. And he does -- he's a sports analysis person here.

And then joining us by telephone is David Cornwell, he's a sports attorney. You're familiar with him. He represents some big names in the sports world.

So, I'm going to -- David, hang on a second because I want to talk to Jamal.

How serious is this for Cam?

ANDERSON: This is very serious. Clearly, the allegations against Cam Newton and, in fact, Cecil Newton, if any of these things are true, it is going to be very, very punishing to not only Cam Newton, but the University of Auburn as well right now.

And the position that the University of Auburn is taking thus far, in the absence of true evidence right now, we hear stories from different people coming up and reporting and saying different things on the radio, but there's been no clear evidence right now. But a lot of people are talking and the people who are involved in this and the names that got the ball rolling for this case, it's not good. It's not good right now.

LEMON: Well, what should Auburn have done? Should they have suspended him for the season? Should they have waited for the outcome of an investigation? Have they jeopardized themselves and a possible championship?

ANDERSON: My position is, I believe Auburn should have done their due diligence. If there was any inclination that any of this stuff would be true at all, the University of Auburn -- it's going to be bad for the University of Auburn. And they're certainly going to be culpable for letting Cam Newton play and he's played fantastically.

I mean, listen, nobody was talking about this in September and August. When he becomes the hottest player in the country and Auburn becomes one of the top teams, in fact, have an opportunity to play for the championship, and then the allegations come. And the allegations are very, very damning.

And it is Auburn's responsibility -- listen, to look after a player and if they have nothing to do with this, it would have been their position, Cam Newton is eligible and he should be playing. But they should have done their due diligence.

LEMON: So, listen, I'm going to talk to David. David -- and David represents people. You represented Reggie Bush, you said it was a similar situation with him and then lost of the Heisman Trophy. Am I correct?

DAVID CORNWELL, SPORTS ATTORNEY: Yes, I did. I did represent Reggie.

LEMON: OK. Listen, you have written an article. You said the NCAA has breached its contract with student athletes and it's in response to all of this. You said a wide spread NCAA investigations in college football programs present an opportunity to examine and challenge the NCAA's -- and this is important I think -- draconian amateurism rules.

What do you mean by this and how is this all connected?

CORNWELL: It's connected because the NCAA, the entire discussion about Cam Newton, as was the case with Reggie Bush, is simply a focus on the NCAA attempting to enforce a rule that supports a fiction, that the men who play college football are amateurs and a notorious commercial enterprise.

In 2009 and 2010, the NCAA is projecting its revenues to be three quarters of a billion dollars.

LEMON: Wow.

CORNWELL: And they just signed a $10 billon contract for NCAA basketball, and it tells us that the value exchange for the money that these men create, billions of dollars, it's a college scholarship. It's not a college scholarship. It needs to be an education.

But the NCAA graduates -- 45 percent of college football players do not graduate.

LEMON: But you're not --

CORNWELL: And 56 percent of college basketball players do not graduate. They don't get the value for their services.

LEMON: Go ahead, Jamal.

ANDERSON: I completely agree with what you're saying about the money the NCAA generates on these student athletes. The facts don't change the original story. Listen, I was a student athlete.

I graduated from the University of Utah. I did not get paid to play, Don. I went on to star in the NFL, blessed and fortunate to do such, but I went to an institution of higher learning, did not receive any payment and followed the rules set forth by the NCAA.

Whether I agree or don't agree, these are the rules at present and the rules, if they have been broken, we have an issue.

LEMON: Yes, go ahead. Hey, David.

CORNWELL: You're making my point, Jamal.

ANDERSON: Right.

CORNWELL: My point is, you're absolutely right. It's the rule.

LEMON: But you're not letting -- you're not letting people off the hook, people like Cecil --

CORNWELL: We need to challenge the rule.

LEMON: Cecil Newton has said that he is not guilty of anything. You're not letting anyone off the hook here, are you, on the other side. You're challenging the NCAA.

CORNWELL: I'm challenging the NCAA. But even as it relates to Cecil Newton or Reggie Bush's father, why would we impose an obligation on a 21-year-old man to know and police his parents? And then hold him liable for the conduct of his parents?

The only reason we do it's because he's an athlete, and we don't do that in America.

LEMON: Go ahead, Jamal.

CORNWELL: We don't treat people differently in America based on their common characteristics.

ANDERSON: I wholehearted --

CORNWELL: The only reason they do it to these men is because they're athletes.

ANDERSON: Again, I disagree with -- excuse me, I agree with you there. My only problem in this instance, if any of this stuff is true, is Cecil Newton directly was responsible for where Cam was going to go. OK? If we find out there's actual evidence where he engaged in these conversations to get money for Cam Newton to play at these universities, then we have a real problem.

David, I'll agree with you all day long. We have a messed-up system with the NCAA, but we're talking about a specific player. But I totally agree with you. I mean, this is a whole separate fight with the NCAA because it is an issue.

And look what happened to A.J. Green earlier this year with the Bulldogs. He sold a jersey to an agent and he got suspended for several games. It was a nightmare.

LEMON: Go ahead, David.

CORNWELL: Which is -- when Frederick Douglas' owner found out that his wife was teaching him the alphabet, he scolded her and said, if a slave needs Lawrence to read, he'll become dissatisfied with his condition and seek freedom. The NCAA says, if a man gets any inclination that his services are worth something, he may ask for money. So, we are going to impose draconian penalties on him and his institution so they don't seek payment. It is absurd. It is draconian. And I think it may very well be fraudulent and illegal because they make the promise. If you come here and play for free, we will give you an education. That's a false promise to 45 percent of college football players in 2008 (ph).

LEMON: OK. David, thank you. I know that you're traveling today and you're doing something with your kids. Thanks for joining us and safe travels, OK? We appreciate it.

CORNWELL: I appreciate it. The baby is looking at me now. We're heading to the gate.

LEMON: All right. Good luck, man.

So, listen, bottom line it for us -- what happens next because this is a domino effect. It could affect Mississippi State, it could affect Auburn, it could affect the entire NCAA.

ANDERSON: I mean, the thing about this story, Don, there are discrepancies on every level. Mississippi State is saying that they reported this to -- excuse me, to the SEC commission in the office in December. SEC is saying, we didn't find out until July. We didn't get all the information.

Listen, Mississippi State should have reported this, there shouldn't have been an issue with this, or somewhere along the line, somebody's not giving us all the information because nothing, nobody heard about this in September and October when Cam Newton was dominating on the football field. Come November, he's the most fascinating player in all of college football on a top football team, here it goes -- oh, they tried to pay him at Mississippi State. There should be some discussions.

But Auburn is allowing him to play. And my point here is that if this thing should come out bad on the Cam Newton side and we find all of these allegations are, in fact, true, it's going to be trouble for Auburn.

LEMON: All right.

ANDERSON: I mean, look what happened with Reggie Bush.

LEMON: Yes.

ANDERSON: You suspend -- you know, Heisman Trophy, they had -- they had to forfeit football games and Auburn, another thing people aren't talking about. This is a school that was on probation like 15, 16 years ago.

LEMON: All right, we have to run. I have to say I want to tell our viewers that we reached out to Cam Newton's father, Cecil Newton. I spoke with his attorney. He was going to try to come on but said it wasn't in the best interests of his client to come on. So, we did reach out to them.

Thank you, Jamal Anderson. ANDERSON: My pleasure.

LEMON: Again, it's got to be new rules.

ANDERSON: Yes, there's no question about it.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

We're going to report on some breaking news when we return here. Again, we're following the situation happening at JFK airport with that Delta flight that had to turn around. And also tonight, a manhunt happening right now across some of the most treacherous land in this country, the search for the man who shot a park ranger. We have new information this hour.

And bionic arms and legs were once the stuff of science fiction. Remember "The Six Million Dollar Man," and that kind of stuff, "The Bionic Woman"? Straight ahead: we'll show you how bionics are being used in real life on animals and how the lessons learned could one day help people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Back to our breaking news here on CNN. A Delta flight having some trouble as it took off from JFK en route to Moscow. There have been reports of an engine flameout, but we're not exactly sure if that did happen.

But Susan Candiotti has gotten some new information. She's our national correspondent. She joins us now from New York.

What do you have, Susan?

CANDIOTTI: Well, we're going to put this together for you from what we have, the new information, plus some other information we've gleaned from other sources.

First of all, Delta Airlines is now giving us additional information that we're talking about Delta Flight 30. It's a Boeing 767-300 model and it is a wide body jet that has about a capacity of 62,100 pounds. Anyway, 193 passengers aboard that flight. We don't know from Delta how many members of the crew as yet.

But it took off at about 4:59, just before 5:00. And shortly after takeoff, Delta says, they noticed -- the pilots noticed there was a problem with the left engine, one of the engines, that's according to the FAA. And so, they decided to dump fuel according to the FAA and an airport source after noticing a problem with the left engine.

Now, the FAA says reports of a problem or a fire on the wing, on the right wing are incorrect. Delta Airlines says it has no information yet as to what the possible problem was with the left engine. However, they did dump fuel, according to our airport source, and then the plane landed safely, as we said, at about 5:49, just before 5:00.

The passengers have been taken off the plane and they are being put on another plane to go on to Moscow, which was their -- to be their final destination.

Back to you, Don.

LEMON: All right, Susan Candiotti in New York. Susan, stand by in case we get more information.

And we'll update you here on CNN on that breaking news coming out of New York involving an airplane situation at JFK airport.

A Hollywood publicist with A-list clients shot to death in Beverly Hills. What happened to Ronni Chasen? We're live in L.A. with the very latest developments for you.

And a man bleeding in the middle of a city street -- do you try to help or do you start taking pictures and then posting them on Twitter? This isn't an entirely hypothetical story, I should say. What if -- what if this actually happened?

This happened this week and we're having a conversation about social media and how they may be affecting society today. Stick around. You'll want to see it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In Los Angeles today, a funeral for murdered Hollywood publicist, Ronni Chasen. She was found shot to death early Tuesday behind the wheel of her crashed Mercedes Benz in Beverly Hills. Police have no suspects and no motive at this point. She was buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City today.

CNN Producer Alan Duke has been covering this story for us since the beginning.

Alan, you took a ride today along the same route that Ronni Chasen took on this night that she was fatally shot. Tell us about it.

ALAN DUKE, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, it's a very simple trip and it goes right by the CNN bureau, starting at the new "W" Hotel in Hollywood, near Hollywood and Vine. Apparently, she left valet parking and went down Sunset Boulevard for about six miles through the Sunset Strip area, some very popular tourist areas. And then into the very posh residential area of Beverly Hills and Sunset Boulevard, arriving finally at an intersection where she may have been -- where her shooting may have happened, the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Whittier Drive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUKE: This is the intersection where Ronni Chasen apparently stopped and was turning. This is the most likely place police think that the shots were fired into her car, apparently, from a higher SUV vehicle that was parked next to her. And after the shots were fired, apparently, she continued to drive down this direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DUKE: And this is a really nice residential street. It's kind of a cut-through, too, between Sunset down to Wilshire, for people who live around there and know the area. It's just over to the left, you'll see. That's where Bugsy Siegel, the gangster, was murdered by machine gun in 1947. About 1,000 yards to the east, that's the mansion on Carolwood Drive where Michael Jackson took his last breath. It's a very notorious area. But also, kind of a peaceful area.

And finally, her car coming to rest on Whittier Drive. Flowers mark the spot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUKE: This is the spot that Ronni Chasen's car hit a utility pole, one that's now been removed. It did hold a street light. It was here that paramedics found her still alive, breathing heavy, but near death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUKE: And she did die a few minutes later at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. The autopsy's not been released. We understand she was shot at least three times, maybe as many as five. We'll know that next week.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh. Alan has been checking. And it's changing by the minute. Again, it is a mystery here. They're looking at camera, surveillance cameras and all of that. But, again, she was a publicist to some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and to happen in one of the poshest neighborhoods in the world is unbelievable.

Alan Duke has been following this story. He's going to join us again at 7:00 p.m. eastern here on CNN with more on "Murder in Beverly Hills."

Next, your top stories, including a manhunt happening right now across some of the most treacherous land in this country. The search for the man who shot a park ranger.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We want to check your top stories right now on CNN, including one that is breaking. It's happening now in New York. It's a Delta Airline flight from JFK to Moscow. It had to be diverted for some trouble, some engine troubles. Our affiliates are on the way and our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, is checking on it. We don't know how many passengers but there are up to 200 passengers on board this jet, a Boeing 767, flight number 30 from JFK to Moscow. Returned to JFK with a left engine problem. We're going to report on that and check on it for you.

Also tonight, a Utah park ranger, Brody Young, remains in critical but stable condition. And the search continues for the gunman accused of repeatedly shooting him. Investigators are combing through tough terrain for the suspect by land and by air. Yesterday, police found a rifle, backpack and bloody T-shirt they believe belong to the suspect. Ireland is the latest domino to fall in the European financial crisis. Today, the Irish government admitted today about what the financial community has been whispering about for weeks, the country will need a bailout of tens of billions of Euros. The European Union and International Monetary Fund say they're ready to step in with emergency assistance for Ireland.

The trial of two detained American hikers has now been delayed until February. An Iranian court says the men did not show up for trial on the initial date two weeks ago. Their attorney says this is nonsense since they are in custody and the government was responsible for bringing them to court. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal have been in an Iranian prison for more than a year now after allegedly straying across the border while hiking. The other hiker, Sarah Shourd, was released back in September.

President Barack Obama set to announce a pardon. And Mel Gibson in a courtroom this week. Those are just two stories that will be making news in the week ahead. We'll tell you what you can expect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, man's best friend is going bionic. A British veterinarian is giving some pets prosthetic limbs with technology that's rivaled what's used on human being. Rob Marciano explains in today's "Edge of Discovery."

(EDGE OF DISCOVERY)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's take a look now at what the week ahead will bring for us. From the White House to Hollywood, these are the stories expected to grab the headlines. We begin tonight with what's on the horizon for the president.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry in Washington. On Tuesday, the president has a rare joint appearance on the road with Vice President Biden. They'll be in Kokomo, Indiana, because unemployment is 12.7 percent, bad, but not as bad as last year where it was almost 22 percent because of layoffs in the auto industry. It's gotten better because of the president's bail-outs for Chrysler so he wants to taut that. And then Wednesday, he'll be pardoning not a person but a turkey. And then Thursday, a quiet dinner for Thanksgiving at the White House with family.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jeanne Meserve in Washington. It's a huge holiday travel week ahead. We'll see whether the public cooperates with the TSA's body scans and new invasive pat-downs or whether protesters make Thanksgiving travel an even bigger headache than usual.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I'll Paul Steinhauser at the CNN political desk in Washington. Sarah Palin's in the spotlight this week. The former Alaska governor's new book, titled "America by Heart," hits the book shelves. And the former Alaska governor, who was John McCain's running mate in 2008, she kicks off a book tour in Phoenix on Tuesday. And that book tour takes Palin to Iowa and South Carolina, two very important states in the road for the White House.

POPPY HARLOW, HOST, CNN MONEY: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Looking ahead to the week on Wall Street, Hewlett-Packard reports its earnings on Monday. And Tuesday, we get the revised third-quarter GDP as well as existing home sales figures and state-by-state unemployment. All very important reports. Also, more key economic reports on Wednesday. We'll get the latest new home sales figures as well as the latest reading on consumer sentiment, heading right into the holiday shopping season. And the market is closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, but opens again on Friday morning for a shortened trading day on Black Friday. We'll track all the news of the week for you on "CNN Money."

BROOKE ANDERSON, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" Brooke Anderson. Here's what we're watching this week. Mel Gibson and his ex-girlfriend's contentious custody battle heats up this week. And Christina Aguilera and Rihanna open the American Music Awards. "Showbiz Tonight" is live at 5:00 p.m. eastern on HLN. And we're still TV's most provocative entertainment news show at 11:00 p.m.

LEMON: Thank you, guys.

And international desk editor, Azadeh Ansari, joins us now to tell us what's coming up internationally.

Azadeh, Ireland -- and some people had predicted this. They knew it was coming -- but they are in trouble?

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK EDITOR: They are in trouble and their finance minister, Brian Monahan, for weeks was saying we don't need a bailout, we don't need a bailout. And today, he came out and said -- he encouraged the government to sign off on one. That's going to be handed down on Monday. This could mean -- I mean, part of this is to build confidence in investors internationally, so, and what this means in relation to the Euro and the dollar will play out in the weeks to come.

LEMON: The country will need a bailout of tens of billions of Euros. That is not good, no good.

Also, there is some uproar, an uproar happening in Haiti, and it has to do with the cholera epidemic that's going on over there.

ANSARI: It seems they keep getting hit over and over and over again. Exactly. They're claiming that a U.N. Nepalese peacekeeper, soldiers who have been stationed there, have brought cholera to the country. As you can expect, this is creating a lot of chaos, a lot of uproar. And this is just a week out from the slated elections. There's some talk about moving the elections back and postponing them, if they can't get a handle on this.

LEMON: I think we have some video of some of the uproar that is happening in Haiti.

ANSARI: Take a look at that, yes.

LEMON: So let's take a look at it. And, again, they thought, as you said, a Nepalese soldier --

ANSARI: Soldier, tht did this.

LEMON: -- that did this. And this is the uproar that is happening there. It's sort of the violence that's happening there. And you can see the burning of cars and things there. Just unbelievable.

The U.N. had said, it doesn't matter who is to blame, what we have to do now, the workers there, is get it under control.

We'll be watching this story.

Azadeh, thank you. And sorry. We appreciate it.

ANSARI: Yes. Thanks so much.

LEMON: Have a good week.

ANSARI: You too.

LEMON: Bill Nye, the science guy, suddenly blacks out on stage in front of a room full of college students. And you won't believe what happened. Or didn't happen, next.

And what would you do if $3,000 landed in your lap? For one homeless man, it was a dream come true, but then he did something really unexpected. Those stories and much more just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Listen to this. This is really unbelievable. So when an emergency hits, you expect someone nearby will come to the rescue, right? It didn't happen that way this week for Bill Nye. You know the science guy? He's always here on CNN. You see him everywhere. Here is what "The L.A. Times" is reporting. They say the former TV host fainted Tuesday in front of an audience at the University at Southern California. But instead of helping, some people started tweeting. Some people started tweeting. And then there's another story we're going to talk about as well.

So let's talk to Lena West. She's a social media consultant, joining us by phone. There she is on Skype. She's from Richmond, Virginia. Also James Andrews, a social media strategist, he's here with us in studio. I like to call him a social media guru.

Look to your right, James. There you go. That camera. There you go, sir.

Anyway, look, here is what we're going to talk about. I want to look at some ever these tweets from Bill Nye and where people -- when he passed out, people just started tweeting instead of running over. I don't know what they were thinking. It says, "Bill Nye is like the beginning of an episode of "House" right now. Someone get the man some water." Instead of getting the man some water, they said someone get the man some water.

Here is another one that reads, "Bill Nye, the science guy, just passed out on stage." Then the person quotes what Nye said that night after he came to. And he said, "I feel like Lady Gaga." That was on Twitter.

And one more tweet for you. It says, "I hope Bill Nye is OK, but if he dies, I was there." Boy, oh, boy.

James Andrews, I'm going to walk back over here. I was trying to get the tweets up behind me. I couldn't get them up. What's listen, I'm going to walk back over and talk to you.

What's your reaction to that?

JAMES ANDREWS, SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST: Well, you know, Don, we're living in a time when people are so focused on being curators and producers of content, the fact they have mobile device that can actually talk about what's happening right now, you know, people are so -- more focused on telling the story than actually helping out.

LEMON: We're saying people always want to -- everyone wants to be a mini CNN or a mini network, right.

ANDREWS: Exactly.

LEMON: So they want to create their own content. But then, what about what you're supposed to do in your heart, the natural reaction is to run to help that person. What happened here?

ANDREWS: Absolutely. I think we're living in a time and age where people are more focused on their status updates than they are getting involved. I don't know why college students would not help out, jump to his defense. We're living -- it's challenging. Everybody is so focused on looking here that they're not looking here.

LEMON: Yes. We're going to talk about too, because of Messy Mya, did you hear about this?

ANDREWS: Yes, I heard about that.

LEMON: Where Messy Mya was on the streets of New Orleans --

ANDREWS: Tragic.

LEMON: -- and was gunned down and people started tweeting instead of helping him.

ANDREWS: Yes.

LEMON: We'll get to that in a second.

But, Lena, what do you think? What's your take on how people reacted to this particular Bill Nye incident?

LENA WEST, SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT: Don, I do think social media has created a bit of a scooping culture, if you will. So everyone wants to be kind of the first to mention whatever major event is happening to their network. But I also believe that in kind of the adage of, how you do anything is how you do anything, and so I think the people busy tweeting, they were probably not going to be the people to step in and help, whether Twitter ever even existed or whether they were using Twitter or Facebook or not. I just think that if you're the kind of person that's going to step in to help, you're going to do that whether you have access to Twitter or to Facebook.

And I also think that it needs to bear saying a little bit that just because someone is an active social media user doesn't mean we've totally lost our conscience. I think that these are isolated incidents and, in fact, in doing my research for this I saw --

LEMON: Can we go to question four, please?

WEST: -- that some people were saying it's a little bit -- that it's a little bit exaggerated and people did help.

LEMON: Yes. So, Lena, I want to say that last week there was also a murder of a New Orleans, comedian, as we said. And the "Times Picayune," reports soon after that -- and his killing again is called Messy Mya. There was a picture of him on Twitter, bleeding, online. It's a major YouTube following, he does. But it's unbelievable. What is behind something like this where people don't come to help someone?

I can see Bill Nye passing out and you think, OK, he's a quirky guy and you don't know what's going on, Lena. But what about when someone is gunned down and you don't call for help.

WEST: This speaks to the fact of that person's -- that individual's reaction to the situation. I think it's so very easy in the social media culture to lump everyone, so the actions of one person would represent the actions of many. But that speaks to that one individual conscience or lack thereof.

LEMON: Listen, quickly, James, tell us -- we have some breaking news going on here. It's obviously both very sad situations that happened. Bill Nye is OK. He said he just didn't have enough to eat and had been working a lot.

ANDREWS: Right.

LEMON: Bottom line it for us -- what do we need to do here?

ANDREWS: Well, we need to stop, one, the desire to become famous. You know we want to actually get involve.

LEMON: Thank you sir.

ANDREWS: You know people want to become famous and they want to use social media to gain fame. When you look at situations like Iran where people actually didn't just use their cell phones to actually tell the story, they actually got involved in the situation. Be present.

LEMON: People here, yes -- yes be present and don't want to become famous so much.

ANDREWS: Become famous, absolutely.

LEMON: That's it we could have bottom lined it right there. James, thank you very much.

ANDREWS: Good to see you, buddy.

LEMON: And thank you, Lena. It's good to see you as well.

WEST: Thank you.