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Airliner Emergency; Massive Fire at Chemical Plant

Aired May 28, 2011 - 19:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Top stories at this hour at the CNN NEWSROOM:

A suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan renewing concern about the country's security when U.S. troops withdraw there. Taliban militants say they targeted a high-level NATO meeting with top Afghan authorities. The German commander of NATO forces in the region was injured in this attack. He's expected to survive. Seven people killed, including a powerful Afghan police chief and two of Germany's soldiers.

Several explosions rocking Libya's capital of Tripoli today. A government official says one of the blasts hit a compound belonging to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. NATO claiming responsibility at least one of the attacks which it said struck a vehicle in a storage area. The airstrikes happened during the daylight which has been rare for NATO strikes in Libya.

President Obama arrived back in the U.S. within the last hour. He wrapped up a six-day trip to Europe today in Poland where he did meet with the Poland's president and prime minister. Also met with veterans of Solidarity Labor Movement, that group credited with helping end communism in Poland. The president praised Poland's 1980's transition to democracy and called it a model for nations across North Africa and the Middle East now.

And in Missouri, the death toll in Joplin has risen again after last Sunday's tornado. One hundred forty people -- 42 people, I should say, are confirmed dead from that F-5 twister. Another 100 are missing. President Obama is scheduled to tour this area tomorrow and meet some of the victims. We'll also have a one-hour special on the Joplin tornado coming up at 8:00 Eastern.

No break this holiday weekend for jurors in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Anthony is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. This was back in 2008.

Now, during a short session today, Anthony's mother told the jury about several excuses about Caylee's whereabouts following the girl's disappearance. Claims Caylee accidentally drowned and that Anthony and her father kept it a secret out of panic -- Anthony's father denied that in his own testimony.

And there was a scary landing today for passengers aboard a Delta Airlines flight. It was flying from Pittsburgh to Atlanta. Flight 2284 had 44 passengers and five crew onboard. It caught fire shortly after landing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

George Howell of our affiliate WSB joins me now.

And, George, you talked with people who were on that plane, right?

GEORGE HOWELL, WSB-TV REPORTER: The passengers describe it as a scary situation. Again, 44 people on this plane. Many of whom -- again, this is three hours after the situation happened. Many of those passengers are just now making their way to baggage claims. But again, 44 people on the plane. We talked to one person who said that it was a scary situation, the landing, but an orderly exit from the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL (voice-over): Emergency crews responded to Delta flight 2284 from Pittsburgh after officials say the brakes overheated on the taxi way causing the fire.

KATHLEEN HARRISON, DELTA FLIGHT #2284 PASSENGER: I decided we need to get off the plane. They kept telling us they were assessing the situation and then I think when the fire broke out, they opened the doors and we all went down the emergency chutes.

HOWELL: Kathleen Harrison was one of the 43 passengers on board.

HARRISON: The pilot was able to control the plane and got it stopped, but then there was a burning smell and the right side of the plane caught on fire.

HOWELL: Harrison says it was a bumpy landing. Passengers were evacuated on the taxi way and bussed to the terminal. Investigators say the plane will be taken to be examined at a maintenance facility.

HARRISON: I'm lucky, I had my stuff with me and I'm going home. But there are people that were flying to Paris and other places, and it's going to be a long time until they get their luggage. They said it's a national safety board investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Harrison told me a few of the fellow passengers on that plane did have a few bumps and bruises from the landing. But again, officials here tell us no major injuries -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: George, good to hear. Thanks for the report.

And we're also following breaking news out of North Carolina this evening. A highway shut down, homes, businesses evacuated there, all because of a big old fire and explosion at a chemical plant.

Tenikka Smith with our affiliate WSOC is at the scene right now in Caldwell County, which is 70 miles or so northwest of Charlotte. She joins us by the phone.

Tenikka, are they still trying to get this under control? TENIKKA SMITH, WSOC (via telephone): Well, Drew, the good news is the fire is under control. They brought it under control right at about 6:00, but it did burn for three hours. Now, this is at the chemical coatings plant here in Hudson. They make finishing solutions like lacquers, thinners and shellacs.

We're told that the plant was closed and deputies believe that no one was inside. And so far, there are no reports of injuries at that plant or complaints from residents about feeling sick from the smoke. I can tell you that there'll were a series of explosions heard at about 3:00 at the plant. Officials are not sure what caused it. But it did lead to that massive fire.

And we have some pretty amazing video from our chopper and that fire ball shooting about 100 feet in the air. Emergency vehicles from several miles away were responding to the scene. These firefighters working to attack this fire from several different angles, and we could actually see the smoke from more than 20 miles away as we were trying to drive here from Charlotte.

People are being evacuated within a two-mile radius. I'm told this impacts about 750 people. They do have two shelters set up and right now, Drew, they're doing air quality studies, the plant has an on- staff chemist who is here and a hazmat team just arrived from Asheville, North Carolina, to see what specific chemicals are involved and what dangers they pose.

But, right now, Drew, we're just told that people need to evacuate, they need to stay away, and they're not sure how long they're going to need to stay away from this area.

GRIFFIN: Yes. Tenikka, we should point out, this is right in the heart of the furniture industry there in North Carolina. We saw that black plume of smoke earlier. You said about 750 people had been evacuated.

Have they said that those people will be back in tonight, into their homes? Because it appear that's the fire is out, or just smoldering at this time?

SMITH: Well, we're here altogether the law enforcement staging area. And so, we've been working to try to get updates. At this point, Drew, they tell me they just don't know. They're hoping that hazmat team and this air quality study -- they're hoping that whatever they learn from that, it will help them to determine if it's safe, or when it's safe for those people to go back in.

But at this point, they have set up those two shelters to accommodate folks. I'm told that some people have been asking if they can go back and get pets or medicine, and they're even not letting them go back into their homes at this point.

GRIFFIN: All right. Tenikka Smith with affiliate WSOC out of Charlotte -- thanks, Tenikka. Good luck with that reporting.

It is one of the year's most closely-watched court cases and today, Casey Anthony's mother took the stand in her daughter's murder trial. And what she had to say doesn't sound so good for her daughter's defense.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Casey Anthony's mother took the stand today in her daughter's murder trial. Anthony is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008.

During a short session on this Saturday, Anthony's mother told the jury her daughter gave her several excuses about Caylee's whereabouts following the girl's disappearance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY, GRANDMOTHER OF VICTIM: Oh, I started missing Caylee June 16th. So, yes, I -- I miss Caylee every day when I went to work, those hours I was at work. So, yes, I was missing Caylee very much at that time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you start sleeping with some of Caylee's items?

ANTHONY: Yes, I think about that time or a few days before that, I went and grabbed Caylee's favorite teddy bear. We call him Teddy, and I had Teddy -- you know, I would cuddle with at night, because I was used to cuddling with Caylee. Caylee and or Casey with the three of us would usually cuddle at night if she was home. If not, it would be me and Caylee before, you know, I went to bed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: The defense claims that Caylee accidentally drowned and that Anthony and her father kept it a secret out of panic. Anthony's father denied that in his own testimony.

Well, a family in Joplin, Missouri, has strange things in their home after it was pummeled by the tornado there. The owner has this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just sounded like everything was exploding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: We will hear from them live, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: You know, many college students go deeply into debt to get their education but there are some schools out there where at least a few kids can get a top quality education without any contribution from their families. Where? How about Harvard? CNN education contributor Steve Perry tells us who qualifies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: I have to admit, when I first saw an e-mail that said that Harvard was offering up a no parental contribution for students whose families made under $60,000, I thought it was an urban myth. What's the likelihood of finding a student whose family makes under $60,000 who is going to post the scores and GPAs that Harvard has?

DREW GILPIN FAUST, PRESIDENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: We have about 18 percent of the freshman class this year who fits that category. We want to make sure that people can come regardless of their financial circumstances.

PERRY (voice-over): Alyssa Mackey is one of those students.

ALYSSA MACKEY, HARVARD STUDENT: I was actually applying to school as my father passed away. And I guess that just dramatically changed our financial situation. And so, that's why I'm in need of the assistance.

When I applied, I didn't know about the financial initiative. And I remember my mom opening the letter and, you know, thinking that there was a mistake because it said "family contribution: zero."

PERRY (on camera): There are many college presidents who are struggling with how to attract students from historically disadvantaged populations and what they can do. What is it you would say to them?

FAUST: We have to send a message to students that we want them and that those of us who can support the financial aid programs like ours will do so.

PERRY: How has this program impacted your career decisions?

MACKEY: If there was no financial aid initiative, there would be maybe a little more pressure to go into a field where I would be making a lot of money, maybe something that I wasn't all that passionate about. So next year, I'll be teaching special education for elementary school students in New Orleans.

PERRY (voice-over): Steve Perry, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Now to Missouri. You know, at least 142 people were killed last Sunday night in Joplin as a powerful tornado flattened a big part of that city. The death toll could have been even higher if not for the so-called "safe rooms" in homes. A safe room is a fortified structure often steel, concrete, made to withstand a tornado and the Bieligk family says their safe room saved them from certain death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAREN BIELIGK, SURVIVED TORNADO IN "SAFE ROOM": It just sounded like everything was exploding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Karen and Samuel Bieligk are joining us now live from Joplin.

It's good to see you guys. I guess that's your home behind you.

SAMUEL BIELIGK, SURVIVED TORNADO IN "SAFE ROOM": Well, that's not our home, that's close to the hospital. Our home is actually where the tornado first started.

K. BIELIGK: In Sunset Ridge.

GRIFFIN: I see.

Guys, tell me about the warning you had and what took place right before the tornado that got you u all into that safe room that you had.

K. BIELIGK: Well, I was upset, the sirens had been going off and so, we'd all gone down to the basement and the Weather Channel was saying, you know, it was just a warning, a watch. So, the sirens gave the all-clear, they stopped. I went back upstairs with my older daughter, Baylor (ph), and I was standing out looking at a glass, at our window. And I thought, it's getting dark and something said get your purse and keys and go downstairs, and I walked downstairs and I said to my husband and my kids, let's go to the safe room now.

And then the power exploded and we ran with our dog and our three daughters, got in the safe room. My husband was able to hold the kids down and I held the door closed and you could hear the entire house just being torn apart, just exploding. It was --

GRIFFIN: Do you think that you wouldn't have survived without it?

K. BIELIGK: Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

GRIFFIN: And tell me

S. BIELIGK: When we bought the house -- go ahead, I'm sorry.

GRIFFIN: No, no, you were saying when you bought the house --

S. BIELIGK: When we bought the house, it had already been built into the house. It has concrete all the way around it. It's in the basement. It does have wood on the top. But we had been using it as storage.

And several weeks ago my wife decided, probably because of the Alabama tornadoes, to clean it out and put some water in there. So we --

K. BIELIGK: Flashlights. S. BIELIGK: We knew exactly where to go. We had flashlights. She came downstairs. I was home. Actually, I normally work at the hospital. I'm a surgeon, and I work on Sundays.

And I was able to get a flashlight. As soon as she gave me the flashlight, the lights went out and I looked outside and the trees were at 90 degrees and we both kind of knew and we ran into the safe room.

I felt the barometric pressure dropping. My ears popped like we were in an airplane.

And she held the door, and I held the kids, and lots of clanging and banging.

GRIFFIN: Guys, let me ask you -- let me ask you this. Have you ever been in there before? Have you ever felt the need to run into this safe room before?

K. BIELIGK: Never. Never. It's been packed from the floor to the ceiling with our son's -- our son is at college at O.U. and so we've used it as storage for some of his items.

GRIFFIN: I wonder when you bought the house, did you think it was unnecessary? Or you would just use it as a storeroom?

S. BIELIGK: Well, we were aware of the weather problems in this area. Certainly, we're from Oklahoma and we know about tornadoes. So, one of the things my wife told me because I actually picked the house out is that we really need a place we can go for tornadoes. And so, that was one of the positives. And we really are grateful that we had that.

K. BIELIGK: We would not be alive.

GRIFFIN: Yes. That one room saved your life and now I guess have you to rebuild everything else around that room.

S. BIELIGK: Yes, we do.

K. BIELIGK: We do. And it saved our children's lives and --

S. BIELIGK: Well, thank you.

K. BIELIGK: Thank you so much.

GRIFFIN: Good luck, guys. We really appreciate you coming on live and we wish you well as you try to rebuild your lives there in Joplin. Thanks so much.

And stay with us for a "CNN Presents" special report, "A Twister's Fury: In the Path of Destruction." It's going to will air tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Well, catching a movie this weekend?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phil, I think it's happened again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't do anything. I swear to God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your hair is gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Well, not sure if it's worth it or not, but "The Hangover Part II" may be on track for a very big weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Memorial Day weekend is a big one for the movie theaters to release some of their big screens with big stars. Two of them packed a Brangelina double punch. Out in limited release, top Cannes Prize winner, "The Tree of Life" starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. For the kids, "Kung Fu Panda 2" voiced by Angelina Jolie and Jack Black.

But it is "The Hangover Part II" which already looks like a sure fire hit, taking in more than $60 million in just the past two days. Here's what the stars have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADLEY COOPER, ACTOR: What do we want to see as fans of the first one? I want to see these guys in the same situation. I love the formula. There is a hangover structure, which is there's a ticking clock, there's a missed night, somebody's gone, and we've got to get that person back someplace before somebody's really disappointed.

ED HELMS, ACTOR: I defy anyone to walk into that theater and know what's going to happen. There's a crazy surprises in this movie, throughout the whole thing. And there's a fun way that it celebrates the first one and celebrates what's familiar and fun. And I think gives a little like homage to the first one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Homage. Final box office numbers, we'll have them for you on Monday.

Well, many of you have probably heard "The Hour of Power." It's a weekly religious program put on by what many people considered to be the oldest mega church in the county. That one there. Now, that "Hour of Power" is in a heap of trouble. Details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Top stories now:

Taliban militants say they deliberately targeted a high-level meeting between NATO and Afghan officials in northern Afghanistan today. Seven people killed, nine others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up. Among the wounded, the German head of NATO's Northern Afghanistan Command. He's said to be in stable condition.

In Garden Grove, California, Crystal Cathedral Ministries is selling this, the towering mega church and campus, to a developer to pay off a $46 million debt. It is hoping to lease back the church so it can continue with "The Hour of Power" television broadcast.

They were first made popular by the Reverend Robert Schuller who founded what's believed to be the first modern mega church in the U.S. He did it in the 1950s. Schuller stepped down in 2006 and the church has been in financial trouble since then.

In Missouri, the death top in Joplin has risen again after last Sunday's tornado. Now, they're saying 142 people confirmed dead from that F-5 twister, another 100 missing. President Obama will be there tomorrow to tour the devastation and meet with some of the victims.

And a one-hour special on the Joplin tornado is coming up at the top of the hour at 8:00 Eastern here on CNN.

And I am Drew Griffin at the CNN Center here in Atlanta. "Stories Reporter" with Tom Foreman is next.