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Navy Jet Crashes Into Apartment Building; New Details in Beating Death of Iraqi Woman; Former NFL Coach Encouraged Players to Injure Opponents

Aired April 06, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we are at the top of the hour, I'm Brooke Baldwin, sitting alongside Chad Myers as we have been following this story here every single just about 12:30 Eastern time.

You're looking at live pictures thanks to WAVY, one of our affiliates there in Virginia Beach. You're looking at still -- I'm being told there's a press conference happening right now.

I'm assuming we want to dip in live here at this hospital. Take a system.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

QUESTION: Out front, when we came up, you can see the tent out there, was it something, was that meant for maybe a triage unit or something you guys were expecting to have more patients coming in here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, it was set up because of the risk of jet fuel and the need for the potential decontamination of folks, so we set that up in preparation, turns out that has not been necessary.

QUESTION: Talk about, obviously for a hospital, this is something you guys probably train on or practice for a situation, how long does it take to turn the E.R. into maybe a triage?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're exactly right, we drill for these types of events several times a year, and it is something that enables us to set up quickly. Essentially within 20 minutes we had our command center set up, we're making decisions based upon what information we're receiving from the scene and determining to set things up in preparation.

QUESTION: Were any of the these patients brought in, any of them critical?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. At this time, no.

QUESTION: How lucky is that? We're talking about a jet landing into an apartment complex. Really fortunate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would certainly appear that way, and I have not seen the actual scene obviously, but yes. QUESTION: Dr. Thames (ph), thank you very much.

We appreciate it. That's the latest here from Dr. Thames with Virginia Beach General Hospital.

(CROSSTALK)

(END LIVE FEED)

BALDWIN: You're hearing presumably some sort of hospital official in the Virginia Beach area.

This is just incredible. When you look at the damage and the smoke and the tops of so many of these different apartment buildings just absolutely demolished. The fact that the three people that were taken to the hospital, at least the three that we know of so far, none of them in critical condition.

One of the pilots, this is according to EMS, two other folks who were there on the ground again not in critical condition, non-life- threatening injuries just stunning when again you look at these pictures.

Again, we're hearing all these different voices, people who have seen this plane, this F-18 Hornet crashing into this apartment building just about an hour-and-a-half, two hours ago.

Want to bring in Amy Miller, she too is an eyewitness and she is on the phone with me.

Amy, I understand that you work at a cleaners on this particular road. It's Bird Neck Road for people who know Virginia Beach. When this jet was in trouble, you just so happened to be outside, and tell me when you look up, what did you see?

AMY MILLER, EYEWITNESS: Yes, ma'am.

We were standing out in front of the building, when I heard the plane I looked up and what I saw was a plane very low, coming down at an angle with flames under the right wing.

BALDWIN: Flames under the right wing, this is new because we haven't heard yet. Describe how large the flames were.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: Not large, very large, just enough for you to be able to see that there was a problem.

BALDWIN: Flames on the right wing.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: Underneath the right wing because I would have been looking at the plane from behind, coming down at a right tilted angle. Because it was coming from the east toward the oceanfront. BALDWIN: Toward the oceanfront, coming from Oceana. What about the pilots, did you happen to see one or both the pilot and the back seater ejecting?

MILLER: I saw them eject, I saw one a little more clearly than the other because I actually seen him eject and the parachute opened and he went off toward the right of where the plane actually went down.

BALDWIN: He went to the right of where the plane went down.

Did you hear any kind of quick subsequent explosions?

MILLER: Oh, yes, two. I saw him eject. I saw the parachute open. He was going off to the right. I heard the initial impact.

Then you heard a second boom right after it. By this time, I had dropped everything, was running up the street towards the scene, because my building is very close to that and my family had just dropped me off. I took off running to go check on them and make sure everything was OK.

BALDWIN: Are they OK?

MILLER: Yes. Thank you.

Once it was, I stood there and kind of watched. You could see the plane laying on the ground and part of the building was missing and on fire.

BALDWIN: Amy, do you know these sets of buildings well at all?

MILLER: Of course. It's literally around the corner from where I live and this happened dead in the middle of both my home and my job. A block either way to the left or right is where I both live and work.

BALDWIN: This was lunchtime. From what I understand from people who have sending me tweets, spring break. So you had kids home?

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: I was very scared because children are home. One of our customers here at the store is a teacher that lives here. We knew school is -- we started trying to call them, the Burrs (ph).

I haven't heard a response back, but from what I hear, everybody's OK, so that's good news but we haven't actually been able to get them on the phone. That's one of our customers here at the store.

BALDWIN: That's one of the questions. Is everyone accounted for in these different buildings?

Want to bring in our meteorologist Chad Myers. He's flown F-18s.

Chad, go ahead. Jump in.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Amy, I know you know the area so well. I just want to get this out, because it has been tweeted a number of times, why the pilot may have gone the way he did is that there is possibly a school in the area, is that true?

MILLER: There is a school over in the area, over here by First Colonial. Yes.

MYERS: Some of the tweets were saying the possibility that he had to turn slightly to the right. I will show everybody the flight path in a little bit on Google Earth.

Could this plane have been in that general vicinity of the school had the pilot not taken this type of turn?

MILLER: I certainly imagine it could have been. As I said, from where I was standing, I just know it came from the east, headed toward the oceanfront. And when I looked up, I knew it was going to bad.

I knew it was bad. And it's a miracle that it hit where it hit, and kind of went into the building I think after it landed. I don't think it actually hit the building, if I'm correct on that and I was standing there looking at the scene, literally 100 yards, if that. It looked like it hit and went into the building but it didn't hit the building.

MYERS: Amy, we have had other witnesses saying that the nose of the airplane, the attitude was nose up as it was heading toward the ground. Did you notice that?

MILLER: It didn't look that way to me, no. I was standing right here. It felt like I was across the street from it and under it.

When I looked up, it was coming down at a tilted to the right angle. I wouldn't say nose up.

MYERS: Tilted to the right.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: The whole plane was tilted to the right and that's why I could see the flames underneath the right wing.

MYERS: Brooke, that is amazing because the plane landed to the right of a straight shot from the runway. And that plane did turn to the right.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: It was tilted to the right when I looked up and I could see those flames. That's correct.

And when they ejected, they went off toward the right of that even. So I was thinking that that was probably a good thing.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It's amazing thing and when you look, I'm looking again at this apartment complex, you say you know it very well. Do you know, Amy, is it a lot of families, military folks, elderly folks?

MILLER: This is one of the smaller, out of all these complexes over here, this is one of the smaller places that are known to have older folks live there.

I know there's some children, I happened to be standing up there and watched a lady and her daughter coming out carrying clothes and whatever they could get. But of course they were fine. Like I said, I did not see no people being carried out with a bunch of injuries and things like that. It seemed to be very well controlled, quick responses, everybody willing to help.

Everybody from this neighborhood and these shops over here and the surrounding complexes, you know, all just there in shock and willing to help wherever they could. But everything was really put together, it seems.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: And then of course I back came down to work.

BALDWIN: Yes, a tremendous response from Virginia Beach, from fire and EMS and police and Navy as well.

Amy Miller, I'm glad you're OK, I'm glad your family's OK, your friends as well. Thank you so much for calling in.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Again it's interesting that describing as she was this particular plane coming down, that was the first time we have heard at all fire on one of the wings.

We have Barbara Starr. I know she's standing by. We have got to get a quick break in, but we have Barbara Starr standing by, and she certainly knows, very familiar with these types of fighter jets, and she's got also some new information from the military on this particular crash.

Got to get a quick break in. We will be right back on this breaking news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, in case you're just joining us here, we have been covering breaking news out of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

You see these pictures, aerial pictures of what used to be this multi-building apartment complex, and a lot of it has been just demolished as a result of this crash. Right around 12:30 Eastern time, this FA-18 fighter jet coming out of Oceana Naval Air Station, just about 2.5 miles away. Didn't even reach full altitude. They were essentially according to one of our former fighter pilots presuming up in the air for maybe 60 seconds and just had to react. It was just that quick. Ultimately both the pilot and the back seater pulled the ejection lever, both of whom ejected, one of whom landed in and around the wreckage.

One of the neighbors described getting a couple folks around and helping pull him out. This pilot very apologetic saying I'm sorry I crashed into your apartment complex. We know from EMS three people are in the hospital, one of whom one of those pilots, the two others from the ground.

There's been a tremendous response from Virginia Beach, EMS, fire, they're still on the scene. Think of all of the kerosene coming from the fighter jet there, as they have been having to cover all that with foam just to mitigate any future injuries and damage as well.

I want to bring in -- as we're getting more and more information, I want to bring in Barbara Starr and she is at the Pentagon. She's been working this story.

Barbara, I want to go back. I don't know if you were listening to my last conversation with one of those eyewitness. It's the first time that I had heard the description when see sees the F-18 through the air, describes fire. She said it was a small fire, but it was fire on the right wing. What does that tell you?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: What we're learning is I think what several of your guests have said, the Navy is also confirming now that this plane went down very quickly after takeoff from Oceana.

Clearly within seconds of taking off, some sort of fire perhaps erupting, the pilots knowing how badly they were in trouble. And her description of that turning away to the right...

BALDWIN: Banking to the right.

STARR: Right. Perhaps we are going to learn that this crew, even within seconds, faced with this terrible emergency was doing everything they could to make sure they weren't anywhere near that school where there might have been children.

I think what we're hearing learn here as the minutes go on is a tremendous response from the community. Just to look at that video you were playing a few minutes earlier, a number of young men right on the street there coming to the help of firefighters, moving those heavy water hoses out of the way, just jumping in and helping where they could with those firefighters who are there trying to put the fire out.

You talk to hospital personnel, they were set up within minutes with a potential triage. Thank goodness they didn't need it. But what you see is the kind of community response that you see in so many places in this country these days, in an emergency, people coming together and helping. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dempsey, were informed within minutes of this situation. We know they have continued to monitor it. It looks thankfully like a small number of injured people, still waiting I think we say for the final word that they have been able to rescue everybody who needs rescuing.

There will now be a very major investigation into what happened here. But I want to add something else. Oceana is a heavily populated area. We see this residential area, and many years ago the base closure commission, the part of the federal government that tries to look at shutting down military bases, had warned about development around Oceana.

This is back around 2003, 2005, they had warned that development was encroaching, that was getting close to the airfield and that the military and the Pentagon would have to think about moving the fighter squadron.

A lot of politics came into play, a lot of concerns that if the Navy left, economic development would be hurt in the community. It turned out the politics won out, many will tell you and the squadron stayed. This is a continuing problem across the country these days. There is encroachment. There is residential development. There's apartment buildings and schools.

Today, thankfully, no larger tragedy, it appears, but it's not an insignificant situation for military training in this country to find a way to coexist with communities, with economic development, with politicians who want that money in their neighborhoods, but still need to keep people safe. At least that is what folks here at the Pentagon will tell you.

BALDWIN: Final question to you just hitting home the point this kind of incident, this kind of mishap is very rare, what is the track record for maybe some of these training exercises, some of these planes coming out of Oceana? I presume this is very rare.

STARR: It is very rare.

I was thinking back. Maybe four years ago or so, the last one I can remember was in Southern California near San Diego, and I believe it was a Marine Corps aircraft also ran into trouble very quickly in the air and it crashed into a home. Sadly, several members of that family were killed.

It was a terrible tragedy in that situation. That's the last one I can remember. And what it really goes to is the training that military pilots have to do, everything they can to avoid hitting civilian areas when they run into trouble.

As Chad pointed out, or your previous guests, military pilots are trained. Within a second of takeoff, if not earlier, they continually think about all their what, ands and buts.

What if this happens, what will I do? What is my fallback position? What will I do next if there's an emergency?

These two crew members were faced with disaster within seconds of takeoff, apparently, and they were able to think their way through, do what they could. And we don't know how bad it got for them, do what they could do. But they were able to eject. And by all accounts, we don't have a wider tragedy.

BALDWIN: It's amazing.

You see a picture here taken from one of the eyewitnesses and one of the pieces of one ejection seat. To think that there could even be the possibility, as you talk about how, these pilots really just have to train to react. They don't always have the time to think, especially when you're taking off and landing, that if they possibly banked right to avoid a school -- and we won't know until we hear from the pilots themselves.

STARR: That's right, Brooke.

And I think we should also draw a little bit of an analogy to pilots flying in combat. This is the kind of training they get at home that has served them in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in war zones across the decades. Pilots don't know, heaven forbid, when -- necessarily when they're about to be hit by enemy fire.

They suddenly get hit. It's the same type of disaster. And they react very quickly. This is the training take takes them into war and hopefully brings them home -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Barbara Starr, you get any information, we will pop you back on TV at the Pentagon. We appreciate your expertise. Thank you, Barbara.

One other story we are definitely talking about quite a bit today, jobs, the highly anticipated jobs report out today, not terrible, not great. We're going to break down some of those numbers for you if you haven't seen it and what it means as we go forward.

We're going to talk Alison Kosik in New York next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's talk jobs here on this Friday afternoon, now that the push to get America back to work. The jobless rate has dropped again, but not by very much. I am going to show you that number in a minute.

First, this number, 120,000 new jobs last month. And the rate of unemployment, it did inch downward, all the way to 8.2 percent. Keep in mind it came down from 8.3 percent.

But here's the thing. Those 120,000 new jobs, that is half the number, half the number of jobs created the month before. So is this a one-month blip, maybe something worse? Here's the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's clear to every American that there will still be ups and downs along the way, and that we've got a lot more work to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Got more work to do, he says.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And I want to go back to the breaking story here, this FA-18 fight jet crash in an apartment complex in Virginia Beach. We're going to hear from another eyewitness after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We're watching here. Oh, black. Hopefully, we will get another live picture here.

We have been watching for the last really three hours these images coming out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Here you go, this apartment complex. Still, you see all the smoke, you see the foam because of the kerosene coming out of this FA-18 fighter jet that crashed into this apartment complex three hours ago.

And, amazingly, amazingly, despite this scene and these flames and these firefighters working so hard to put this thing out and to make sure everyone is A-OK, so far, we can report no fatalities.

We heard from a hospital official not too long ago saying three people are in the hospital, one of those three including one of the pilots. Two -- there were two pilots on this F/A-18 coming out of Oceana just about two-and-a-half miles from this particular apartment complex. Both of these, the pilot in the backseat are ejected out of that plane. One of those individuals we know is in the hospital, including two others who presumably were there on the scene, and none of them has life-threatening injuries.

As we hear more voices here and continue to cover this story this afternoon, we have heard a lot from our Virginia Beach affiliates, including WBEC. They've been on the ground interviewing eyewitnesses, including one person who was in an ambulance. Colby Smith was home in his apartment, heard this loud boom, the crash, looked out the window and saw what you're looking at here, runs outside, finds one of the injured pilots on the ground. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLBY SMITH, WITNESS: My name is Colby Smith, and what I saw, I was in the bathroom taking out my contacts, and I thought the whole house was shaking. And then I looked out my bedroom window, I saw nothing but red and orange just flashing and like a crackling noise. And I'm like, what is that? And then I heard this pop, pop, pop, so then I ran downstairs, five steps at a time, and saw nothing but billowing black smoke. Then I ran over to my friend Matt's house who is with a rescue squad. And then I saw the pilot laying there with a bloodied up face, pouring. So I went over, went inside to use his phone to call 911, but he didn't have a phone. The pilot was really heavy, he must have weighed 200 pounds with all his equipment. Me and three other guys picked him up and carried him to the street. I got so much blood on me, which I'm still hoping to wash off. But I just stood there, taking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you were in shock for a while.

SMITH: I was crying for a little bit. I'm really emotional still, but I'm feeling a lot better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You heard Colby describe one of the pilots blood on his face. This is also what we're hearing from Pat Kavanaugh who is retired from the EMS. He describes coming across one of these pilots still in the wreckage strapped into part of that ejection seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT KAVANAUGH, WITNESS: I was in the apartment, and I heard this pretty big, loud booms. So I got up from the couch and went out my backdoor, and when I looked out I saw the pilot on the ground, parachute hanging from the building with facial lacerations. So I ran outside to see what I could do to help him.

The plane had hit the building, so I saw the smoke. Then we had to get a bunch of neighbors together to get them out of the air and pick them up and take them to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he able to speak at all?

KAVANAUGH: He apologized very much for hitting our complex. I told him, don't worry about it, let's just get you out of here and get use to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he appear to have any other injuries?

KAVANAUGH: No. I did a quick once over, like I said I'm retired EMS. So we just picked him up and dragged him across the parking lot away from the fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a second person in that airplane, did you see that second person come out?

KAVANAUGH: We did not see the other pilot, and I didn't know exactly where the plane had crashed. We knew we had gas lines in the milling -- we heard secondary explosions going on, I don't know if that was fuel, gas lines in the apartment or what.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the pilot came down, he was still strapped to his ejection seat?

KAVANAUGH: Still strapped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's unusual because they generally separate from those. They were taking off.

KAVANAUGH: You had something on his lower half of his body, something heavy, because he was heavy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you and some neighbors were able to get him out?

KAVANAUGH: We picked him up, dragged him to the other side of my apartment complex, away from the flames until we could get more people and ems on the scene to strap him up and take him out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And he describes this particular pilot essentially apologizing for hitting this apartment complex, and what we have learned in terms of the lay of the land in this part of Virginia Beach. We have learned that not too far from this apartment complex there was a school. So they missed the school, hit the apartment complex, and we now have three people in the hospital with nonlife- threatening injuries.

And then just to bring in another voice, the mayor of Virginia Beach, he spoke with our affiliate WTKR. And he said, really, for folks in this area, this is the worst fear realized.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR WILL SESSOMS, VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA: It's something I prayed every day would not happen. But it has. I will sit back and say to you that our police and ems and fire have done an outstanding job. The Navy is sending over some foam trucks which will get this toxic smoke cut down quickly, and that will allow us to get our people into a search.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And assessments of Virginia Beach, another eyewitness, his name is John, interviewed by our affiliate WBEC. He saw the plane, heard the plane in trouble, and then watched the crash then ran to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I looked up and I can hear, like three booms, either the engine was blowing out or he was trying to re-fire the engine. And then after I heard that I looked up. The plane went straight up with no sound. Just the engines were gone, and it went right into a dive. And I thought maybe it was a training exercise. And then I could hear it hit, and saw black smoke and instantly smelled jet fuel. And I jumped in my truck and got here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And John, we were talking about how you actually went closer to the scene, what did you see when you got closer out there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd seen where the can my, where he ejected in the canopy and the people's garden. I looked up and I could see where the actual canopy had truck the apartment to one side from where the plane hit. I looked down and I could see the canopy laying on the fence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Again, just to reiterate, it's just absolutely amazing, given the smoke and fire and the damage to these apartments, no deaths to report today, no deaths. Again, three people with nonlife- threatening injuries in the hospital now.

I want to move to another story here. A mother of five beaten to death in her own home in California. Also found in this home a threatening letter which led authorities to believe this is a hate crime. But we are now learning some new details about the Iraqi immigrant's death and whether it was a hate crime at all. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A portrait of a family in turmoil emerges now from a murder that initially appeared to be a hate crime. We told you this story about Shaima al-Awadi, the Iraqi born mother of five who was severely beaten in her California home. She died days later after being taken off life support.

Now, her teenaged daughter made this impassioned plea after finding her mother and also finding a threatening note. Here was the daughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATIMA AL HAMIDI, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: You took my mother away from me, you took my best friend away from me? Why did you do it? That eels al that's all I want to do, answer me that.

We're speechless. She's such an innocent woman. Why did you do that? She's a housewife, she's innocent, she hasn't hurt anybody. You know, she's the mother of five. Why did you do it? I mean I found her on the floor, drowned in her own blood with a letter next to her head saying "Go back to your country, you terrorist."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So she mentions a letter. It turns out that letter wasn't the original. It was a photocopy, according to police who filed it in the report to obtain a search warrant. And that's not all these documents reveal. I want to bring in Laura Wingard, the public safety editor at the U.C. San Diego newspaper. Laura, welcome. I understand this victim, this mother of five, was thinking of divorcing her husband. What do the details in this affidavit reveal?

LAURA WINGARD, PUBLIC SAFETY EDITOR, U.C. SAN DIEGO NEWSPAPER: Well, what they found was in her car, a Ford Explorer, there was legal paper work that suggested she was out to begin divorce proceedings against her husband.

BALDWIN: So she was to begin divorce proceedings against her husband, what else?

WINGARD: I think that was something they found in the affidavit when they went and such searched the house and the threatening note that has been much talked about and led the investigators. One of the things she was searching for was the torn piece of paper and the original copy.

BALDWIN: I want to ask about the daughter, because from what I understand there was some sort of incident when this daughter, she jumps out of a moving car that was being driven by her mother. What do you know about that?

WINGARD: Well, several people, and it's contained in these court records that she was upset that she was going to be in an arranged marriage with a cousin.

BALDWIN: She, the daughter?

WINGARD: Yes, the daughter, Fatima, and she distressed about that.

Last fall there was an incident where the mother had been called to come and get her. She had been in a parked car with a 21-year-old man. They ask to come and get her. The mom comes and gets her. And when they're driving down the street at 35 miles an hour, she jumps out of the car, ends up hospitalized from this incident, is unwilling to talk to the police, according to these according to records, but had told paramedics that she was upset over this arranged marriage.

BALDWIN: Then there's this text message. Police found this text that was being sent around the time she was injured. The text says "The detective will find out. Tell them can't talk." What is that supposed to mean.

WINGARD: Police aren't talking about what that might mean, and it would be hard for us to speculation. Text messages can be taken different ways, but it certainly something that was included in here as their findings.

BALDWIN: So police are talking about that. What are these items that police are searching for.

WINGARD: Well, it's a typical search warrant affidavit. They went through the whole house. They're looking for an earring that was missing. The mother apparently normally wears four or five earrings and one was missing. It was a pretty broad reaching search warrant. They were looking at her car, her husband's car. That's typical in a homicide investigation. So that's what we have.

The police have been very tight-lipped about this investigation. They gave a news conference on March 26, but they really have not said much. They have been looking at this as a possible hate crime but they were looking at other possibilities as well and that they saw this as an isolated incident.

BALDWIN: Not surprising. But where is the family now? Are they still in California? Are they in Iraq?

WINGARD: The husband, the daughter, and the family's oldest son went to Iraq late last week to the Shaima's funeral. They told the family spokesperson they intended to be there a couple of weeks.

BALDWIN: Laura Wingard, I appreciate it, thank you very much.

And I want to bring you back here to Virginia Beach to continue our coverage of this breaking news story of the F/A-18 fighter jet crashing into this apartment complex. We have just received a picture of the jet in the air. Look at this. The jet in the air in the background of this image, blue skies, taking off after -- taking off from Oceana. This particular report coming from an iReporter. Coming up next we're going the talk to one of the first people on the scene in in crash. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have been talking about this particular scene, and this is the first image we've seen of the F/A-18 fighter jet taking from Oceana naval air station at 12:30 eastern time today. And this is the first picture we have. You know, it seems all systems go. It appears fine, and now we know not too much longer after this picture was taken it crashed into an apartment building, a complex. From eyewitnesses I talked to and folks in the complex, elderly folks, families and veterans there in this Virginia Beach, Virginia, neighborhood.

Got some news as far as injuries, though. We've been reporting three. We're going to up that number to six. Six people injured, that includes the pilot, the back-seater from the F/A-18 fighter jet. So six people in the hospital, non-life-threatening injuries.

I want to bring in now a number of folks on the ground, civilians responding, helping move this fire hose around. The response is pretty tremendous and I'm sure Van Applegate saw this with his own two eyes. He's one of the photographers with one or our Virginia affiliate, WTKR, one of the first people, Van, I understand, on the scene there. Tell me what was the first thing you saw when you rolled up?

VAN APPLEGATE, WITNESS: Yes, Brooke. A photojournalist and I were the first on the scene here, and I've got to tell you that the smoke was so choking, thick, black, oily smoke, the kind of which unless you've been around a jet fuel fire is really indescribable. Children crying, people screaming, mass confusion, which is totally understandable in a situation like this.

One thing that is so unique to this area is these people are no strangers to jets flying above their roof. So the fact that they had no warning, you would look up at a jet if you live in that area, you are used to jets flying over and, unfortunately, today it's really the worst fear for people that live here in Oceana.

BALDWIN: Van, are you still on the screen?

APPLEGATE: I am. I am just north of this crash right now looking at what's left of the complex and just the outer shell of the building we're looking at. I don't know what pictures you're seeing at, but what I'm looking at right now is the skeleton of a building which appears to have held at least six single apartments. And it's just windows blown out. The roof is completely gone. And all I'm looking at is the charred exoskeleton of this building.

BALDWIN: We are looking at pictures from your TV station, WTKR. Let me ask you, since you're there right now. Are the flames gone? Have they put the fire out and now it's simply as you describe the exoskeleton of these buildings?

APPLEGATE: From my vantage point the flames are gone. The fire department seems a little more relaxed than they did about an hour ago. And 45 minutes ago we saw foam flying around, bubble foam that they put on a jet crash flames, and that appears to have subsided as well. The sun has come out. It was cloudier earlier, and for all intents and purposes it's a beautiful day now, and the flames are gone.

BALDWIN: In terms from what we heard, it looks to be a number of different buildings in this apartment complex. Fire and ems it looks to be five buildings that were in some shape or form damaged, and my question was are all of the people who were here, and this was lunchtime, kids are home. It's spring break. Is everyone accounted for, do you know?

APPLEGATE: That I cannot speculate to at this time. I do know that at an earlier press conference they said that they were sending in search and rescue crews to try to account for those people. I have not been to a press conference where I've heard otherwise.

But I do know the fire department and the police are doing everything they can at this point and they did a terrific job. If I can, I want to point out the folks in Virginia Beach came out and they helped this fire department in ways that were just heroic. I don't know if you saw the video, 20-some, 50-some people came out to help with hoses, and it was really just incredible.

BALDWIN: Final thought to you. I know you've been tweeting a lot about this story that you were sent to cover, and I just want to read one of your tweets, Van. You tweeted, "The most horrific event I have ever covered -- so raw, so close to home." How so?

APPLEGATE: It is close to home for me. I live in an apartment complex less than a quarter of a mile from here, and my -- you know, this could have been my apartment, Brooke. I live in this area. I'm proud to call it home. We often say the sound of freedom is the price you pay to live here. You see jets crossing over your home. It's nothing new to these people. They're used to hearing these jets, and it's in the back of your mind.

BALDWIN: It could happen.

APPLEGATE: It could happen. And today obviously, it did it, unfortunately.

BALDWIN: Van Applegate, we appreciate you and the other photojournalists on scene helping us get these pictures so we can tell the story. Thank you, Van, so, so much.

I do want to move along ask talk about the story out of New Orleans. We have new audio of former New Orleans Saints assistant coach Gregg Williams telling players to injure the opposing team. Coming up next we'll play this tape for you and also talk to former NFL player Coy Wire about the controversy. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Wow, this story about the saints, the NFL's New Orleans Saints today has gotten even worse. I think you heard about the bounties, the bounties on opposing players -- hurt an opponent and win a jackpot.

Now we have the voice of the coach himself, the guy who ran this maim-for-money sweepstakes. I want you to listen to Gregg Williams. He's instructing his troops before a playoff game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGG WILLIAM, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ASSISTANT COACH: We're going to kill the head. Every single one of you before you get off the pile affect the head. Early, affect the head. Continue. Touch and hit the head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow, affect the head, touch and hit the head, kill the head. Chilling words especially when you consider the fact that the NFL is facing all kinds of lawsuits concerning head injuries. In fact, we talked head injuries before, Coy Wire, former NFL linebacker. Welcome.

COY WIRE, FORMER NFL LINEBACKER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: When you hear this sound, what's your reaction?

WIRE: This audiotape is a glaring example of the type of attitude and mentality that used to exist in the NFL and in football and I say used to because it can't any longer. What's surprising is that this sort of vernacular is commonplace all across the country. You hear it from the first time you put on a helmet your coach says rip their heart out and eat it. But there's a big difference between have a big hit and the intent to injure. That's when a line is crossed.

BALDWIN: But do they say this? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WILLIAMS: Kill the head and body will die. Kill the head and the body will die. We've got to do everything in the world to make sure we kill frank gore's head.

We need to find out in the first two series of the game. The little wide receiver number 10, about his concussion. We need to put a lick on him right now.

And 42, he has no idea what he's in for. When he's on the sidelines we got to turn that over, turn their coaches over, turn the spectators over and get that on the sidelines. We need to decide whether Crabtree wants to be the prima donna or he wants to be the tough guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You hear the specificity. He's talking about specific players. The ACL, knee, he says go after them. That is shocking to me.

WIRE: It is shocking.

BALDWIN: You were shocked by hearing this?

WIRE: Yes, because this is how the game used to be played. This is the mentality that has existed. But the game of football is in a state of evolution. What we know now with brain trauma, head injuries, the decreased lifespan of an average NFL players is 20 years less than the average American. Knowing what we know now the game has to change. The players are getting bigger, faster, stronger. The dynamics of the hits are more impactful, so we have to have changes and cut out certain behavior such as this that has existed but has no place in the game anymore.

BALDWIN: Sadly I think this conversation will continue, Coy Wire. I appreciate it.

WIRE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: I'm Brooke Baldwin here in Atlanta. We're going to turn things over to Joe Johns in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Hey, Joe.