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Southwest Plane Lands at Wrong Airport; West Virginia's 300,000 Residents Still Without Safe Water; Feds Probe Christie's Use of Sandy Aid; Americans Warned on Sochi Travel; Golden Globes, Full of Laughs, Surprises; GM Sweeps Top Honors at Detroit Auto Show
Aired January 13, 2014 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of news for you this morning as well. So let's get you back to the "NEWSROOM" with Miss Carol Costello.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks. Have a great day.
NEWSROOM starts now.
Happening now in the NEWSROOM a Southwest plane lands at the wrong airport narrowly missing a catastrophe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Had a really rough landing, we were all, like, moving pretty close to the seats as we were landing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Plus four days and counting in West Virginia they're still asking when can we drink the water?
And it's official. The amazing Peyton versus the amazing Brady, two marquise quarterbacks fight to land in the Super Bowl.
And hats off to the ladies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TINA FEY, GOLDEN GLOBE HOST: Welcome to the 71st Annual Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's, Lee Daniels' "The Butler's" Golden Globe Award.
AMY POEHLER, GOLDEN GLOBE HOST: A very good evening to everyone here in the room and to all the women and gay men watching at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It might have been messy but the Golden Globes weren't short on laughs or whacky winners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEY: "Gravity" is nominated for Best Film. It's the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good morning. Thanks so much for joining me, I'm Carol Costello.
The NTSB is investigating a huge mistake by a Southwest Airlines jet. Late last night the plane actually landed at the wrong airport. Flight 4013 took off from Chicago's Midway Airport heading for Dallas, Texas. The Boeing 737-700 was scheduled to make a shortstop at Branson Airport in Missouri but instead landed about seven miles away at a much smaller airport, the Taney County Airport.
Passengers knew something was wrong when the pilot stepped on the brakes hard shortly after touchdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT SCHIEFFER, PASSENGER: So we landed and as I said it was a hard landing. There was burnt rubber. At that point the pilot came on and said, welcome to Branson, but didn't say anything else. Then he comes on about five minutes later and says, we have landed at the wrong airport. We landed at Clark Field which is near Branson Airport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The runway at Taney County Airport is nearly half the size than the one the plane was supposed to land at, at the Branson and that posed a lot of safety risks.
CNN's Rene Marsh is live in Washington to tell us about those.
Good morning.
RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. A close call and a rough landing. The passengers on board they were just really feet away from disaster. Now if the pilot didn't brake when he did the plane could have gone over a steep embankment and on to a highway. Not the kind of landing you want.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARSH (voice-over): A hard landing and the smell of burning rubber, two indications to passengers on Southwest Flight 4013 that something was wrong after their plane landed at the wrong airport coming within 300 feet of a steep embankment at the end of the runway.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds like a really rough landing. We were all like moving pretty close to the seats as we were landing because the runway, I guess, is too short for the plane.
MARSH: The plane carrying more than 100 passengers was scheduled to land at Missouri's Branson Airport Sunday night, but instead showed up at Taney County Airport, about seven miles from the intended destination. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the planes ended up landing at point lookout airport and it needs mutual aid.
MARSH: The runway at Taney County Airport is about half the length of the runway at Branson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a call saying the plane has landed at an airport nearby and we're thinking surely not a jet plane could land there.
MARSH: Officials say if the pilot didn't brake when he did, the plane could have overshot the runway and tumbled on to a nearby highway. Passenger Scott Schieffer captured the aftermath on video. It shows passengers evacuating the plane before being bussed to the larger airport.
In November, a Boeing 747 cargo plane also landed at the wrong airport, this time in Kansas on a runway half mile shorter than it usually uses. Despite fears, the Dreamlifter would be stuck at the Kansas airport indefinitely. It eventually took off without incident.
Southwest is hoping for a similarly successful outcome for their Boeing 737.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARSH: And it goes without saying a very embarrassing situation for the airlines. This comes on the heels of that hard landing at LaGuardia this summer where about 10 people were injured.
At this hour, teams from Boeing Southwest and the airport in Missouri, they are working on what you can really call a huge complicated math problem. They're calculating the weight of the plane, the length of the runway, looking at weather conditions and many other factors to determine if the plane can safely take off from this very short runway.
We still don't know at this hour, Carol, how or why the pilots made this mistake.
COOPER: So did that passenger say the pilots said welcome to Branson and then later oops, we're not in Branson?
MARSH: Yes, an oops moment.
COSTELLO: Well, how could you not know what town you're landing in?
MARSH: And that is problem. And that is a serious problem. Major question that investigators want to get to the bottom of because there's a lot of equipment, lots of tools and technology inside of these planes that are supposed to assist these pilots. So the question now is how come they did not know that they were at the wrong airport at the point of touchdown -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Wow. Rene Marsh reporting live for us this morning. It's been four days and people in West Virginia still don't know when they can drink or bathe in their water. Right now officials are meeting to try and figure out some safe zones for water usage. 300,000 people have been forced to live on bottled water after poisonous chemicals contaminated the water lines.
CNN's Alexandra Field live in Charleston, West Virginia, with more for you.
Good morning.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the sweet sound of running water is what people here are desperately waiting to hear. But they have not been given the all clear yet. And officials say that even once the water supply is officially deemed safe people can't just rush to turn on the faucets.
A zone by zone system is being designed right now. People will be notified when their zone is safe and priority is being given to areas where there are hospitals which are now badly in need of water.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a state of emergency, you do whatever it takes.
FIELD (voice-over): Firefighters in Charleston, West Virginia, come to the rescue with water. Bottles of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least 600, 700 cases, probably more.
FIELD: The lines to collect keep growing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In just a minute, OK?
FIELD: 300,000 people have been forced to get by on bottled water since Thursday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless you.
FIELD: That's when a chemical leak was found to have tainted the water supply. Schools are shut down, water samples are being tested around the clock for signs of improvement.
GOV. EARL RAY TOMBLIN, WEST VIRGINIA: I believe that we're at a point where we can say that we see light at the end of the tunnel.
FIELD: But there's still no specific timeline for lifting the water use ban. It will happen in phases.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are anxious because they don't have certainty about the -- what's going on.
FIELD: Officials now believe as many as 7500 gallons of a chemical used to clean coal leaked into the water supply from a one-inch hole in the underground part of a storage tank. The problem was discovered around 8:00 Thursday morning when someone reported smelling the sense of licorice.
Freedom Industries, which owns the tanks, says it became aware of the leak around 10:30.
TOMBLIN: I think there should be a thorough investigation of what happened and why this happened at Freedom Industries.
FIELD: Investigators say it will take weeks to determine whether the leak could have somehow been prevented and just how quickly it was detected.
For another day people in West Virginia are left high and dry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: And officials say that once that water use ban is lifted residents will still need to wait and see some procedures and policies for how they should flush out their homes to ensure that the water flowing from their taps really is safe.
Also, Carol, we should note here that we did reach out to Freedom Industries for a response to this report. We have not heard back from them. They held a press conference over the weekend where they apologized -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. But we haven't heard from that company since Friday so why isn't the company front and center in this? I mean, look at the agony this company has caused for hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia.
FIELD: Yes. And it really can't be overstated when you see people around here who are, again, you know, still waiting to take showers, to get water from their taps. They are eating off of paper plates. They have to go outside of this area to wash their clothes. So certainly there is a great deal of frustration here.
We are seeing people beginning to file lawsuits along with businesses. Some of those lawsuits name Freedom Industries. They also named the water company here.
We spoke to the governor yesterday. He says right now his focus is on getting water restored to people in West Virginia. After that he says the attention will turn sharply toward Freedom Industry and how and if this leak could have been prevented -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Alexandra Field reporting live from Charleston, West Virginia, this morning.
New information about yet another investigation into New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's office. But this time it's not about the closure of toll lanes on the George Washington Bridge.
Chris Frates of CNN Investigations is breaking this exclusive story. He joins us now live.
What have you learned, Chris? CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it could be another bad day for Governor Chris Christie. Federal officials are now looking into a controversy surrounding a taxpayer funded advertising campaign that featured the New Jersey governor and his family in an election year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRATES (voice-over): When Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey last year, Chris Christie led from the trenches and his skillful response to the devastating superstorm rocketed him into political super stardom. But a new federal investigation into how the New Jersey governor spent some of the Sandy relief money could threaten to wash away the foundation of his political brand.
CNN has learned that federal investigators will examine the state's $25 million tourism marketing campaign, a campaign that was paid for with Sandy recovery money.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Jersey Shore is open.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: The word is spreading because we're stronger than the storm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You bet we are.
FRATES: A campaign that featured Christie and his family during an election year.
Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone, a vocal Christie critic, requested the investigation and tells CNN it's now moving ahead, but he says this is not about politics.
REP. FRANK PALLONE (D), NEW JERSEY: This was money that could have directly been used for Sandy recovery. And as you know, many of my constituents still haven't gotten the money that is owed them, you know, to rebuild their homes or to put their -- you know, to raise their homes or to help.
FRATES: Pallone says promoting New Jersey tourism after the superstorm was a good idea, but he has a big question about how much taxpayer money was spent to make those ads. The winning bid, a $4.7 million campaign featuring Christie and family. The next lower bid that lost out was nearly half the price at $2.5 million, and wouldn't have featured the governor.
The ads caused controversy as they hit the airwaves while Christie was running for re-election. Democrats slammed him, arguing it gave the incumbent governor an unfair advantage.
At the time Christie aides said the winning bid provided more value. But after an initial review of the Sandy relief spending, the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Housing and Urban Development has concluded that there is enough evidence to launch a full-scale investigation according to Congressman Pallone. PALLONE: Taxpayer dollars that could have been used for Sandy relief were used for ads promoting the governor, because he was in them with his family, during an election campaign.
FRATES: But as bad as the George Washington Bridge scandal has been for Christie, if the investigation finds he improperly spent Sandy funds, it could get far worse tarnishing the signature achievement that has helped propel toward the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRATES: We've reached out to Christi's office and we've yet to get a response but the inspector general talked to us today and they told us they don't have a comment at this time.
Now Congressman Pallone tells us the investigation by the HUD inspector general is likely to take months but it will result in an official report.
COSTELLO: I'm sure you'll stay on this story.
Chris Frates, many thanks to you.
FRATES: Thanks.
COSTELLO: Dennis Rodman is apologizing again fresh off his latest trip from North Korea. The former NBA player fought through reporters in Beijing but eventually stopped to say hey, I'm no diplomat, just a regular guy who wanted to play a simple game of basketball.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENNIS RODMAN, FORMER NBA STAR: I'm sorry about all the people that's -- I'm sorry. I'm not the president. I'm not an ambassador. I'm Dennis Rodman, just an individual. Just sworn to the fact that we can actually get along and be happy for one day. I would love to see -- I would love to see --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Rodman maintains his trip was only about the basketball game and he never meant to get into the middle of any political dispute.
A strong warning from the State Department this morning to Americans traveling to the winter games in Sochi, Russia next month. Be alert for acts of terrorism and kidnapping.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is live in Moscow.
This doesn't sound good, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It doesn't. Well, the State Department is pointing out to anyone who might want to go to the Winter Olympics, as that the regions just to north of that, just in the past three months there have been three serious terror attacks, where more than 30 people have been killed over the past decade or so. There have been multiple terror attacks in the region.
And this comes just as the Russian officials here, security officials announcing a number of arrests over the weekend. They arrested one group of six people, about 150 miles or so from Sochi saying that this group, about two weeks ago had detonated a car bomb just north of Sochi, about 150 miles north of there and they say the same group of people who've actually admitted that they were planning and preparing another major attack.
And the security officials also announcing that they arrested five other people whom they say had a homemade bomb with about five pounds of explosives of TNT in that bomb. So the security profile in and around Sochi high-security.
In the regions north of there, this is what the State Department is putting out here. People have to be aware that the region that they're coming into and the type of threats that exist in the area -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Nic Robertson reporting live this morning. Many thanks.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM: the Golden Globes getting lots of attention this morning. The hosts, the speeches, and, of course, the outfits.
Nischelle Turner live in Los Angeles.
Good morning.
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
They call it the party in Hollywood and it didn't disappoint last night, Carol. We have lots to talk about -- the good, the bad and just the bizarre -- when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It was ladies night at the Golden Globes. Jokes. Good jokes galore.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler put on an entertaining show for the second year in a row and they didn't pull any punches when it came to poking fun at the boys.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY POEHLER, ACTRESS: What a year for television. A lot of nominated shows tonight are actually on Netflix this year. "House of Cards." "Orange is the New Black." Yes.
Enjoy it while it lasts Netflix, because you won't be feeling so smug in a couple of years when Snapchat is up here accepts best drama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And they look great, too, Nischelle Turner. I love them. TURNER: Exactly. You know, it's good when it's still really funny like the third and fourth time you've heard it. I heard the joke. I watched the show twice last night, and I've heard many times this morning. And it's still that funny.
The reviews are in. The first reviews for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are in this morning. Again, they're stellar. The words that are being used, funny, gorgeous, people just loving the bits that they did. I love that Matt Damon is the garbage man bit. I thought that was so darn funny. It was no surprise, though, Carol, that they were going to be extremely funny.
But I have been telling people since these nominations came in the Hollywood foreign press love to shock all of us. They love to zig when everyone else zags. And some of last night's winners left a lot saying, whoa!
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TURNER (voice-over): Hollywood's biggest stars uninhibited.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to go up there and take that statue no matter what name is called.
TURNER: And megawatt energy turned up the red carpet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel good.
TURNER (on camera): You feel good?
(voice-over): Once inside, hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler --
TINA FEY, ACTRESS: "Gravity" is nominated for best film.
TURNER: -- didn't hold nothing back.
FEY: It's the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age.
TURNER: Poehler even donned a wig --
POEHLER: Your name is Sochi (ph). What are you, the Olympics?
TURNER: And took her wild antics into the crowd.
POEHLER: It was a night full of nerve racking wins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm as nervous as everybody else. What happens?
POEHLER: And tipsy star speeches.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a few vodkas under my belt. OK.
TURNER: Best mini series actress Jacqueline Bisset stole the time with a lengthy minute walk up and the bizarre two and a half minute speech.
JACQUELINE BISSET, ACTRESS: I said like my mother, what did she say? She used to say, go to hell and don't come back.
TURNER: The infectious Jennifer Lawrence won best supporting actress for her '70s throwback role in "American Hustle."
JENNIFER LAWRENCE, ACTRESS: I'm sorry I'm shaking so much. Don't ever do this again.
TURNER: Seasoned Leonardo DiCaprio graciously won best actor in the comedy for "The Wolf of Wall Street."
LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: This is an incredibly, incredibly honor.
TURNER: Utter shock rang through former "SNL" cast members when they nabbed the Globe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't prepare anything!
POEHLER: I never win. So, I can't believe I won.
TURNER: The three-hour show was also a fun farewell for crime drama series, "Breaking Bad."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Such a lovely way to say goodbye to say that meant so much to me.
TURNER: Taking home best actor and TV series for its last season. But two based on true story flicks, "12 Years a Slave" and "American Hustle" took home the night's biggest honors, best motion picture drama and comedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the wonderful benefits of the motion picture business is that we get to make films about people, about the art of survival, resilience and about reinvention.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TURNER: Very good. Very good.
So, this morning, there are still people that are saying, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" that's a comedy series? Andy Samberg, best actor in a comedy?
Listen, Carol, I think Andy Samberg is even saying --
COSTELLO: It's funny.
TURNER: It is funny. You know, it's funny because Terry Cruise said Andre Brower (ph) who were co-stars on that show, said to me on the red carpet yesterday, when people get a hold of the show, they will understand just how funny it is and that win last night will go a long way in showing people how funny this show is. I think Andy Samberg would say I don't know how this happens. So, that was a shocker.
COSTELLO: Well, if it gets more eyes on the show that's good. Sometimes good shows go away and you wonder what happened.
TURNER: Exactly, exactly.
COSTELLO: Nischelle Turner, many thanks.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, take a good look. That's the new Corvette Stingray. Sweet. It just been named car of the year for the first time since 2007, GM sweeps top honors at the Detroit auto show.
Christine Romans has more.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, it wasn't long ago this was government motors. It was floundering under support of the taxpayers. Guess what? GM has reinvented itself with a sweep at the auto show. I'll have more after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We just have to take another look at that pretty girl. Let's look at her. Yep. Come on.
There she is. Can you believe how pretty that car is? This is the Corvette Stingray. It won top honors at the Detroit Auto Show as did the Chevrolet Silverado.
Yay for American cars. Right, it's a great way to start to year for the company's next CEO, Mary Barra, I'm talking about G.M. Berry is the first woman ever to lead a major U.S. automaker.
So, could a combination of new products and new leadership helped the company bounce back?
Let's bring in CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans. Good morning.
ROMANS: Good morning. I love that Corvette, too.
You know, I love it so much I went to see what the base price is, $51,000 is the base.
COSTELLO: Ouch.
ROMANS: That's the base price, Carol. That's the base price.
But, it's still a beautiful car, isn't it? And look, it really is almost like a symbol of the come back of G.M., isn't it? I mean, it was just a few years ago this company was derided as government motor, bailed out to the tune of $50 billion for the taxpayer. Now, it's paid back all but $10 billion. It's out from underneath the taxpayer.
And, it's come back with this sweep. It's got Corvette best car of the year. The Silverado, the Chevrolet Silverado, the best truck of the year. The Cadillac CTS, which was actually lunched under Mary Barra, the new CEO's tutelage. That was a finalist. They had a very, very, very good year here. Now, carol, something that's so interesting is auto sales have been coming back. Best auto sales last year since 2007. Auto sales are coming back. But I'm telling you, G.M. is doing very, very well. I'll use a terrible auto writer cliche and say they are firing on all cylinders right now.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: That was really --
ROMANS: That was bad, I know.
COSTELLO: So, what is the early word on Mary Barra, anything?
ROMANS: She's the rock star of the Detroit Auto Show, as we speak. So, she gave kind of a subdued, short, sweet remarks there and then she walks off the stage and she's mobbed by auto writers. Everyone wants a minute of her time.
She is the daughter of a G.M. worker. She's worked at G.M. for 30 years. She's a woman who has risen up in the car guy, you know, Detroit world.
But she's a product maven, great ideas. People love to work for her. She keeps smartly deflecting this attention a first woman to run a Detroit auto company, right?
She goes back to the team and the products and that's working. And I think that's really working. Their products are good. Their team is good.
Mary Barra -- you know, I mean, when people say you're the first woman this, first woman that, a lot of women tend to go back to the business that got them -- you know. She keeps deflecting right back on what she's doing and not sitting too long on first woman thing.
COSTELLO: Well, I kind of like her whole image, because she looks so down to earth. She's dressed down to earth. She doesn't have designer clothes that so many high powered women wear, for whatever reason.
ROMANS: She loves cars. She loves cars. She loves the engineering. She loves what she does.
She has said, what's the secret to your success? She shows up every day and works really hard.
COSTELLO: What a concept?
ROMANS: Right.
COSTELLO: Christine Romans, thank you so much.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: We are just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. So, with all this great news for G.M., how is the stock looking?
Let's bring in our CNN business correspondent, Alison Kosik, with that side of the story.
Good morning.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Looks like GM shares looking to open modestly higher. Ford talking about automakers. Ford actually behind me ready to ring the bell to celebrate the new F-150 truck. Now, we talk about the auto show. You know, it doesn't really tend to be a huge market mover overall. It's always a good thing, Carol, when these companies roll out new products and win awards like car and truck of the year.
The only U.S. automaker that's not trading here at the NYSE is Chrysler, and Chrysler is expected to return to public trading in the next couple of months.
You heard it, the opening bell ringing. It looks like, though, Wall Street may have a case of the Monday morning blues.
