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5 Dead in Small Plane Crash Near Louisiana Airport; Daughter- in-Law of LSU Coach Killed in Plane Crash; Joe Biden Clarifies Answer About Appearing in Congress as Witness; China, Russia and Iran Training for War in Gulf of Oman. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 28, 2019 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

RYAN NOBLES, CNN HOST: -- investigation. CNN's Natasha Chen is in Lafayette near the crash site.

And Natasha, which agencies are on the scene now and what are officials saying about their investigation at this point?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ryan, I actually just got off the phone with the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board. They are in the process of launching a team to come here. So they are not on the ground yet but there will be some of those investigators arriving today, some arriving tomorrow, so we're not likely to get much information from them until tomorrow.

Now I want to step aside and give you a look at what we are looking at here on the scene because it is very devastating to see that there are parts of this plane scattered throughout the field, throughout this parking lot. You can see some first responders still standing by right here just sort of guarding the perimeter, making sure people stay away from it. But what you're looking at is a post office on your right-hand side.

And in the corner, right in the back, there is a car that is upside down, completely burned out. A lot of debris on the ground. There's also a boarded-up window all the way to the right on that post office. So a lot of damage here with debris from this plane scattered throughout the parking lot as we mentioned, as well as in that field in the distance.

And so as you mentioned, one of the victims of this flight was Carley McCord, a 30-year-old sports journalist from WDSU, a station that also suffered another tragedy. They lost another one of their anchors in a different plane crash just a few months ago. Along with McCord, there were four others who were killed in this incident. The fire chief here says that one person from the plane did survive. That person is being treated right now for injuries.

Another three people are hospitalized right now, being treated for serious burns, considered life-threatening. And separately another two were inside that post office. They were treated for smoke inhalation but they are expected to be OK. So a lot of people affected here.

A very heartbreaking moment especially as you mentioned that it seemed that they were on their way to Atlanta, at least with McCord, trying to go see this game. And of course when this happened, it created a lot of chaos here, knocked out power for about 200 customers, including the Wal-Mart here. We also see some of these utilities still trying to repair some cable lines, phone, TV, cable lines and such.

So we are waiting for more information of course and to see how those surviving people are doing as they are being treated in the hospital. And of course waiting for investigators to arrive -- Ryan.

NOBLES: Of course McCord's father-in-law actually coaching in that game as we speak.

CHEN: Yes.

NOBLES: Natasha, we do know the names of the five people who died in the crash and one of them is just 15 years old. What more can you tell us about that?

CHEN: That's right. We don't know a whole lot about the victims at this time except for their names. We do know they range in age from 15 to 59, and the person who survived and is being treated who is from that plane is in their 30s. So again, from 15 to 59. Definitely a heartbreaking thing to happen for these families right around the holidays especially one so young, in their teens. And again, the journalist we mentioned who passed is 30 years old, the daughter-in- law of the LSU offensive coordinator.

NOBLES: OK. Natasha Chen, thank you for being there. We appreciate that update.

Let's talk more about this now. We bring our aviation analyst, Miles O'Brien.

Miles, we're so lucky to have your expertise with a story that is just breaking. Now let's talk about the situation. The plane was a twin engine Piper Cheyenne. At 9:20 a.m., in the morning, the airport there was just reporting dense fog, only three quarters of a mile visibility. You yourself of course are a pilot. From your perspective, are those conditions necessarily -- any cause for a level of concern?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: No, I've taken off in conditions actually at that level or maybe even a little bit worse. It's just a matter of being well-trained and understanding how instruments fly and operates. However, if something did in fact happened mechanically to the aircraft immediately after it took off and that the crew was in the clouds, situational awareness becomes more of a challenge.

And we should tell you, this is a single pilot. It's perfectly legal to fly this single pilot. But when things happen with a twin engine aircraft, let's say an engine failed on departure, you have to do a lot of things quickly, correctly, and compounded with that would be bad weather. It might be a contributing factor.

NOBLES: So we're still trying to figure out exactly what happened, but we do know that a witness told us that the plane looked like it was trying to land in a field next to a road but it did look a little shaky. If the pilot did have a pretty serious problem after takeoff, would that be the protocol and what options and decisions would the pilot have to make at that point?

O'BRIEN: Well, let's assume for a moment, and this is purely hypothetical but looking at the radar track, it did veer sharply to the left as it took off. It only gained altitude to about 300 feet, so it never really got that far into the sky and it veered very sharply to the left.

[17:05:07]

So if there was some problem with the left side engine, for example, the pilot would have had to scramble pretty quickly to get the plane's prop feathered is the term, so that it doesn't provide aerodynamic drag. In other words, the blades are edged on to the wind as it approaches. And those things have to happen quickly. In a bad weather, the situation can be difficult. Of course, you know, the attempt to land in a field would be a last-ditch effort, I'm sure. In this case when there was trouble, the first thought on the pilot's mind would be to return to the airport if possible.

NOBLES: So we're obviously at the front end of this investigation. The NTSB isn't even on the ground at this point. Do you expect that officials will learn enough to determine what caused this plane to crash and what type of recording devices on a plane like this will help the investigators piece together exactly what happened?

O'BRIEN: Well, it's highly unlikely there's any recording devices on this aircraft at all. It depends on the vintage of the aircraft, in this case it's a 1980 aircraft. And under what rules of FAA ownership, whether it was a charter or privately owned. It appears to be a privately owned aircraft.

So it would be highly unlikely there'd be some recording device that would help them in this case. What they'll be looking at, of course they'll be listening to the transcripts of the air traffic control communications between the pilot and the control tower or the approach controllers. And then they just look at the wreckage. And one of the things that is, you know, fairly straightforward, is if an engine propeller, and these are turbine jet prop engines. If the engine is spinning and it impacts the ground, it looks a lot different than if it is not spinning. So things like that as they go through the wreckage will give them some initial clues.

NOBLES: All right, Miles O'Brien, we so appreciate you being here especially on a Saturday during a holiday week to give us some insight into this terrible tragedy in Louisiana. Thanks again for being here.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Ryan.

NOBLES: And as we mentioned at the top of our broadcast, LSU coach Steve Ensminger is coaching at tonight's game after learning of his daughter-in-law's passing in that plane crash. You can only imagine how difficult tonight is for him and his family.

Joining me now from that game by phone is Brian Holland. He is the sports director for our affiliate WVLA in Louisiana.

Brian, thank you so much for joining us. You are at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. You follow this team closely. And this of course their biggest game of the year, playing in the college football playoffs. The LSU Tigers, they're the number one team in the country. Just give us an idea if you can about how this tragedy has impacted the mood of the team and how they learned of this awful news.

BRIAN HOLLAND, WVLA SPORTS DIRECTOR: Yes. Thanks for having me on. It's been tough. Word started kind of matriculating through the tailgates earlier today. And obviously the word around the press box and she's friends with so many of course that cover this team and down there in New Orleans, certainly was in-game host there for the New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Pelicans, but also covered the LSU Tigers. So, you know. And then of course the family connection to LSU's offensive coordinator.

So when they walked out on the field, I mean, just to be honest, it -- you could see it on a lot of the staffs' faces coming out on the field, it was visible. It was plain. And this team has been affected. They did a little something different with their warm-ups. They stayed inside the locker room and went through some things a little bit longer than they usually do. Usually they're very calculated.

The schedule every single week, they don't deviate from that schedule at all. They did today. And you have to think that maybe this played a part in it. I don't know that for sure. I'm confirming that with that team. We're going to talk to the team after the game. But, you know, I talked to several staffers there with LSU and LSU football, then around the team. And a lot of people were affected.

And it's tough to obviously, you know, go to work in the biggest game of the season, biggest game of a lot of these athletes' lives, but you could see several of the student athletes, even during warm-up, going up to their offensive coordinator and giving him a hug. It was -- it's been a surreal day for sure.

NOBLES: Some college football coaches try to prepare for everything. This is something you cannot prepare for.

And I do want to show our viewers right now video of ESPN's coverage of the Peach Bowl and you can see offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger, he's actually coaching during the game and ESPN showed a graphic of the two of them together in much happier times. There he is, you can see him in the booth above the game.

You can only imagine what is going through his head as he learned that his daughter-in-law Carley McCord was killed in this plane crash today on her way to the game. [17:10:02]

I wonder, if you have heard, was there any consideration that he would not coach today?

HOLLAND: Yes. No, that was speculated about -- before the game. And you know, it is his daughter-in-law. So, you know, but still he is through and through a family man. I've heard many people say that he came back to LSU because he felt like he was with family. You know, he could have had different positions around the country at that time. He came back to coach the tight ends at that point in his career when he could have probably much, much better salary wise or position-wise.

He came back because he thought, you know, Ed Orgeron and certainly the staff back here was family. A Louisiana guy and obviously Lafayette just 45 minutes down the road from Baton Rouge. So very close and then, you know, obviously, certainly his home with a lot of his players, knowing what he's going through. Now he does call most of the plays. But he has basically a passing game coordinator, Joe Brady, who came over from New Orleans Saints this past off season who helped him call the plays.

So, you know, we've also kind of thought, hey, you know, maybe Joe will call a few more plays, or is a little more involved. Like I said earlier, though, it's so tough to focus on what you have to focus on and that's work. And unfortunately after such an unfortunate loss, his daughter-in-law, but we did catch him coming out of the locker room, tears in his eyes. So he was emotional on the field during the practice -- sorry, during the warm-ups. It has affected him. He's not usually one who likes to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but he certainly has today.

NOBLES: Well, Brian Holland, your insight into this was invaluable. We so appreciate you giving us some time today.

Brian Holland there reporting from Atlanta as the Peach Bowl as LSU plays in a college football game despite the backdrop of this awful tragedy.

Now we turn to Joe Biden and a new answer today on whether he would testify if subpoenaed in President Trump's impeachment trial. One day after saying that he would not appear, the former vice president today now clarifying his position while campaigning in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would honor whatever the Congress in fact legitimately asked me to do. The whole point of this is, anyone subpoenaed relating to this investigation of the president has to be able to have some knowledge to share on whether or not he committed the offenses he is accused of committing.

I have no firsthand knowledge. There is no basis to that. So my point was, there would be no basis upon which to call me as a witness.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBLES: So the former vice president a little all over the map on this particular issue, but he seems to not real out a legal challenge if he did receive a subpoena.

Joining me now to talk about this, CNN political analyst Sarah Isgur and CNN political commentator Joe Lockhart, who of course is a White House press secretary for President Clinton.

So, Joe, let me talk to you about this first. Biden of course not been accused of any wrongdoing, no matter what the president or his allies suggests. But this probably crystallizes the difficult position he finds himself in particularly because he is a candidate for president. How do you think he should handle a subpoena if one is issued? Should he fight it?

JOE LOCKHART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, I think the point he was trying to make, and you know, he probably could have done it better, was the president wants to focus things on issues that have nothing to do with the president and he is not going to help the president play that game. He also went on to say today that for 40 years in public service he has always provided information that he was compelled to do.

I mean, this really is a bit of a side show as far as the witnesses that actually would be called. I don't think there are even the Republican votes, you only need four to stop this, so again, I think it took him a day to get the answer exactly right, but I think he is in a pretty good place now.

The other thing I'd mention is, Trump attacking Biden so far has helped Biden. Because it's helped coalesce the Democratic support around him. So I don't see this, you know, right now as being a negative for him. I also don't expect to ever see him anywhere near the Senate floor on the trial.

NOBLES: So to your point then, you don't expect Republicans to go along with the idea or perhaps throw Biden out there as part of a negotiation saying that if you want to hear from Mick Mulvaney or you want to hear from -- John Bolton, I should say, then we also want to hear from Vice President Biden? You don't think there are enough Republican votes to make that happen?

LOCKHART: I just don't think they don't. I mean, there is not a trial in any court in the world that would allow someone with no relationship to the underlying facts that were being decided upon to go.

[17:15:09]

I don't think that the Republicans in the Senate are slightly different, and I emphasize slightly different than the Republicans in the House. And, you know, if the president wants to create a circus and he opens this pandora box, you know, he may see his own children getting subpoenas to come up to talk about what they've done to improve the business interests of the Trump Organization around the world. And that's something he clearly doesn't want to do. NOBLES: So, Sarah, to you know. President Trump seems to be showing

an increased frustration about impeachment, while spending the holidays at Mar-a-Lago. He's been tweeting about it a lot, specifically some attacks on Speaker Pelosi.

Overnight he retweeted and then deleted a post with the unsubstantiated name of the supposed whistleblower. This isn't the first time he's done that.

Sarah, do you think the pressure is getting to him?

SARAH ISGUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think what we've see also is that when he complains about the process and is providing talking points to his base, it has helped him. President Zelensky and is providing talking points to his base, it has helped him. Look at the last six to eight weeks of polling and his base has really coalesced behind him after a very rocky September going into early October. And so he does what works for him.

I think Joe is right on most of what he said except the very end. The president seems to want this to be a circus, he believes he benefits from it being a circus. So in that sense, I agree he doesn't want his children to have to testify, but if he can make this a circus, I would look for those things to happen.

What I'm more surprised by is that Joe Biden who had been a senator for so long and I agree he maybe has gotten the answer right now, maybe, I'm not sure, but to question the legitimacy of a subpoena from the Senate sort of goes against I would have thought his institutional instincts which is basically what the Trump administration has already done is to say congressional subpoenas are not legitimate.

I thought for sure that Joe Biden would say of course all congressional subpoenas are legitimate, that is a Congress authority vested in Congress particularly in the body he used to serve in. But I wouldn't be surprised if we hear one more clarification on this point.

NOBLES: And, Joe, maybe you can respond to what Sarah had to say there. And there does seem to be a bit of a disconnect between the way the President Trump himself and how Mitch McConnell want this trial to go. It seems as though the president is itching for a fight where Mitch McConnell would like this to be over as quickly as possible.

LOCKHART: Yes. No, listen, I agree with Sarah that he does want it to be a circus. I don't think he wants his children to be the third ring of that circus, but he wants this to be about issues, not about himself, about Joe Biden, about Hunter Biden.

You know, it's funny. The leverage that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have at this point, the strongest leverage is the disconnect between President Trump and Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell wants to, more anything, protect his vulnerable senators who are up in this cycle, and to stay majority leader. And he's calculated that doing this quickly and getting rid of it is the most helpful thing. President Trump wants to be vindicated. He wants to turn this into a

place where all the conspiracy theories that he's been spouting can be put on trial, and you know, be seen in their full glory. That's the last thing Mitch McConnell wants and that difference is where the Democrats are, I think, going to be able to win some concessions on the rules. But, you know, that will play out I think when they come back.

NOBLES: All right. We're going to have to leave it there. Sarah Isgur and Joe Lockhart, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

And a gathering in the Gulf of Oman, Iran, China and Russia practicing military moves together. A close look at the significance.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:13]

NOBLES: Overseas right now, three countries are practicing for war. It's a joint military exercise with the armed forces of Iran, Russia and China. They're holding war games in the Gulf of Oman, a part of the world that is really important economically and where tensions sometimes flare up between the United States and Iran. Chinese officials say it's just routine training. But it is happening where President Trump would like to send Navy shapes as a protection force.

We want to talk about this now with our global affairs analyst, Aaron David Miller.

Aaron, is Washington on board with this just being a routine training exercise and does the location of these exercises send a bit of a message?

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think they're trying to make a virtue out of necessity. I mean, you've got two frenemies, I guess I could describe them that way, China and Russia, and then an adversary of the United States, Iran, exercising together in a critically important part of the world. I mean, the Gulf of Oman links the Arabian Sea with the Straits of Hormuz, through which one- fifth of the world's oil petroleum products flow on a daily basis.

So a critically important area. Adversaries, maybe frenemies of the United States, participating in an unprecedented joint exercise. But I really do think, Ryan, that the significance here is much less on the military side and more on the political. It really is station identification. The Iranians want to make it unmistakably clear they're not isolated. They have China and Russia on their side.

The Chinese want to demonstrate their newly found second largest navy in the world, their newly found naval power and they've got a missile guided destroyer down there. And the Russians of course eager to demonstrate that they are the key actor in Syria and can also increase their reach into the gulf as well. NOBLES: So the "Washington Post" is reporting that the U.S. military

has its arsenal, a way to fight back against senior Russian officials if there is a cyberattack on the U.S. election system. They seem to be sending a message here to these top officials and oligarchs that their personal information could be exposed to the world in retaliation.

From your perspective, and we should also point out that the "Post" believes that Vladimir Putin would not necessarily be one of the targets if this is used as a deterrent. Do you think that this is a strong deterrent? Will this prevent Russia from interfering in the 2020 election?

MILLER: I don't think so. And if you want to deter the Russians, at least erase the chances that they'll be deterred. You get a president of the United States who is not prepared to create a zone of immunity for the Russians and to praise them and to willfully encourage their intervention as it did during the campaign.

This is a strategic decision that has to be taken with the utmost sense of gravity by the top leader in our country. And we're three years in and it strikes me that other elements of the government, and the intelligence agencies, CIA, FBI, may want to deter, but I'm not sure that the White House is on board. And that is the real way, to make it unmistakably clear to Putin that there is some measure of accountability or a cost for intervening in 2016 and of course punitive intervention in 2020. I doubt if you're going to see that.

NOBLES: OK, so one more hot spot when you can talk about tonight, Syria. Violence there escalating with Russia helping the Syrian army attack opposition forces in one of the northwestern provinces. Hundreds of thousands of people now displaced. President Trump sending out a warning to Syria, Russia and Iran against killing civilians there. This appears to be a pretty bad humanitarian crisis. Can you put it into context for us?

[17:25:04]

MILLER: These are horrible humanitarian crisis. And you've got three million people, 1.5 million original inhabitants of Idlib, an additional 1.5 that are refugees from the nightmare of seven or eight years Syrian civil war which the United States both under the Obama administration and under this administration has willfully decided not to intervene in.

So I think a warning without teeth is empty words. And frankly, it is rather extraordinary that the president who is essentially giving both the Turks and Russians a free hand in Syria is somehow now all of a sudden concerned about a humanitarian situation which frankly I doubt if he is prepared or anyone is prepared to do much about.

His policy in Syria, Ryan, has been pretty contradictory all along and I suspect this was a momentary impulsive tweet rather than the beginnings of a change in American policy.

NOBLES: And of course, there were many that were critical of pulling that small group of U.S. forces group out of Syria predicting that exactly what is happening would happen. And that appears to be the situation we find ourselves in now.

Aaron David Miller, we covered a lot of ground with you this evening. We appreciate you being on. Thank you so much.

MILLER: Always a pleasure, Ryan. Take care.

NOBLES: Tragedy in paradise. After a helicopter crash in Hawaii with sightseers on board, the names of the victims now starting to be released.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

NOBLES: It is Christmas week and it's, of course, one of the most important weeks on the Christian calendar. And at the same time, some pretty heavy lines are being drawn by Christian faithful and church leaders over whether to support President Trump.

It all started here, in an opinion piece in a religious magazine founded by Billy Graham. It was published the day after President Trump's impeachment. The op-ed called for the president to be removed, calling him, quote, "morally unfit for office."

But then another Christian magazine is going the other way, fully supporting the president and motivating an editor there to quit this week because of the publication's pro-Trump editorial.

Since this back and forth began, more than 200 evangelical leaders have raised their voices in support of the president.

Our senior political writer and analyst, Harry Enten, is with me now to talk about this.

So, Harry, do you view this as a bona fide crack in the Christian voting bloc?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER & ANALYST: I mean, look, it really depends on what we define as the evangelical Christian voting bloc. I think that lot of us think of it as white evangelicals. That is obviously the way that it is often betrayed in the media.

And if you look where the president is with white born-again evangelicals, a lot of them really like him. His approval rating is 75 percent. And that is close to the margin that he won over Hillary Clinton,. He got 76 percent of that vote. Clinton got just 18 percent according to one study. Studies all suggest he got between 75 and 80 percent of that vote.

But you know, the fact is, Ryan, that there's more than just born- again -- white born-again evangelicals. You know, and if you look at them as a total bloc, what you see is, in fact, that the president isn't nearly as popular with them.

You know, if you look at 2016, all born-again evangelicals, Trump only got 61 percent of the vote. That is still pretty substantial, but not anywhere near the percentage that he got with white born-again evangelicals.

And right now, his approval ratings if you average the last two most recent polls that ask about evangelical voters, you see his approval rating is only 58 percent. Which is pretty good, right? I mean obviously better than he does with all voters -- or all adults nationwide, but it is not anywhere near as good as he does with, say, white evangelicals.

NOBLES: (INAUDIBLE)

ENTEN: No, no. Go ahead, Ryan. We're having a conversation. Let's go. You and me, let's go.

(LAUGHTER)

NOBLES: As you know, I'm covering 2020. I've been interested in how you do see these Democratic candidates making a specific pitch to evangelical voters, perhaps more than you've seen in past years. Pete Buttigieg talks openly about his faith.

What is the Democratic side? Who is supported right now by voters who identify as evangelical faith the most?

ENTEN: Yes, if you were to look at the polling right now, it suggests that Joe Biden is the one who is favored. And part of the reason that Joe Biden is favored is because, if you look at nonwhite evangelical evangelicals, in a Democratic primary, they are the ones who make up the vast majority of evangelicals in a Democratic primary.

And those voters -- if we could go back a slide -- you can see that those voters really do not like Donald Trump at all. Look at this, if you look at 2016, he only got 27 percent of the vote. And his approval rating now is just 29 percent.

And in the little right-hand corner right there, you can see it highlighted, you see that his approval rating among African-American born-again evangelicals is just 7 percent.

That is a voting bloc that really loves Joe Biden. And that's part of the reason why he continues to lead in the national polls, is because African-Americans who are religious, specifically those in the south, a lot of those in South Carolina, black women over the age of 45, very religious, and they really love Joe Biden.

NOBLES: So, Harry, last question for you. I know that you are a numbers guy. You are prepared to call the results of another major contest. I'm anxiously awaiting your prediction here. Go ahead.

ENTEN: You know, Ryan, you and I, we talk all of the time about the Buffalo Bills and what do we know about the Bills? We know that their chance of making the playoffs at this point is 100 percent. That is -- there it is. It is happening. They have made it.

I have watched for so many years how awful those teams were. I used to be able to say that they hadn't made the playoffs before my bar mitzvah. I can no longer say that.

The fact is, they are in the playoffs. They will play in the first round. They are not winning the division, unfortunately.

NOBLES: Yes.

ENTEN: But the fact is they have made the playoffs and you and I get to celebrate that.

NOBLES: That's right. And unlike two years ago, Harry, I feel like a playoff win might be in our future as well. I'm feeling confident about that right now.

(CROSSTALK)

ENTEN: I feel it. I'm sending the good vibrations.

NOBLES: Terrific to a noted Buffalo Bills fan like me.

Harry Enten, thanks for your expertise on politics and sports. Harry, it's amazing. Appreciate it.

ENTEN: Love you, buddy.

[17:34:58]

NOBLES: All right. We'll be right back. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBLES: On the Hawaiian island of Kauai, investigators are still searching for one more body after a helicopter carrying a sightseeing tour crashed. Seven people were on the chopper when it went down Thursday near a remote and rugged area. The remains of six of them have been found. Investigators say there were likely no survivors.

CNN's Josh Campbell joins us live in Kauai.

Josh, we're starting to learn the identities of some of the victims and one is a child. What else are we learning?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ryan, I just got off the phone with the police official who says that law enforcement has preliminarily identified all of the victims aboard that tourist helicopter that went down here in Kauai on Thursday afternoon.

The pilot being identified as 69-year-old Paul Matero, of Wailua, Hawaii. Two of the victims identified as 47-year-old Amy Gannon and 13-year-old Jocelyn Gannon, both of Wisconsin. The four remaining victims are believed to be a family visiting from Switzerland. Police are not yet releasing their names until the next-of-kin notifications have been made.

And as far as the cause of this accident, Ryan, that remains under investigation. We're told that officials from the NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration have been dispatched here to Kauai to work with local investigators to try to determine what caused that aircraft to go down.

We've talked to officials who tell us that, as of right now, the preliminary indication seems to be pointing to weather. There was inclement weather on the day that it went down and seriously high winds. The thinking that that was a factor. But again, the investigation continues.

As you mentioned, finally, Ryan, the authorities have recovered six bodies. A search for the seventh continues as we speak.

NOBLES: Josh Campbell, live in Kauai with the latest on that story. Josh, we appreciate it.

And 2019 was a big year in business. We countdown the biggest stories when we come back.

[17:39:00]

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBLES: With 2020 just days away, we're counting down some of this year's biggest stories in business.

CNN chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, looks back at 2019.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The unicorn bubble burst, the longest U.S. auto strike in 50 years, the tech backlash and the U.S./China trade war. These are the top business stories of 2019.

Number nine, fake meat starts a real food revolution. This year, corporate America and Foodies went wild for plant-based protein. And two companies drove the craze, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, inking deals with big-name chains.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: Burger King will begin selling a meatless Whopper.

ROMANS: Beyond Meat's massive Wall Street debut --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beyond Meat's 163 percent spike.

ROMANS: And demand so high, Impossible Foods briefly ran out of burgers.

Plant-based meat appeals to consumers worried about their own health and the environment.

Number eight, Amazon abandons plans for a New York headquarters.

In 2017, CEO Jeff Bezos and Amazon launched a highly publicized bidding war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amazon is shopping for a second headquarters.

ROMANS: New York City emerged as one of the winners.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had said HQ2 would launch New York as a rival to Silicon Valley. And New York Mayor de Blasio promised it would benefit locals.

But HQ2 did not get a warm welcome from everyone in the Big Apple.

(CHANTING)

ROMANS: Amazon pulling the plug on plans to build a campus in New York City.

Progressive New York politicians, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, criticized the billions in promised tax breaks and state grants.

Amazon didn't like the heat and killed the deal.

Number seven, the unicorn bubble bursts.

Wall Street had high hopes for the market debut of startups worth at least $1 billion.

QUEST: Lyft is leading a herd of unicorns.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your Uber has arrived.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Slack shares rockets.

ROMANS: But enthusiasm quickly became disappointment.

QUEST: The year's biggest IPO is struggling.

ROMANS: The problem? The companies aren't profitable. And in the case of Uber and Lyft --

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Uber released stunning statistics about sexual assault.

ROMANS: -- are rocked by scandals.

But the most disastrous IPO --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: WeWork was one of the highest flying startups and now it can't get its IPO off the ground.

ROMANS: Investors didn't like WeWork's huge losses and the unchecked power of founder Adam Neumann. WeWork postponed its IPO and pushed out Neumann but not before handing

him a billion-dollar exit package.

Meanwhile, the company laid off thousands to cut costs.

[17:45:01]

Number six, companies get political.

In 2019, corporate America refused to stay quiet on controversial issues.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Walmart is announcing major changes in its gun policies a month after 22 people were killed in a shooting rampage at a Walmart.

ROMANS: Following the lead of retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods, Walmart exited the handgun market completely, stopped selling some ammunition, and banned open carry in stores.

But it didn't stop there.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Walmart's CEO sent a letter to Congress today demanding lawmakers do their part to stop gun violence.

ROMANS: It wasn't all accolades in 2019. Some companies were hurt by their political affiliations.

Like SoulCycle and Equinox. Consumers boycotted after their billionaire owner held a high-dollar fundraiser for President Trump.

And China briefly blacklisted the NBA when a general manager tweeted his support of the Hong Kong protesters. The league scrambled to backtrack only to face backlash back home.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Bipartisan outrage today at the NBA for apologizing to the government of China.

ROMANS: The NBA has spent years and millions trying to grow in China.

Number five, the G.M. strike.

It was the longest nationwide auto strike in 50 years.

(HONKING)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Contract talks between General Motors and the United Auto Workers broke off --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are just some of the workers that are protesting, 50,000 nationwide.

ROMANS: For six weeks, UAW members stood on the picket lines while both sides negotiated the future of a changing auto industry.

The union won raises and affordable health care but failed to get G.M. to shift production back to the U.S.

It also couldn't keep three plants from closing, including a plant the president repeatedly promised Ohio voters he would save.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Lordstown, Ohio. Get the damn plants open.

ROMANS: The strike cost G.M. nearly $3 billion.

Number four, the Boeing 737 MAX crisis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A devastating plane crash in Ethiopia with no survivors.

ROMANS: This was the second fatal crash of Boeing's 737 MAX within five months, killing 346 people in all. Boeing's planes were grounded and a flaw in the automated flight software blamed.

The investigation sparked uncomfortable questions for Boeing about regulatory oversight, training standards, and if the company had rushed the 737 MAX to market.

Boeing's CEO admitted to Congress and the victims' families the scrutiny was deserved.

DENNIS MUILENBURG, FORMER BOEING CEO: We've been challenged and changed by these accidents. We've made mistakes and we got some things wrong.

ROMANS: Boeing continues to work on a software fix.

Until then, the 737 MAX remains grounded.

Number three, the big-tech backlash heads to Washington.

Following years of criticism over data abuse and misinformation, regulators cracked down on big tech in 2019. The FTC hit Facebook with a record fine.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So $5 billion, that's how much Facebook is being forced to pay up over privacy breaches.

ROMANS: Fifty attorneys general launched an anti-trust probe into Google. And Facebook's CEO faced bipartisan fury in six hours of congressional testimony.

The GOP claimed liberal bias while the Dems attacked lies in political ads.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Do you see a potential problem here with a complete lack of fact-checking on political advertisements?

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: Well, Congresswoman, I think lying is bad.

ROMANS: A few companies like Twitter took action, banning political ads. But time will tell if this brings real oversight to big tech.

Number two, a strong U.S. economy.

Despite a global slowdown, the U.S. economy remains solid. Like the U.S. consumer, spending money and keeping the economy growing. Unemployment is at a 50-year low.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last time it was that low, The Beatles' "Come Together" song was at the top of the charts.

ROMANS: Major averages on Wall Street keep hitting record highs.

Hope for U.S./China trade deal kept stocks climbing, but you can also thank the Federal Reserve.

In 2019, the Fed cut interest rates, not once, not twice, but three times. The central bank wanted to counter uncertainty over trade.

Speaking of, number one, the U.S./China trade war.

China and the U.S. finally reached a phase-one agreement, but 2019 saw major fallout from the 19-month-long trade war. Trade talks seemed to move ahead, then stalled leaving progress uncertain.

Meanwhile, both countries slapped tariffs on products worth hundreds of billions of dollars, slowing economic growth, shrinking the manufacturing sector, and stalling job creation there.

A significant slowdown from the prior years.

While U.S. farmers, many who supported Trump, felt like collateral damage in his trade war.

UNIDENTIFIED FARMER: I think he's sort of backstabbing the main people who got him into office in the Midwest.

ROMANS: American business and consumers pay for tariffs.

The phase-one deal is an important first step, but not the grand course correction Trump promised at the start of the trade war.

[17:50:05]

It's a narrow agreement that leaves the thorny issues for 2020.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: And a quick programming note. You can ring in the new year with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Two best friends, one epic night. "NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE" begins at 8:00 p.m., on CNN.

Before Beyonce, before Lady Gaga, Linda Ronstadt was the first female pop icon.

Here is a preview of the CNN film, "LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE," premiering New Year's Day. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She came to Los Angeles.

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Linda Ronstadt.

(SINGING)

LINDA RONSTADT, SINGER: I was 18 years old and we formed a little band called the Stone Ponies.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole damn thing broke loose.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was rock music, folk music commingling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How can we define what this is going to be?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Linda was the queen, like what Beyonce is now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was the only female artist to have five platinum albums in a row.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" was a hit on the country charts. "You're No Good" was a hit on the R&B and pop chart. She became the first artist to have a hit on three charts.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was the first female rock 'n' roll star.

(SINGING)

ANNOUNCER: "LINDA RONSTADT: "THE SOUND OF MY VOICE," New Year's Day on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:03]

NOBLES: Check this out. A research group has tracked a 12-foot great white shark from Nova Scotia to the Miami area. The shark, named Ironbound, because of its feisty nature, was located by Key Biscayne, Florida, two days before Christmas. Researchers with O-Search have been tracking the shark as part of a study on migration patterns. They remind everyone shark attacks are very rare and there's no increased concern for beachgoers in Florida.

"Star Wars" movies are defined by acts of courage and selflessness. So when a University of North Carolina student died tackling a gunman on campus, the filmmakers decided to create a jedi character in his honor. Riley Howell, a 21-year-old ROTC cadet, is now immortalized as a jedi master and historian of the Jedi order on the "Star Wars" fan site.

CNN's Natasha Chen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAUREN WESTMORELAND, RILEY HOWELL'S GIRLFRIEND: When I first saw you, it was like the sun came out, bright and beaming on the cloudiest of days.

CHEN (voice-over): Riley Howell's family remembers him as a ray of light, and now he'll also be known for fighting dark forces in a galaxy far, far away.

WESTMORELAND: It's kind of like a really nice way to round out the worst year of all of our lives.

CHEN: Howell died in April, shot tackling a gunman at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

His girlfriend, Lauren Westmoreland, shared a letter from Lucasfilm to the Howell family saying they would like to create a character in Howell's honor. They asked the family to keep it secret until later this year, saying, "Riley's courage and selflessness brings out the Jedi in all of us."

Turns out, Lucasfilm has made Howell a Jedi master and historian in "Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker, The Visual Dictionary," a book companion to the final movie of the Skywalker saga.

WESTMORELAND: It's still Riley Howell, but it's spelled RI-LEE, or L- E-E. And he's technically just like a Jedi master historian who, I guess, has preserved these books.

CHEN: Fitting for a young Padawan who loved all things "Star Wars."

WESTMORELAND: His fifth birthday was all "Star Wars" themed. So his little cake had a bunch of figurines on it, and he named all of them. He wanted everybody be quiet so he could name them all.

CHEN: Mark Hamill, the actor who played Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, tweeted on Christmas Eve, "This real-life hero has become Jedi Master RI-LEE HOWELL in the official 'Star Wars' canon. May his memory live on from here to eternity."

Just as Hamill's character says in the films --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one is ever really gone.

CHEN: Closing out the letter to the Howell's, Lucasfilm wrote, "The force will be with Riley and all of you always."

Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NOBLES: Thanks, Natasha.

And in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, a flight board for Atlanta and he Peach Bowl crashes in Louisiana. One of the victims, a family member of one of LSU's coach. The details when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:06]

NOBLES: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ryan Nobles, in tonight for Ana Cabrera.