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FAA Investigating Incident Between 2 United Airlines Flights; Russians On Cusp Of Taking First Ukrainian City in 8 Months; Coach: No Timetable For Ja Morant's Return To NBA's Grizzlies After Flashing Alleged Gun In Instagram Post; Texas Tech Suspends Men's Basketball Head Coach For "Racially Insensitive" Comment; Chris Rock Claps Back Over Will Smith's Oscar Slap. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 06, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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


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[13:30:10]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: All right. This just in. The FAA says it's investigating an incident between two United Airlines at Boston's Logan International Airport.

Let's go straight to CNN's Tom Foreman.

Tom, this incident seems to be a collision.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not to overstate that, because it's not a full-feed collision.

Essentially, what happened her was two 737s, both operated by United, one was at the gate and one of those tow tugs started to push it backward when the right wing of that plane clipped the tail of another United flight. Both were trying to depart at that time.

The fact they weren't going full speed makes it less damaging than it might be otherwise, but still it's a very serious incident.

I was talking to an airline expert a short while ago. He said the number of close misses and touches on the ground have been going up despite many measures to alleviate this at airports around the country.

You do have to bear in mind, when this happens, even if it happens at a low speed, the potential for damage here, the danger is actually incredibly high.

We always think of airplane crashes as being the things that really hurt people or kill people, but collisions on the runway can be enormously dangerous and very damaging.

Yes, the FAA is looking into this, trying to figuring out how this happened, and, frankly, that it happened at a low speed, really how it happened then, because, arguably, people could have seen it coming and averted it. PHILLIP: That's one of the big questions here. It does seem like it's

becoming more common. At least in the last several weeks and months, it feels like we've been hearing about a lot of these incident.

My understanding is there's five of these collisions or near collisions are under investigation already.

FOREMAN: Yes, it doesn't seem like there are more. There actually are more of them in terms of the number of flights. It's not entirely clear why it's happening right now.

The FAA is trying to sort it out. Again, they've taken mitigating measures to try to prevent this.

But it seems like some kind of combination of the amount of air traffic, the times of air traffic and, in some cases, work being done at airports may be funneling more planes into smaller spaces.

I don't pretend that that answers for everything here, but it does answer for why the FAA has to look at all of incidents very seriously.

PHILLIP: Absolutely.

Tom Foreman, thank you.

I want to bring in now David Soucie, the former FAA safety inspector.

David, thanks for joining us.

When you hear about this collision on the tarmac at Boston Logan, a very busy airport, what does that say to you?

DAVID SOUCIE, FORMER FAA SAFETY INSPECTOR: Well, again, most every one of these incidents we have seen is because things are in a hurry, because they're trying to get more airplanes out quicker.

And even this one has to do with that because of how they're moving the airplane out quickly. They have to get it from one gate to the other.

So it really is a matter of the fact that they're under a lot of pressure right now after this post-Covid and now that traffic is back up to normal rates, they're under enormous pressure to try to get as many airplanes off as they can to utilize whatever space they can in the airspace.

So this goes back to the near midair collisions when airplanes are on the runways and taking off and other airplanes are coming in on top of them. They need to expand that time more.

I know it's hard to say that, because it might cost them a lot of money and it costs the travelers a lot of time as well. But when you're looking at every flight that's packed, these things have to get in - they have to slow things down and get things back to normal, speed-wise. PHILLIP: I wonder what you think who is at fault here. You have the

airlines who are saying airline traffic is back to pre-pandemic levels, but they're having staffing issues. But safety clearly can't be the fall guy in that scenario.

So who is responsible for fixing this problem?

SOUCIE: Really, it's up to the individual airlines at this point. Now, we also have to include - it depends on which thing we're trying to mitigate.

In this particular incident, it was airline specific. It was the airline that was moving the aircraft and they're the ones that made the mistake that caused the incident, that caused the damage to occur.

So we have to look at it - I'm careful how I word this, because there's no one fix for everything. But in this case, it was airline specific.

The cases before that I was talking about, it's the air traffic controllers and it's the actual administrator, the FAA administrator who has to start setting these standards for how many airplanes can take off and how quickly.

When it looks like it's good on a map, when it looks good, like we can get this off and he's clear and then the next person comes on, and you do that mathematically and you try to figure out as actually on how many flight you can get out of an airport, those are real numbers. But there's things that delay.

[13:35:01]

For example, the one in Austin, the aircraft had lined up on the runway and was supposed to have taken off, but he took longer than usual to actually go through his pre-flight and check his engines and that sort of thing. So the air traffic controller thought he had already left, but he hadn't.

So those are other situations that you have to create a buffer for.

PHILLIP: Clearly, a problem across the air traffic system right now in this country.

David Soucie, thank you for joining us on that breaking news.

Brutal trench warfare, lawless Russian mercenaries, thousands of trapped civilians, and there is only one road out. That's the situation in Bakhmut, Ukraine.

Russian forces are on the verge of capturing that Ukrainian city for the first time in eight months. But military and U.S. officials suggest that Bakhmut means more symbolically for Russia than it does strategically.

Retired Army Major Mike Lyons is here to break it down for us. Major Lyons, if Bakhmut doesn't have such strategic value, why all

these months of bloody, you know, brutal in some ways, almost trench warfare going on for all these months?

MAJ. MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY, RETIRED: It does have some symbolic value, but the strategic value is Ukraine military has used it to grind down Russian forces. And that's really been their objective and using Western-type equipment to do that and artillery.

Let me show you something on the map here. Russia is now involved with the encirclement, some kind of involvement here, making sure that they're trying to surround the city. This map is a little more ominous than it really is.

But the bottom line is they've never been able to have any kind of frontal assault into Bakhmut. Why? Because of the obstacles.

And this is going to be about, as Ukraine decides to do a retrograde operation, and they're going to do it deceptively because they don't want to telegraph that.

But we can tell by the bridges that they're blowing to do that. We know that Ukraine dropped a bridge in this area here to keep Russians from taking it.

Now, over here, in Kharmova (ph), the Russians blow that bridge over there. So they're going to try to funnel any retro grid operations down this road.

This road is called the 504, the T-504. Under a lot of artillery. Under a lot of assaulting going on right now.

But I think, in the next 24 to 48 hours, that retro grid operation will begin in earnest and the Ukraine military will be able to get back into certain defensive positions.

PHILLIP: So you were saying the map looks more ominous that it maybe is. All of that red is where Russian troops are present. But we are hearing about these desperate civilian evacuations in that city. And Ukraine is refusing to surrender.

It is similar to Mariupol earlier on in the war that turned out to really be a humanitarian catastrophe. How can Ukraine avoid a second version of that occurring here in this city?

LYONS: Well, the retro grid operation will happen in phases. Likely the less important soldier that are fighting kind of go first, drone operators, things that can possibly cover the withdrawal.

There are about 4,500 civilians left in the town right now from 80,000. Some still will choose not to go, but the Ukraine military will have to make tough decisions to make sure that they can get people out.

I think they'll be able to cover this retreat, again, against that road to get all the way out and get other defensive positions once the time comes. But again, there's certain civilians that will likely still stay.

PHILLIP: All right, Major Mike Lyons, thank you very much for breaking all of that down for us.

[13:38:31]

And one of the most exciting players in the NBA, Ja Morant, is stepping away from his team after he appeared flashed a gun at a nightclub. The league is now investigating. We'll discuss the young star's future, next.

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PHILLIP: It's not clear when the NBA all-star seen flashing a gun on social media will return to the court. That's according to the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies on their young star, Ja Morant.

The team announced on Saturday that the 23-year-old will step away for at least the next two games. That comes after he posted a video of himself appearing to hold a gun on his Instagram Live earlier in the day.

Now, Morant has since apologized. But "The Washington Post" reported he was previously accused of punching a teenager boy during a pick-up basketball game and threatening a mall security guard.

Morant wasn't charged in either of those incidents. But now he's at the center of this controversy.

Joining me now is Bomani Jones, host of the ESPN podcast "The Right Time with Bomani Jones."

Bomani, look, in his statement, Morant said he's working on learning better methods of stress and my overall wellbeing. And I think a lot of people would support him in that.

But I wonder, do you think that that gets to the heart of what is going on with this young man?

BOMANI JONES, PODCAST HOST, "THE RIGHT TIME WITH BOMANI JONES": When I saw the statement came out and it used the terminology that it did, I felt like there are things that they aren't saying. Right?

Because what people saw from him was just overall reckless behavior. And they didn't really care too much about his stress management, as much as, hey, stop acting like a fool in front of people.

So what they put in the context of dealing with stress and then said he would take a couple of days and then said that it would be indefinite, I read that announcement and wondered what exactly is at the heart of it. Because it sounds like it's something they're not telling us.

PHILLIP: That is also something that struck out to me. The NBA is basically saying he is the one taking this time away. It's not clear if there has been or will be any punitive action for this behavior.

[13:45:01]

I mean, how should they respond? It's not just flashing the gun wherever he was on that Instagram Live, but those other incidents reported by "The Washington Post." There have been other concerning behaviors in public.

What should they do next?

JONES: Well, it's interesting that you mentioned it in terms of punitive behavior. I think, overall, the way most people have looked at this is not in the context of punishment but really in the context of concern.

Which, I think, if you're someone of my age, you see somebody - I mean, Ja Morant is almost 20 years younger than me. I look at him, and I'm like, young man, you are cruising for a bruising.

Suddenly, I've become like every elder and uncle that I've ever had when they saw somebody doing something like this. And when I was that age, I was thinking they were just overreacting.

But people who look at that and see those sorts of behaviors, know ultimately how they end.

I think, looking at Morant, it's much less to me about somebody has to teach that boy a lesson that it is he's going to need to learn some things. Because walking around, playing with guns around people, that's just a great way to get shot.

And that's the way I look at anything else. It's not so much he's making the NBA look bad or anything like that. But what you are doing and the way you're comporting yourself is undeniably dangerous. And for your sake, you are going to need to get some things under control.

PHILLIP: Yes. I think that's definitely true. I think there's also concern for other people who are on the receiving end of some of this behavior, too, with the weapon, the punching the 17-year-old.

But before you go, I want to get your take on this other story in the sports world.

Texas Tech recently suspended its basketball coach, Mark Adams, for, quote, a "racially insensitive" comment that he made to players.

The team says, quote, "Adams was encouraging the student athlete to be more receptive to coaching and he referenced Bible verses about workers, teachers, parents and slaves serving their masters."

Adams immediately addressed this with the team and apologized.

So what's your take on all of that?

JONES: I did not necessarily think this was something worthy of suspension. I'm also not a Christian, so I don't know how liberally people use that verse.

But it was obvious to me that he was trying to make a point and did it poorly. But if it landed in such a way with his players, where they felt like a message needed to be sent, then they ultimately needed to do something and I guess they had to make that statement.

What I found to be interesting was part of why they did this is it comes after allegedly he has spit on a player. And the coach said he didn't remember it happening but the player remembered being spit on.

If there's something for me personally that I'm coming out saying, oh, we got to do something about that, it's the spitting on people.

This one, I wasn't nearly as sure about it. But I can only assume, under these circumstances, there's some reason in the way he had to deal with his players that necessitates this.

But it's not something that makes me look at the man say, so what are you trying to say? I know exactly what he was going to say. I just think he did it in a really poor fashion.

PHILLIP: I think your point about the spitting is a good one. I mean, I have a lot of questions about that and overall what's going on with his relationship with those players.

Bomani Jones, thanks so much. Always great to have you here.

And we want to note that Bomani's show debuts Fridays on our Discovery cousins, HBO and HBO Max, at 11:00 p.m. Eastern time.

And still to come here on CNN, the long-awaited clap back to the Oscars slap. Chris Rock is finally calling out Will Smith in a rare live Netflix special. But why did he wait a full year to do it?

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[13:53:07]

PHILLIP: Chris Rock claps back. After - a year after Will Smith slapped him in public at the Oscars, Rock has now responded in a live Netflix stream.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: You all know what happened to me. Getting smacked by Shug Smith.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCK: It still hurts.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCK: I got summertime ringing in my ears.

(LAUGHTER) ROCK: I love Will Smith. My whole life I loved (EXPLETIVE DELETED). My whole life I rooted for this (EXPLETIVE DELETED). OK?

Everybody that really knows, knows I had nothing to do with that (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I didn't have any entanglements.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: All right. CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles.

So, Steph, you were at the Oscars when this happened a year ago. And it's clear - I mean, you heard Chris Rock say it, it still hurts. It's clear it still hurts.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's obvious it still hurts. There was an intentionality in his eyes, Abby, as he was making these jokes.

I can tell you, last year, when it happened, at first, we thought it was a bit. But then, way up in the media seats, up in the high, high "you're not famous" area of the arena, we still heard how loud that slap was. That's when we knew it was real.

So it's clear that this has been lingering in Chris Rock's psyche.

He says people always ask him questions about how he responded, why he didn't respond. In fact, take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCK: How come you didn't do nothing back? I got parents.

(APPLAUSE)

ROCK: And you know what my parents taught me? Don't fight in front of white people.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: And that was his very last joke of the night. All of this coming at the very end of his special. The last 10 minutes he reserved talking about Will Smith.

You saw that earlier clip talking about he didn't have any entanglements. That's a reference to Jada Pinkett Smith who announced that she had an entanglement with one of their son's friends and they did a red table talk talking about it, her and Will Smith.

[13:55:04]

So he said that Jada Pinkett Smith hurt Will Smith more than Chris Rock could ever have been hurt by how hard Will Smith slapped him. Obviously, a lot of anger there. He said he's not a victim, however. You'll never see him on Gayle or

Oprah crying. He said he took that hit like Pacquiao.

But obviously, with some of these jokes, it's clear that it was still very much a biting response to what happened a year ago - Abby?

PHILLIP: A year later, it's clearly still very raw there. And obviously, so much anticipation for him to finally address this.

Stephanie Elam, thank you so much.

And that does it for me here on the CNN NEWSROOM.

Don't go anywhere. We've got much more news right after this.

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