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Grass Fires Sweep Through Central Oklahoma; New Orleans Police Department Launches Investigation Into Police Shooting Death; Iraqi Baby Headed to United States For Life-Saving Surgery; Frontier Airlines Flight to make Unscheduled Landing at LAX; Howard Stern Raking in Viewers for Sirius Satellite Radio
Aired December 27, 2005 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Dry land and high winds -- take a look at these live pictures -- a dire and potentially disastrous combination in central Oklahoma, where grass fires are sweeping into residential areas faster than firefighters can block them.
As you know, if you were with us last hour, parts of Oklahoma City, Midwest City and Mustang are shrouded in smoke. And wind advisories are in effect, which is not helping the matter.
CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the big picture in our Weather Center.
How strong are these winds, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The last gust I had was 36 miles per hour.
And what we had earlier -- and this was just literally a half-an- hour ago -- was a lot of gray and a lot of white smoke. That was -- that's the wild land part. That's the grass that's on fire. Now, if you have noticed, the smoke has turned black. Cars are on fire, and homes are on fire as well.
And the radar can actually pick up the smoke particles in the air. Here's Oklahoma City right here, the town of Mustang, to the west of Oklahoma City, southwest of Oklahoma City, and the smoke is being blown all of the way across Moore, Midwest City, and, actually, maybe even turning a little bit on up toward the north. And way up there would be Tulsa. In the middle of the screen is Oklahoma City.
I will take you to a map of Mustang now on our other computer, on our GoogleMaps.com (sic). And behind me here, the map of Mustang, really, you can't tell where you are, but, if you're in the area, it's around Highway 152.
Now I'm going zoom in here, tilt it down just a little bit. The town of Mustang right smack-dab in the middle of the screen, and look at all of the homes. Yes this, is a wild land area, but there are so many new homes being built in this area, a bedroom community of Oklahoma City, and those -- the fire itself is back out here to the west of the town. And the winds are blowing that fire to the east. And it is going to be a dangerous situation for many hours to come -- Betty. NGUYEN: And, as we talk about these winds blowing in the area, we also spoke with a person with the Oklahoma City Fire Department earlier, who mentioned that it has been really dry in the area. What has the rainfall been like there? Have they had any?
MYERS: Well, they haven't really had any. There's a storm coming in today. And that's what's kicking up the wind.
But, just in general, there are the -- the summer-type grasses that you get in this area. They don't do well. Like, a Kentucky bluegrass doesn't do very well there, so they have a lot of summer- type grasses that actually turn brown in the winter. And that's the fuel to the fire.
And -- and a lot of folks actually will do controlled burns on their property to get rid of some of this, but you don't do a controlled burn when the wind is 36 miles per hour. This was clearly some type of accidental starting. And I was listening to the helicopter from -- pilot -- from KWTV. He was saying that it looked like, where the storm started, there was a high-tension power line in that area.
And, sometimes, with those winds, you can get some sparking, what -- the winds are blowing those power lines around. Now, that -- there are so many other causes of wild land fires, that I don't want to put it on that. But that was one of -- and you can see the power lines going right across the screen there.
That was one of his thoughts, that, possibly, something sparked off one of those high-tension lines.
NGUYEN: Well, whatever started it, it's caused a major grass fire that, as you said, moved into residential areas.
We have seen many pictures of homes just up in smoke. You can see the fire coming out of them. Crews are really just doing the best they can to get control of this. And, as we talked to that major with the fire department there, Chad, he said, the best thing to do is, if you see it coming your way or if you're afraid that it's in the area, just go ahead and put water on the yard. Just -- just wet it.
MYERS: Yes. You know what? There are -- it's hard to say right now, but there are at least a dozen homes engulfed and fully involved in this fire.
And there's just -- there are not a dozen crews out there to stop these fires. And this is going to be -- this is an ongoing story for a lot of the day. This wind is not going to slow down. In fact, this wind may pick up with the approach of the storm.
Some of the winds that I was looking at out toward Woodward and out toward the Panhandle of Oklahoma are gusting over 45 miles per hour. So, as those winds move into Oklahoma City and Mustang, this is going to get dangerous for people downwind as well.
NGUYEN: Any rain expected soon? MYERS: There are a couple of showers up there, right around Enid, but nothing -- nothing that is going to be in Oklahoma City, and nothing, anyway, that would be strong enough, heavy enough, to put out this type of fire, no.
NGUYEN: All right, Chad Myers, thank you for that.
Of course, we are going to stay on top of this fire for you, and bring you the latest information, but, as you can see, homes are on fire. This grass fire is still raging through many cities in Oklahoma, Mustang in particular, and residents are trying the best they can, as well as firefighters, to prevent more homes from catching ablaze. Stay with us. We will have much more on that.
In other news, New Orleans Police launch an internal investigation after a deadly confrontation. It involved the man you see here waving a knife around, surrounded by a dozen officers. Police say he refused to drop the knife and pepper spray appeared to have no effect on him. According to police, he was shot after he lunged at an officer.
Earlier on LIVE FROM, the videographer who captured this drama on tape talked about the incident.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIN PERCY, VIDEO JOURNALIST: What you can't see in the video is that there were citizens on the sidewalk. And as this confrontation came to an end, from where the suspect was down on the ground, it was apparent that he was moving from the street towards the sidewalk.
What I've heard and what's been reported from the New Orleans police is that this individual lunged at the officers, which certainly doesn't surprise me. He was very erratic. You can see in the video he's flailing his arms...
NGUYEN: Waving his arms. Yes, let me ask you this. We can't hear this, but looking at the video, what was the conversation between the man and officers? What was being exchanged there? What were they saying?
PERCY: Well, I'm at the same disadvantage as you are, not hearing the audio, because the building has double-pane windows. The only things I were able to hear is when the cops got extremely loud and were very insistent that this man drop the weapon and get on the ground.
This, I heard numerous times. And in the video, you can actually see most of these police officers mouthing what appears to be, "Drop the knife," "Get on the ground."
The suspect's back was to me. And I know that, at one point, he turned, and I could see he was talking. What he was saying, I don't know. But it wasn't until I actually was heading down once they went out of my view -- I wanted to go down to the street to continue shooting -- that I was running up the driveway with the camera when I heard the shots.
So, I got out on Saint Charles Avenue, probably less than 10 seconds after the shooting. And, as you can imagine, that's when it got extremely loud. More police officers showed up, EMS unit, standard procedure for police, roping off the area, setting up a perimeter, as I don't believe at the time, they knew whether this individual was alone or not. It turns out he was.
NGUYEN: Well, and you also mentioned witnesses were around. Some witnesses have been saying that this man was well known in the neighborhood and he was known to have had mental problems.
You're from that area. Had you seen this man before? What do you know about these mental problems that witnesses say?
PERCY: I've been in the city since about mid-September and have seen some of the people come back. And I honestly don't know if I had seen this individual before. It's possible I may have. I'm always out in front of the building.
As far as the mental problems, I don't know. I know that, when -- when the police are in a situation like this, they don't have time to determine what someone's mental state is. Just from -- when I saw, the police were doing what they had to do, and that this man was a threat.
I mean, it's very sad that it had to happen this way. But I just -- I don't see how it could have been handled any other way if this individual indeed lunged at the officers.
NGUYEN: We're going to leave it there. Phin Percy, video journalist, we thank you for your time and your insight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: A South Florida judge denies bail for a man wanted in a string of notorious rapes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE GERALD KLEIN, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURT: The opinion of the court, that you're a danger to the community, and I am setting your bond status as no bond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Reynaldo Rapalo was recaptured last night in Miami, nearly a week after escaping from a Miami jail.
Officers, following a tip, found Rapalo in front of a video store. After a short chase, he was arrested. Reynaldo is accused of sexually assaulting seven women and girls, aged 11 to 79, in a crime spree that terrified two Miami neighborhoods for months.
Anger and anguish in Toronto, after a day of holiday shopping turns deadly -- gunshots rang out on a street full of holiday shoppers yesterday. A young woman was killed and six other people wounded.
We get the details from CTV reporter Desmond Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DESMOND BROWN, CTV REPORTER: I'm on Young Street (ph), near Dunbass (ph). And this is one of the busiest intersections in Canada.
Now, yesterday afternoon, at about 5:30, hundreds of Boxing Day shoppers were scrambling for cover after two groups of young men opened fire on each other. When it was over, seven people were shot, all innocent bystanders. A 15-year-old girl is dead after being shot in the face.
Another man is in critical condition. And an off-duty police officer was also shot. And he is listed in good condition. Now, about 15 minutes after the shooting, two young men were arrested at a subway station not far from here. Police did recover a gun, but they still haven't charged them with yesterday's incident.
And the police aren't saying whether this was connected or not.
Reporting from Toronto for CNN, I'm Desmond Brown.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: They say there are eight million stories in the Naked City, but this is one of the strangest got come out of New York. Take a listen to this.
Manhattan police were called to a building on the Upper East Side to investigate reports of a bad odor. In one of the apartments, they found a 67-year-old woman in an apparent state of confusion. They also found a suitcase containing the body of the woman's husband. Investigators are awaiting autopsy results to determine how the 85- year-old man died.
Officials are not releasing information on the man's wife, and no criminal charges have been sought.
When LIVE FROM returns, the latest on baby Noor, a child who needs to come to the U.S. for medical care. She is on her way. And we are going to talk to a soldier involved in her care. That's next.
The news keeps coming. And we are going to keep bringing it to you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: As we have been telling you, baby Noor is headed to the U.S. The Iraqi baby girl has severe spina bifida and is coming to have life-saving surgery that doctors in Iraq can not provide.
Just a short while ago, I spoke with Sergeant Michael Sonen from the 121st Infantry, Georgia National Guard. He is part of the group of American soldiers that have taken such a personal interest in this tiny child.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERGEANT MICHAEL SONEN, 121ST INFANTRY, GEORGIA NATIONAL GUARD: Good afternoon.
Yes, we're conducting an operation in west Baghdad. And during a operation, we normally conduct a survey of water, sewage, electricity and normally medical issues. And baby Noor was brought to us. And PFC Donnelly (ph) of Triple Deuce, 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain, made the initial assessment and took pictures.
And we pushed the -- the pictures up our chain of command. And 10th Mountain has been very supportive in our desire in to try to help this baby.
NGUYEN: Sergeant, unfortunately, you can't help every single child that you come across, but this one in particular really struck your heartstrings. Why was that?
SONEN: Well.
This child would not live without an operation to correct this particular medical issue. And we as a group, collectively, decided, this is going to be our project. And, if this is the only contribution that we have to -- to defeating the war on terrorism, this is going to be it.
NGUYEN: What do you know, specifically, about her condition and how much of a race against time this could be?
SONEN: Yes, ma'am.
Right now, she has -- it's called spinal bifiditis (sic), I do believe. And, right now, she can no longer feel the bottom of her feet. And if we wait any longer, there could be some mental retardation and a couple other mental issues. So, we -- we must get her to a facility back in the United States to correct this particular medical problem.
NGUYEN: It's a birth defect, spina bifida. And a lot of doctors, I was reading, didn't think that she would last this long, but she has, and, thanks to your efforts, trying to get her to the U.S. What is going on in that process right now?
SONEN: Well, right now, what we have done is, basically, made some contacts back in the United States, some hospital personnel.
And the senator from Georgia, Senator Chambliss, Saxby, has tried to forward the visas over here to the United States to get this family over there. And there's been -- I do believe it's the Marriott Hotel that has contributed a room and facilities for them to stay.
And, then, I'm not sure which medical facility is going to take on the job. But we hope some medical facility in Atlanta will -- will do so. NGUYEN: I'm reading now that it's the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta that stepped forward. And a neurosurgeon there, Dr. Roger Hudgins, has agreed to do the surgery, at no cost to the family.
So, a lot of hands working together to make this happen, but the biggest concern right now is getting the child to the U.S. and to Atlanta, specifically. How long is that going take? Do you even know that the point?
SONEN: Well, ma'am, we brought the child and the father and the grandmother to the -- to our location tonight. And, as soon as they approve the visa and whatever bureaucratic things that need to be done, we will get them on a plane and ship them over as soon as we possibly can, hopefully.
NGUYEN: The child is at a base, a U.S. base, there in Iraq, we understand. How difficult was it to get her there, as the first leg of this journey?
SONEN: Well, ma'am, due to the support of 10th Mountain and 1st Brigade, it was no problem at all. You know, we pushed it up and down the chain of command. They're very supportive, and they made it happen for us. So, it was not a big deal at all.
NGUYEN: Have you gotten a chance to spend any time with her family? They obviously are very hopeful and thankful on top of that that all of you have come together in -- in support of this child.
SONEN: Well, we have had some time to spend with the family.
And they're very, very appreciative of the opportunity that they have to try to save the life of their daughter. And it -- it does great things for us as soldiers and as -- as Americans. I mean this, is what we do best. Americans are there to lend a helping hand. And -- and here we are.
NGUYEN: Are you...
SONEN: And we're grateful for it.
NGUYEN: I was going to ask you, are you a father yourself? Even if you're not, this has got to make you feel pretty good.
SONEN: Yes, ma'am.
I -- I have a daughter myself. And -- and, you know, what is the difference between this child and -- and my daughter? There is none. I mean, this is why we're here. I mean, we're here to help these people, bring them out of many years of repression, and -- and bring them up to standards, and give them a basic chance in supporting their families and bring them up and give them the things that they need and desire. That's all.
NGUYEN: And this is a precious little child. We're still looking at video coming in, exclusive video to CNN, that we have just gotten. Obviously, the -- the company has come together. Your biggest concern and your biggest hope right now?
SONEN: Well, it's just getting baby Noor on a plane and to the United States to get her taken care of. That -- that's our biggest and foremost priority. And, like I said, if we have -- this is all we do while we're here, we have accomplished our mission.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And, hopefully, she gets here very, very soon.
We have got an interesting story to tell you about. In fact, it's a developing story right now out of California.
There is a Frontier Airlines Airbus plane that was flying with its cargo door open. And that plane left from John Wayne Airport, which is in Orange County, California, headed to Denver. But now, because of that cargo door being open, it is being diverted to LAX.
And We have the video right now of KABC crews and their helicopter headed to LAX, as this Frontier Airlines plane comes to the ground there -- again, just really an interesting situation. We understand, at this point, it doesn't appear that the passengers on that plane are in any immediate danger. But the fact that it's flying with a cargo door open is of concern to those on the plane and those on the ground. It's headed to LAX, as we understand, at this point.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve has been working the story.
And, Jeanne, do you know any more about what is happening right now?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, very little.
I have spoken to a spokesperson for the FAA who tells me that this is Frontier Flight 263. It's an Airbus. It took off from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. It was headed for Denver when an aft cargo door indicator light came on, according to the FAA. The plane has been circling, burning off fuel, and is expected to land shortly, if it hasn't already hit John Wayne.
I just spoke to the airport. They're swamped at the moment, couldn't give me any specific information about the state of play at this particular moment. The FAA had no information for me on the number of people who might be on board here, but they said it was simply an indicator light that had come on. As far as they knew, no one had a visual sighting to say whether that door was opened, or if it just wasn't latched properly.
NGUYEN: Jeanne, I'm no expert when it comes on to planes. Is this going to be a concern when it comes to a land, when it begins that landing, and does hit the ground with this door open?
MESERVE: Well, we don't know for sure that it is open or whether it's just a matter of the latching mechanism not catching properly.
I can't confess to you that I'm enough of an expert myself to tell you myself how much of a threat it is, but it would not appear to be anything nearly as significant as what we have seen in recent weeks, where a number of planes have had problems with their landing gears as they have come down.
NGUYEN: And you're not hearing a sense of urgency about there being a major concern for the passengers on board at this point?
MESERVE: No. That did not appear to be the case in the very preliminary conversations I have had thus far.
NGUYEN: So, this could be a situation where maybe the -- the door isn't even open at all, but that light is on. It could be some kind of a malfunction or something, but, of course, it is a major concern, because you don't want to be flying in the air with a cargo door open.
MESERVE: Well, that's exactly why they didn't continue on their way to Denver and why they're burning off the fuel before they put the plane down.
NGUYEN: All right, but it's not coming back to the John Wayne Airport, instead to LAX. Do you what...
(CROSSTALK)
MESERVE: The information -- the information I had was that it was going to John Wayne. You may have heard from other sources that it's going to LAX.
NGUYEN: Yes. That's what we're hearing here. And that is why I was going to ask, do you know why LAX over John Wayne? But, apparently, we are going to try to have to make some phone calls and find out why the discrepancy there.
But what we're hearing here in Atlanta from all of our producers and people working the phone is that this Frontier Airlines Flight 263 is headed to LAX. So, we're going stay on top of this and bring you the latest.
Jeanne, thanks for your information today.
And we are going to take a quick break right here on LIVE FROM. We will come back with much more.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: I want to give you an update now on a couple of developing stories that we're working on, first, that Frontier Airlines Airbus plane Flight 263.
We understand -- there's a picture of a plane very similar -- similar to the one that we have been following. What we know so far is that an indicator light is on showing that a cargo door is open on that Flight 263. Now, whether the door is indeed open or not, that's something that they have got to determine once the plane lands.
This plane was leaving John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, headed to Denver. Now, because of that indicator light and the caution that's being taken right now, that plane is being diverted to LAX, where we are seeing -- sending crews.
And KCAL, our affiliate there, is also headed that way, you can see in this live picture from their helicopter, to determine if there is any major emergency involved here, if indeed that cargo door was open. So, we are going to stay on top of that and let you know. But, at this point, it doesn't appear the passengers or crew are any -- are in any imminent danger.
Also following the pictures that you first saw moments ago right there of crews on the scene in Oklahoma, Mustang, Oklahoma, to be exact. There's a grass fire that really is burning out of control in many areas. Several residential homes are on fire. Flames are just filling the airways there. And fire crews are there, trying to get a handle on it.
But look at this picture there. You can see a residential neighborhood, several homes on fire. The smoke is just billowing into the air. Fire crews are assisting from many cities surrounding Mustang. And we are going to stay on top of that, because winds are a major concern. It's blowing those flames and sparks to other areas.
Now, who's more likely to have their check direct-deposited into their bank account, working baby boomers or older retirees?
CNN's Ali Velshi has the answer.
And, Ali, this surprises me. So, did it surprise you?
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: It's a true puzzlement here.
The -- the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve have been on this kick to try and get federal benefit checks deposited directly into people's accounts. Why do they care? Well, they care because, when checks go lost, they have to deal with it. People call them. And it's this whole rigmarole. So, they have been pushing this thing.
They did a survey of the people who get benefits checks. And here's what their survey shows, that seniors -- and I'm just going remind people, 65-plus -- 72 percent of them use direct deposit for any checks they get from the government. Baby boomers, 45 to 64, use -- fewer of them use direct deposit, 59 percent.
Now, that just strikes me as odd. It strikes the government as odd, too, in their press release, that the younger folks are not using direct deposit. I -- for most things, a lot of people use direct deposit, like their salaries. I didn't even know that I had an option. I don't know that I do have an option.
My -- my salary goes right into my bank account. And -- and most of us make our payments right out of our bank account. Some people still like the idea of checks that come back to you. And, even when you make automated payments, Betty, in many cases -- in my case, I make -- if I make an automated payment out of my bank account, my bank has a paper copy of that that they can send me for record-keeping. But I was really surprised to see this.
NGUYEN: Why do you think baby boomers aren't taking this -- really, it's a convenience. Why aren't they taking it up?
VELSHI: I -- you know, I -- I don't know.
And -- and the Treasury Department doesn't seem to have an answer. What they did find out is, when they asked people why they weren't using it, there were -- there were three major reasons.
And let me show you how this breaks down. Twenty-one percent don't like to go to a financial -- they like to go to a financial institution. I -- I don't understand who these 21 percent are. I would like to meet them.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Nineteen percent don't trust direct deposit. And that one's a little more understandable, with technology.
NGUYEN: Yes.
VELSHI: Although I don't understand why more baby boomers distrust it than seniors.
And 18 percent like receiving a paper check. Those last two answers seem a little bit -- if you were to generalize it -- and I don't mean to -- but they -- they seem like more old-fashioned answers. So, you would expect -- you still -- it doesn't explain why baby boomers, vs. senior citizens, aren't taking to this.
But the government encourages people to do this, because fewer lost checks. And, if you have to mail out checks, with postage increases, as -- as they happen every few years, that just -- that's -- that's money that has to be borne by the taxpayers. So, they sort of feel that people should take this all up, so as not to increase the cost of issuing checks.
But I -- you know, people should just generally try and automate their banking as much as possible, while keeping their information safe.
One last thing, Betty, it doesn't help that we continue to report on credit and information being stolen or lost or hacked. I think a lot of people still feel that having that paper in their hands maybe is more secure. I don't know. NGUYEN: I don't know. I used direct deposit, it hasn't been a problem as of yet, knock on wood.
VELSHI: Exactly.
NGUYEN: OK, Ali, thank you for that.
VELSHI: See you in awhile.
NGUYEN: Sure. See you soon.
We are getting word right now that that Frontier Airlines Airbus plane flight 263, which has an indicator light showing that a cargo door is open. We have word that it will be landing at LAX in about 10 minutes from now.
So we're going stay on top of that. Here's a picture of what the Frontier Airlines Airbus plane looks like. Now it's not known if this cargo door is actually opened. All we know is that an indicator light is on showing that it is.
That's something that they're going have to determine once that plane lands at LAX. So we're going to stay on top of that. It's going to happen in about 10 minutes from now. We'll bring that to you. Stay with us. More on CNN's LIVE FROM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Still staying on the Frontier Airlines plane where the indicator light shows a cargo door is open. That plane left from John Wayne Airport this afternoon in Orange County, California, to Denver. But because of that indicator light, it's headed back now to LAX Airport.
And you're looking at pictures right now from the KABC helicopter which is headed to the airport as we watch this plane come in. I want to bring in CNN's Chad Myers because you've been watching the flight tracker on this. What have you noticed thus far?
MYERS (on phone): We have the flight tracker fired up on this storm -- on this plane and it did come out of SNA, which is Orange County John Wayne Airport. And right now I have it tracking very close to Catalina Island out here, still well out away from LAX.
There's the plane right there at about 700 feet, doing 210 miles- per-hour. It was planned to land in Denver there -- the small numbers on your screen -- but at 21:19 for official time.
That plane is still though -- if you can see the straight line, flying to the southwest, not toward LAX yet. So it may be more than 10 minutes before we get this information and this plane on the ground. Now remember, since it's been 9/11 that there's a little bit of a delay from the FAA. This is not exactly real-time. We don't know anywhere from about a minute to two minutes behind, but it's pretty close to that location. NGUYEN: And we were hearing a little bit earlier from Jeanne Meserve that this plane may be -- which is why we're not seeing it go straight to LAX -- they're trying to burn off some fuel.
MYERS: Well, because it had so much fuel in its cargo -- in the fuel tanks -- because it knew that it was going Denver, so it had to have a lot of fuel to get there. You don't want to land that plane with all of that weight on the wheels, because it wasn't planning on landing with that much weight on the wheels.
And so you have to get rid of some of that. Probably that's why they're over the water. They could be getting rid of some of that fuel right now over the water and as they land back in, they want that plane lighter so that it's not so stressful on the landing gear. Not that -- there is nothing wrong with the landing gear on this plane, but you don't want to land 10,000 pounds heavier than you have to.
NGUYEN: Well how big of a problem, if indeed this cargo door is open as the indicator light shows, how big of a problem is that going to be for landing? Do you know?
MYERS: I really don't think it's a problem at all. It's just a problem of getting to altitude and that's a semi-pressurized area of the plane. And well, if the door's open, that doesn't work, does it?
NGUYEN: All right, Chad. We're awaiting momentarily to speak with Joe Hodas, spokesman from Frontier Airlines. What's the weather like in that area right now? Is it pretty clear for landing?
MYERS: Good question. Let me walk right over here to my other computer. LAX has excellent visibility, at about 25 miles, scattered clouds at 14,000 feet. Some scattered clouds estimated at about 18,000 feet, otherwise broken and very little wind. It's out of the southwest at six knots, about seven miles-per-hour. Temperature is 61. Pretty good. I mean, that's good weather for LAX.
NGUYEN: All right. Stand by Chad, we're going to speak now with Joe Hodas, a spokesman for Frontier Airlines, who joins us on the phone as we look at live pictures of emergency crews on the ground. Mr. Hodas, talk to us about the situation with the indicator light. What do you know?
JOE HODAS, SPOKESMAN, FRONTIER AIRLINES (on phone): Sure. Essentially -- first of all, I really want to clarify at front, this is not an emergency situation. It was a cargo door indicator light that was flashing intermittently, which essentially means that there could be a number of issues. It could be a faulty switch, a number of things.
But ultimately, if the cargo door was indeed open to any extent, the cabin wouldn't be pressurizing appropriately. So we'd certainly know if there was an issue. So ultimately we've decided to go to LAX, just to land, to check it out, as we would any sort of normal maintenance issue and make sure that everything's OK.
NGUYEN: How long was it in the air before you noticed this indicator light was on?
HODAS: You know, I don't have specifics on that. The flight took off at 10:50 local time. So my estimation is it is not very long, it was probably about 20 minutes.
NGUYEN: And again, just to reiterate, which we have been doing -- that just because the indicator light is on, showing that the cargo door is open, doesn't necessarily mean that that cargo door is open and things could fall out of it and it could cause depressurization in the cabin.
HODAS: That is absolutely correct. In fact, as I was saying, the No. 1 indicator of any issue would be, is the cabin pressurization off? Which it's not, so, this is not an open cargo door.
NGUYEN: What's the plane doing right now? Is it burning off fuel?
HODAS: It's burning off fuel, that's correct. You know, there are certain weight requirements and restrictions for aircraft when they're landing, so because this plane had not only all the fuel to get to Denver, but in addition we were tankering fuel back from L.A., because of the cheaper fuel costs there.
We do have additional fuel on the aircraft, so it makes the plane a little bit heavier. So we're trying to burn some of that off, before we make our landing.
NGUYEN: How long do you think that's going to take? Because we heard, oh about 10 minutes ago, that it was expected to land right about now. Are you just trying to burn as much as possible and could that take quite a while?
HODAS: No, we're expecting it actually within the next 5-to-10 minutes, is what I understand.
NGUYEN: All right. How many passengers are on this plane?
HODAS: It's an Airbus A318, it holds 114 passengers. My understanding is that it's a pretty full flight and then we have five crew members.
NGUYEN: And if indeed cargo door is open, as the indicator light shows, is that going to be a problem with landing?
HODAS: No, no. It's not a problem. In fact, as I said, if there was any sort of real issue with the cargo door, there would be other indicators that would let us know that there was a problem. So we're not anticipating any issues in the landing.
NGUYEN: Kind of more of an inconvenience for these passengers.
HODAS: Unfortunately for today, yes. But as is always, our sort of mission, we want to make sure that we're as safe as possible. So, again, this checkout now is really what we thought was the best idea.
NGUYEN: Yes. I think they'd be appreciative of you putting safety first.
HODAS: Exactly.
NGUYEN: Well, Joe Hodas, spokesman for Frontier Airlines, we appreciate your information. We're going to be watching and of course, crews on the ground there at LAX are watching as well, hoping that this plane comes in safely and this indicator light is a false alarm.
We're going go now to CNN's Jeanne Meserve, who joins us with a little bit more information on the situation at hand.
Jeanne, what do you know?
MESERVE: Betty, you asked me earlier why they were going to LAX. I think the obvious is -- the answer is obvious when you look at this picture. LAX is a lot bigger. John Wayne Airport, the airport from which this flight took off is small, only has one runway.
LAX is one of the hugest airports and has a total of four runways and a very extensive fire and rescue capability. So in the interest of maximum safety, they'd want to put it down in that larger location that gives them a lot more flexibility in terms of approaches and what not.
Otherwise, I'm getting the same information, of course, that you just got from the airline. This was a case where the aft cargo door indicator light came on some time after this plane's take-off from John Wayne. They are burning off and possible dumping some fuel before they come in for a landing at LAX. But nobody with whom I've spoken feels that this is an urgent situation. This is precautionary. They want to come down and figure out exactly why that indicator light is on -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Jeanne, I asked a little bit earlier how long had this light been on before they recognized the problem? He didn't have an answer for that, but do you know, in your questioning to the people on the phone and your sources, how far this plane traveled before it started to turn around?
MESERVE: No, I really don't. I was told it was shortly after take-off. That would be in line with what the Frontier spokesman told you, but I don't have an exact time, no. But obviously it could not have been very far into the flight because their option was to come back to the L.A. area, as opposed to carrying on to Denver.
NGUYEN: And we're watching now as planes land at LAX. You're watching an Air Canada plane right there make a landing. And we're waiting -- this is normal procedure, Jeanne, for planes to circle around, burn fuel, especially if there's some concern with landing?
MESERVE: Absolutely. I mean, obviously, fuel is exactly that. It can fire -- it can fuel a fire, as well as power an aircraft. So you want to have as little onboard as possible when you're coming in. So this would be very much standard operating procedure to try and lessen that load before you come down. NGUYEN: Jeanne, I'm going to ask you to stand by. We're going to bring Chad Myers back in. Because he's been following the flight tracker to see exactly where Flight 263, this Frontier Airlines plane, is at the moment.
MYERS: Still at 700 feet. Obviously, it didn't go up very far. And if the light came on, it wouldn't want to go to a higher altitude because if that door was open, you would not get the pressurization. But I'm still seeing the plane very close to John Wayne, all the way down here into Orange County on flight tracker.
The plane here, now just making a little bit of a left-hand turn, getting -- going to parallel the coast, going to fly over Long Beach and then on its way back into the LAX pattern. The pattern would be from east to west, so the plane will have to fly maybe almost to riverside, make the left hand turn, and then land at LAX. We'll keep a watch up here in the weather office.
NGUYEN: Yes, but Chad, as Jeanne was saying, I mean -- and what we're looking at shows it would be a lot quicker just to go ahead and land at John Wayne, but...
MYERS: It's right there.
NGUYEN: ... all the safety factors are on the ground at LAX.
MYERS: Well, they just have so much more equipment up there. They're so much more involved in a rescue up there. You can't compare the two airports. That's why they're going out there. Even though as the guy from Frontier said, this is not an emergency situation -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And that's something we do want to stress. An indicator light is on, showing that the cargo door is open. But as we spoke with the person, Joe Hodas, a spokesperson with Frontier Airlines, doesn't mean that door is indeed, open. Because if it was, there would be depressurization in the cabin and we'd see a number of other problems at the moment.
We have General Shepherd on the phone to talk about the situation with this airline as it comes to land at LAX. We're going to pause for a moment, take a quick break and come right back with more on this Frontier Airlines Flight 263, headed to LAX and hopefully for a smooth landing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: We're continuing to follow Frontier Airlines Flight 263, which is headed to LAX after being diverted from its original destination, Denver, because an indicator light shows a cargo door is open.
Now, we spoke with the Frontier Airlines spokesperson who says that it doesn't necessarily mean that cargo door is open. This could be a malfunction. And if it was, indeed, open, there would be a number of other problems, including depressurization. So he stresses that this is not an emergency situation. But we are still following it and hoping to see this plane land safely at LAX.
CNN's Chad Myers has been following the flight tracker and he joins us now to talk about exactly where Flight 263 is.
MYERS: Well, actually not that far from the Long Beach Airport. Here is the coast of California, all the way down through here. There's Long Beach, there's Santa Ana or Orange County, John Wayne Airport. The plane is traveling to the north. That's what that line means. And it's going to make a big left hand turn and hit the LAX Airport from the east into the west.
Here are other planes that are in parallel lines, heading into L.A. at this point. So because the winds are coming in from the ocean, it's landing into the wind -- that's normal operation procedure there -- just because that -- it lowers your ground speed a little bit as you're landing, rather than with a tailwind. There's the plane there, heading to the north right now. It will make the left hand turn and we'll follow it in. It's about eight miles out right now.
NGUYEN: And the weather there again at LAX...
MYERS: Perfect. Not a marine layer. Basically, even with the west wind -- sometimes you can get that -- temperature 61, winds are six miles per hour. No problems so far.
NGUYEN: Emergency crews are on the ground just in case.
MYERS: Oh, yes. Lots of them.
NGUYEN: Yes, I mean, you got to be safe here and put safety first and make sure that everyone onboard -- this plane can he would up to 114 passengers, we're being told by Frontier Airlines. And looking at it right now, I -- well, we're not sure if this, indeed, is that plane in particular, Flight 263.
We do have, though, General Don Shepperd on the phone -- he is retired Air Force, also used to fly for TWA -- to talk about the situation.
How big of a deal is this cargo door indicator?
GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Hopefully it's not a big deal, Betty, but you have to take it seriously. There are sensors on the cargo doors and it's probably a malfunction of one of the sensors, but you have to assume that if it comes on, that there's a possibility the door could open.
If the door opens, you're worried about the door tearing off and hitting another part of the airplane, causing you a bigger problem or also falling off, hitting someone on the ground, as well as stuff from the cargo compartment coming out. S you have to take it seriously. And as Chad said, with the good weather out there, you just go to your -- to a good airport, land into the wind, and hopefully everything's going to turn out all right here.
NGUYEN: Well, this Frontier flight right here is about to land. It looks like, as it touches down, that it's going to be a good landing. Not exactly sure if this is the right plane or not. Chad's been following it. Is this 263, Chad.
MYERS: I sure think so. Our machines, because of 9/11 scare, we are a few minutes behind and it shows it two miles out, so that would be a two-minute delay. So I think this is the plane. There are no other Frontier planes in the area scheduled to land. A couple of Southwest planes. A couple of other little planes coming in. A little EC plane. No, that's the plane that's on the ground.
NGUYEN: All right. There you go. Frontier Airlines flight 263 as we've been able to determine by the flight tracker and what we're seeing right now has landed and landed safely. General Shepherd, I know you're on the phone with us. If that cargo door was open we would have seen it by now, right?
SHEPPERD: And the pilot would know if it was open. It would definitely affect the flying characteristics if the door swung open and of course if it tears off and hits another part of the airplane, he would probably feel that, too.
The problem is that the pilot can't see, more than likely, depending on where the door is, can't see the door itself to determine if it's open, but he would certainly feel it, Betty.
You want to slow the airplane down and make sure if you have any opportunity to avoid turbulence that you do that so you don't jar it open. So the pilots have trained in this type of thing and it's part of the consideration, and they're emergency training and it looks like again that the air system operated as it should and the airplane landed safely.
NGUYEN: Just another indication that sometimes these little buttons and they are many on planes, they light up and it doesn't always mean the problem is what it is signifying. These things happen all of the time, don't they, General?
SHEPHERD: They happen numerous times every day, things for the most part we don't hear about. The crews are trained and they go through training in simulators as well, of course, and their regular flying. They're trained not to jump to conclusions, but to slow down, get professional advice.
If it's a serious emergency, they get their company on the phone. The company itself will get a hold of the manufacturer and engineers and get all of the help in the world. So we're well protected in the air transportation system of the United States.
NGUYEN: General, we have confirmed that this indeed as we suspected and been talking about is flight 263. The Frontier Airlines Airbus plane that had the cargo door indicator light that was turned on.
We understand it can hold up to 114 passengers. Do you know, General, how big of a plane this is indeed? SHEPHERD: I've not flown that airplane, but it's a 727-size airplane. The smaller airliners. It's not a transatlantic. It's used for short hops, if you will. Again, one of those things they mentioned there is that a cargo door sometimes can cause depressurization if the door itself does open.
I don't know this particular airplane and how it's designed but that's a concern also. That's when the masks fall out and everybody has to get on oxygen at high altitudes.
NGUYEN: Well, it has landed safely and we've been following it for the past 30 minutes or so. General, we appreciate your time. Just to recap to those of you why we're showing the shot of the plane that landed safely.
That's because Frontier Airlines flight 263 had an indicator light showing the cargo door was open. As we spoke to the airline spokesperson, that person Joe Hodas told us it could be the case and it could not. It appears that all is well.
That plane has landed and landed safely. Crews are on the scene just in case but it doesn't appear that like they'll be needed. So, a good ending to this story. We're going to take a short break. There's more CNN LIVE FROM coming up right after this.
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NGUYEN: This just in to CNN, take a look at this. We have fires going on. No, this is not Oklahoma this is in Texas, Arlington, Texas, to be exact. We understand a grass fire is burning in many areas and homes just like what we showed you earlier in Oklahoma are in harm's way.
Homes are catching fire and the grass fire is spreading. Look at all that smoke. Almost identical to what we saw earlier in Mustang, Oklahoma. There is one homeowner there in Arlington trying to put out the flames himself in his front yard.
We're going to stay on top of the grass fires both in Texas and Oklahoma and bring you the latest as soon as we know it.
Well, it looks like Howard Stern is bringing in big bucks for Sirius Satellite Radio. CNN's Ali Velshi is in New York with more. Ali, people are really signing up for Sirius like it's the next best thing.
VELSHI: You know, Sirius had to catch up to its opponent XM Satellite and it did so. It was gradually doing so, but in the last quarter of this year Sirius Satellite, which had $2.2 million subscribers going into the last three months of the year, just announced that it's got 3 million. That was the number it wanted, it said it was going get to.
Let me tell you how this works out. That's 830,000 subscribers just in the last three months, 13 bucks a month, that's roughly your subscription. That's $130 million a year. Stern's there for five years. That's his first contract. That's $650 million.
Stern's five-year deal is worth $500 million. Not a perfect comparison because that's revenue, not all the expenses and profit, but does seem that Howard Stern moving over to Sirius has given Sirius quite a boost.
He had 12 million viewers, listeners, every day. So if they've got a million of them they've done pretty well. So Sirius just doing well. Keep in mind that it's a major rival XM Satellite has more than 5 million listeners. One hundred and twenty channels apiece. People are liking it. Do you use it, Betty? Do you listen to satellite radio?
NGUYEN: Haven't caught on to that. I don't even have an iPod. I don't have any of that stuff. I'm lame. You should have known that.
VELSHI: Are we off the air yet?
Betty, I wanted to give you another piece of information. We just keep on getting estimates in after the hurricanes, after Dennis, Katrina and Rita came in. One of the most recent estimates we got today on the insured damage to those from those three hurricanes.
About $58 billion in insured damage. That makes it the largest insurable series of events in the United States. The largest disaster for which there was insurance. I just wanted to keep you posted on all of that.
NGUYEN: My oh my, but you almost expected that.
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