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CNN Live Today
Scaffolding Accident Traps Workers on Eighth Floor of Building in Los Angeles; GlobalFlyer; Judge's Family Murdered
Aired March 03, 2005 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You heard the helicopter reporter there from KTTV, one of our local affiliates in Los Angeles, talking about what the options that they have here to try to rescue these two men that are window washers. They were working on the outside of this building.
Not sure how tall the building is, but we do know that they're eight floors up. And the scaffolding gave way. So they are literally hanging for their lives right now.
They tried the idea of breaking the window, and it doesn't look like they're going to go with that. But you heard that helicopter reporter talking about the option of using a separate rope in some way, either to try to lower them eight floors down, or to try to bring them up to the roof of the building.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I worked a story like this once in south Florida. And we had a very similar situation.
And one of the things that's real tricky, you see right there where the latch is above the gentleman on the left as you look at your screen? You see where the rope comes down and there seems to be a latch where that...
KAGAN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Well, that needs to remain taut, because that tautness, for lack of a better word, is what remains him by his own weight hanging there. If for some reason they were to try to lift him and you lose some of that, then you can create a situation where you lose some of the -- some of the -- some of the actual pull and some of the tightness around that knot area. So I'm sure that's just one of the things that's being considered by the firefighters as they try to figure out how they're going to go about getting these two guys inside that window without doing any further harm.
KAGAN: Yes. While you're talking, listening into what the local reporters are saying there on the scene. And that is the LA City Fire Department that's on the scene there, and they are -- at least four firefighters inside the building, trying to do that, and yet it doesn't seem like there's a lot of communication between the firefighters in the building talking to the men who are hanging by the cable on the outside.
SANCHEZ: Well, and the one thing that is curious, you remember, you and I, just before we went on the air, while we were still in the commercial, we saw that one gentleman right there in the white on the right, he was actually on the ledge. And now he seems to have walked away. And maybe it's because they need to clear the glass. It's hard to tell from here whether there's still glass on there or not.
KAGAN: Can you see the firefighter's foot peeking out?
SANCHEZ: So what is that that's on the window? Did they already break the glass or is it only partially broken? They're waiting to remove all of it until they can get him in? Because he literally is just a step away.
KAGAN: Well, look, there's some of the glass. One of the problems is you don't want that flying glass then to hit the men and to cut them. So it looks like they're doing that very carefully.
SANCHEZ: You're right.
KAGAN: And there's a film, so this really looks like...
SANCHEZ: You're right.
KAGAN: ... the way they're going about that. Also interesting with these two men, whether it's by training or just by instinct, they look remarkably calm for the situation that they're in, which is clearly helping the situation. But it would be hard to remain calm hanging eight floors above the ground.
SANCHEZ: And you can see that -- I'm not sure if you heard the report -- for those of you who are just now joining us, we're following this live report, compelling report. The pictures are from KTTV in Los Angeles.
The two workmen, for some reason the scaffolding broke, and they've been left literally hanging off the side of the building. There are two of them. The one on the right is still attached -- or has attached himself to that scaffolding that has broken loose. It also is hanging and dangling off the side of the building.
The gentleman on the left is also hanging, but he is just harnessed and is literally hanging, waiting on the harness to be rescued by these firefighters. And we are watching with you to see how firefighters are able to assess and deal with this problem.
KAGAN: And once again, these two window washers were on the scaffolding, the scaffolding gave way. It's hard to tell by this picture if you're just joining us, but one of them you can see at the bottom left part of your screen. He's hanging on by a safety harness. The other one on the right part of your screen -- well, it looks like one of the firefighters is reaching out a little bit.
Anyhow, the one on the right part of your screen is still on part of the scaffolding. And it's hard to tell, just because there's more happening over there, how much of his safety harness is keeping him there or if he's just actually holding on to the scaffolding.
SANCHEZ: This is the closest, Daryn, I was going to say, that we've seen the actual -- the firefighters almost actually seeming to reach out toward that one worker there on the right. And we just learned, by the way, we were just told that film you see there was actually put there by the firefighters so when they broke the window, the glass, as you had suggested, Daryn, didn't shatter and then, you know, do more damage to that poor fellow who's sitting there helplessly waiting to be rescued.
So -- and it appears now that they've broken the glass. They're going to remove the shield, and hopefully they'll be able to get him out.
KAGAN: Let's listen in a little bit to Gina Silva. She is the local reporter in the helicopter there with KTTV.
GINA SILVA, REPORTER, KTTV: ... window washing, and unfortunately the platform they were standing on gave way. You can see it here just hanging sideways.
Both of the men had a safety rope on them, which is what saved their lives. LA City Fire is here now. They've just broken the window. They're trying to get them into the building safely.
SANCHEZ: And it looks like they're about to make a move to see if they can get that one. Now, just judging from what we have seen, perhaps before we took this picture, it may not be as difficult to get that one fellow there. It may a little harder to get the fellow on the left. It looks like they're -- see, they're literally removing large panes of glass to make...
KAGAN: Yes. That last one piece, you don't wan it to cut anybody as they're bringing them inside the window.
SANCHEZ: Correct.
KAGAN: It looks like it's that last one chunk that needs to go.
SANCHEZ: They're literally just clearing the entryway for him so that he'll be able to walk onto that ledge and then get into the building. And it does not appear that that will be quite as difficult as it will be for his -- for his partner there on the left.
KAGAN: That's easy for you to say. You're not the one hanging there by a harness.
SANCHEZ: Well said.
KAGAN: Now, if you look at the firefighter who's on the right part of the window there, it appears that he is already harnessed up.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KAGAN: You don't need somebody else hanging out the side of the building there. So there it goes, that last piece of glass. And now let's watch and see if they reach out and how they -- oh, no, there's still one more piece -- but how they reach out there and get the first man that still is hanging on the scaffolding. SANCHEZ: It looks like -- it looks like a distance he can problem manage with a step and a hand, getting from what's left of the scaffold on to the thing. And there he goes, step one.
KAGAN: Apparently somebody is controlling his harness and the cable from up top, because he has to -- they have to lower him a bit to get him down into the window. So he is -- he is also attached by his own safety rope. Let's listen in again.
SILVA: So they've got him hooked up to that rope. And now he's on -- yeah! The first one.
KAGAN: There we go. So one man is rescued. He is in safely, probably never been so happy to see solid ground in his life. So one down, one to go.
We want to go from our affiliate KTTV, to KTLA, another one of our affiliates in Los Angeles, and listen in to what they're doing as they try to get the other man -- the other...
SANCHEZ: We also have on the phone with us now Captain Rick Viloubi with the fire department there. He's going to be talking to us in just a moment. But now it appears that they're going to try to swing the worker over.
KAGAN: There you go.
SANCHEZ: And he is ready to go. So is...
KAGAN: Let's bring in the fire captain.
SANCHEZ: So is Rick Viloubi, standing by as well.
Captain, thanks so much for being with us, sir.
CAPT. RICK VILOUBI, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPT.: Thank you, Daryn. How are you this morning?
SANCHEZ: This is Rick, with Daryn. We're both here. Boy, it looks like you've got quite a situation there on your hands. But it does appear that it's been resolved. Tell us about the process.
VILOUBI: Yes, it looks like they've done a really good job. We had here earlier this morning -- at a little bit after 7:00 we had the scaffolding for window washing obviously collapse, as you can see.
It's a 12-story building. They were stuck between about the eighth and ninth stories, as you can see. And we had a couple of different ways of trying to attempt a rescue to get those two gentlemen out of there.
And as you saw, the one that we used was break a window and pull them through the window. We used a two-line rope system to keep as a safety measure, keep the lines taut at all times and send a person down. That's normally the way we can do it. We have opportunity to do a capture and then raise a capture lower, or break the windows and pull them in. And as you saw, it worked out pretty smooth. It looks like they broke the adjacent window out, reached up, secured the gentleman who was going to reach out to get him, grabbed the civilian and pulled him inside. Did the same exact with the other one.
The only problem with that sometimes could be that the rope is a little bit taut that they're hanging from, and it's tough to get them inside the window. But as you can see there, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right over, wasn't a problem. They did a fantastic job. It was our USAR team.
KAGAN: Well, that they did. Captain, it's the kind of happy endings that your department likes and the kind that we like to show here on CNN as well. Congratulations on the successful rescue of the two window washers on 6th Street in Los Angeles.
VILOUBI: Yes. Thank you very much for covering it. We appreciate it.
KAGAN: And congratulation to your firefighters as well.
VILOUBI: Wonderful. I'll pass on the information.
SANCHEZ: And congratulations to those workers who have got some interesting stories to tell at the dinner table tonight.
KAGAN: That's it. That they do.
SANCHEZ: Here's what's happening right "Now in the News."
KAGAN: We're going to begin with world news. British antiterrorist police have announced the arrest of three people. The two men and a woman were arrested Tuesday under the Britain antiterrorism law. We'll bring you more details as they become available.
A hearing is scheduled to start in about 30 minutes on Capitol Hill, with the focus on U.S. border security. One key issue is personnel.
Legislation seeks some 10,000 additional border agents over the next five years. The White House budget proposal calls for far fewer new hires.
The Vatican says Pope John Paul II is hopeful of leaving the hospital before the end of the month. This morning's official update says the pontiff's tracheotomy wound is healing and his health continues to improve.
A settlement has been reached in the Kobe Bryant case. That's according to Bryant's attorney, who said both parties are satisfied with the agreement. No details were disclosed. The case stems from a rape accusation in 2003 by a woman who had worked at a Colorado resort where Bryant was staying. And just about 90 minutes ago the ceremonial swearing-in for Michael Chertoff as the new secretary of Homeland Security. Chertoff has actually been on the job since last month.
More news just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Well, let's check the markets right now. Two separate stories going on here. As we check the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow is up 19 points, but over at the Nasdaq a different story. They're running four points below.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this first up this hour... adventurer Steve Fossett, a story that many are talking about, expected to complete his historic nonstop flight around the world within the next of couple hours despite a fuel problem we told you about yesterday, which made everyone think that this thing was going to ixe-nixe (ph), you know, gone.
Fossett radioed his team a short time ago that he's relatively confident of arriving back at Salina, Kansas. That's where he took off from late Monday. Amazing story. You know why? Because -- two- shot -- you know why? Because what it means is that he's going to have to glide in with no fuel, possibly.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Potentially. And not for a huge distance either, we should say.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Still...
SIEBERG: Yes. And he's a good glider, though. He knows what he's doing.
SANCHEZ: ... I don't want my pilot telling me we're going to glide the rest of the way into the airport.
SIEBERG: Right. Right. It makes it a bit more dramatic, doesn't it?
SANCHEZ: We should tell you, CNN technology correspondent Dan Sieberg joining us now. He's been monitoring Fossett's progress. Tell us what you know.
SIEBERG: Rick, he is in the homestretch, as they say, somewhere over about New Mexico right now. But he's not out of the clouds yet. He's expected to land somewhere in the Salina Municipal Airport on the runway there about 2:20 Eastern. So checking my watch, it's about three hours from now.
He took off Monday from Salina, Kansas, which is where he's going to land. You can see the takeoff here and the plane that he is in.
This is a very unique plane for a number of reasons. This is the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. It's funded by Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic. The plane is basically made up of 82 percent of fuel. And in a second, I'll tell you why that's so important, because it may have been a problem.
You can see him taking off there. It's very heavy when it takes off. It's about 22,000 pounds in total, 18,000 pounds of fuel.
And you can see there just a little bit of a dip as he was taking off. They held their breath for a second, but he is up in the air now.
He has just about completed his journey. The reason that the fuel was such as issue is that he apparently lost about 2,600 pounds of fuel. To put that in perspective, that will fill about 15 H2 Hummers.
SANCHEZ: Did he lose it, or he never have it?
SIEBERG: Well, they're not sure. At this point they believe he lost it, that at some point during the journey very early on, within the first few hours, that he lost this fuel. There may have been leakage or it wasn't transferring properly.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
SIEBERG: There are 13 fuel tanks onboard this plane. So it's mostly fuel.
So we're going to turn to the globe here. We're going to take the Earth out for a spin and show you where he started and where he's going to be going.
This is the Salina Municipal Airport, the runway here about 12,000 feet when he originally took off. He needed all that space to get up to that height. It's a very heavy plane, as we pointed out.
He took off from there, headed east across the country, going in that sort of a general direction. Heading up towards the New York area.
Then he went out across the Atlantic, much the same way Lindbergh took his historic flight from New York to London. Then from Europe, down around here, if I can draw it just across here, heading into places like Bahrain, Egypt.
He traveled over a number of different countries, of course, on his way, right through across into Asia here. We're going to go across China. And then he kept going -- and this was where things started to get a little bit dicey.
He came right into the Tokyo area here in Japan, and then on to Hawaii. And it was last night that he had to make this decision about whether he was going to continue on from Hawaii or land in Hawaii.
He continued on from where he was there in Japan on to Hawaii. We're going to go across the Pacific there into Hawaii. At that point he decided -- he said the four words "Let's go for it." He went then from Hawaii across the Pacific. Of course there's no where he can land once he makes that decision.
Then into the mainland. And somewhere right about here he's going to have to go across Colorado, and then up into sort of the northern part of Kansas, back into the Salina Municipal Airport.
So that's what he is hoping to. We're going to take you right back down to the airport. That's hoping -- that's what Steve Fossett's hoping to see about a few hours from now.
SANCHEZ: And there it is, Salina Airport, where he started. We'll wait and see.
SIEBERG: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Of course there's been some questions as to whether or not -- the fair one over here, Daryn Kagan, mentioned earlier, "Are we sure he really lost his fuel and it wasn't just a wonderful way of making all of us going, 'Oh, my goodness. Look at this incredible, compelling story'"?
SIEBERG: It certainly made people sit up and pay more attention. And Steve Fossett is certainly no stranger to adventure. The millionaire adventurer has ballooned around the world, sailed around the world. He's had a number of different projects.
So this heightens the drama, but Steve Fossett is suffering from a little bit of an uncomfortable situation, shall we say. He's in a seven-foot cockpit. And he spoke earlier about some of the discomfort that he's been feeling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE FOSSETT, GLOBALFLYER: Yes, I'm feeling tired, and feeling the effects of this. I've got just minimal (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And I'll be very happy to finish the trip and get on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEBERG: Probably the understatement of the year. He's been eating very minimally, sleeping, I think you heard there, a few minutes at a time.
There is autopilot, we should point out, by the way, in case he does doze off for a bit. But he's at about 45,000 feet right now, traveling about 220 knots, and hoping to land in Salina, Kansas, very soon.
SANCHEZ: And take a real good, long nap.
SIEBERG: Yes, I'll say. A few days.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Dan. Good stuff. Thanks for the illustration.
SIEBERG: All right. Thanks.
KAGAN: And we have much more ahead. We don't have a camera. There we go. We're going to talk to this camera over here.
More on the shocking tragic death in Chicago straight ahead. Keith Oppenheim is live from Chicago.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Police in Chicago want to talk to two men about the murders of a federal judge's husband and her mother. They have released sketches of the pair. They are called persons of interest. They're not suspects at this point.
CNN's Keith Oppenheim is in Chicago with late details on that this morning.
Good morning.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.
This double homicide in Chicago has literally set off a storm of activity, with two teams of detectives, the mix of FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the lead agency, the Chicago Police, working in two teams around the clock. First we'll show you those sketches that you were referring to.
They are of two men that they are calling, as you said, persons of interest. The "Chicago Tribune" reporting that these two men were seen in a car at Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow's home Monday. And these are the sketches of them.
Also, the Chicago media now hearing from Judge Lefkow, who in interviews with the "Tribune" and the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave a sense of the terrible sadness that she's going through, but also expressing outrage at the possibility these murders could have been linked to one of her two cases. She told the "Sun-Times," "If someone was angry at me, they should go after me. It's not fear to go after my family. It was just cold-blooded."
"Who would do this? I'm just furious."
Bear in mind that last year white supremacist Matt Hale was convicted of plotting to kill Judge Lefkow. He is behind bars in Chicago awaiting sentencing. But the "Chicago Tribune" reporting today that someone who sympathizes with Matt Hale is the lead of this investigation, the lead area of interest.
The U.S. Marshals Service is telling CNN that the judge and her family are being protected at an undisclosed location. She has the freedom to call whoever she wants and is making arrangements for the funerals of her husband, Michael, and for her 89-year-old mother, Donna Humphrey. And Daryn, we should note that throughout all this in these interviews, that Judge Lefkow is sounding very brave after what she has gone through, and saying that she will not be intimidated and plans on going back to the federal bench at some point in the future.
Back to you.
KAGAN: It sounds defiant, like she will not be intimidated off of that bench. Question for you here. Going back to last year, to April, the judge and members of her family did have protection. But that only lasted for a couple weeks. Why was that called off?
OPPENHEIM: It was a mutual agreement between the judge and the U.S. Marshals Service. And the Marshals Service explained this pretty carefully, that they make decisions on an as-needed basis.
And when you look at federal judges, they sort of have this understanding that part of their job has a risk, and that they will get protection when needed. They can get it immediately, but that was a temporary thing once Matt Hale was put behind bars. So she was the one who signed off on that.
The question is whether down the road there should be more protection for federal judges now that this incident has happened. And one judge in Chicago is actually calling for a general review of that, especially not so much for judges, he says, but for their family members.
KAGAN: Keith, one more quick question for you. So Matthew Hale is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6. Is that affected by this or that stands?
OPPENHEIM: That stands right now, not immediately affected, although we have read that the brother of Matt Hale has been interviewed by police. So investigators are taking a very close look, not so much at Matt Hale, because his phone calls are very much monitored and his activities are all seen behind bars, but at those people who may have been followers of Matt Hale and might -- might be connected to these murders.
KAGAN: Keith Oppenheim live from Chicago. Thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: How many Border Patrol agents does it take to protect our borders against smugglers and terrorists?
KAGAN: That's not one of those light bulb questions, is it?
SANCHEZ: No.
KAGAN: OK. Thousands more than are being requested. But the Bush administration wants a much lower number. A look at your security is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: We are just about at the half-hour. Good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez. And here's what's happening right "Now in the News."
We're going to begin out in L.A., where two window washers were rescued. You saw it unfold right here before your eyes if you were watching us about a half-hour ago from the side of a 12-story building.
They dangled for more than an hour, we're told, after part of their scaffolding just snapped off. And then the firefighters came, they broke the window, they reached out to both of them. And there's the second one being rescued. The work was being done on the eighth and ninth floors of this building.
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Aired March 3, 2005 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You heard the helicopter reporter there from KTTV, one of our local affiliates in Los Angeles, talking about what the options that they have here to try to rescue these two men that are window washers. They were working on the outside of this building.
Not sure how tall the building is, but we do know that they're eight floors up. And the scaffolding gave way. So they are literally hanging for their lives right now.
They tried the idea of breaking the window, and it doesn't look like they're going to go with that. But you heard that helicopter reporter talking about the option of using a separate rope in some way, either to try to lower them eight floors down, or to try to bring them up to the roof of the building.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I worked a story like this once in south Florida. And we had a very similar situation.
And one of the things that's real tricky, you see right there where the latch is above the gentleman on the left as you look at your screen? You see where the rope comes down and there seems to be a latch where that...
KAGAN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Well, that needs to remain taut, because that tautness, for lack of a better word, is what remains him by his own weight hanging there. If for some reason they were to try to lift him and you lose some of that, then you can create a situation where you lose some of the -- some of the -- some of the actual pull and some of the tightness around that knot area. So I'm sure that's just one of the things that's being considered by the firefighters as they try to figure out how they're going to go about getting these two guys inside that window without doing any further harm.
KAGAN: Yes. While you're talking, listening into what the local reporters are saying there on the scene. And that is the LA City Fire Department that's on the scene there, and they are -- at least four firefighters inside the building, trying to do that, and yet it doesn't seem like there's a lot of communication between the firefighters in the building talking to the men who are hanging by the cable on the outside.
SANCHEZ: Well, and the one thing that is curious, you remember, you and I, just before we went on the air, while we were still in the commercial, we saw that one gentleman right there in the white on the right, he was actually on the ledge. And now he seems to have walked away. And maybe it's because they need to clear the glass. It's hard to tell from here whether there's still glass on there or not.
KAGAN: Can you see the firefighter's foot peeking out?
SANCHEZ: So what is that that's on the window? Did they already break the glass or is it only partially broken? They're waiting to remove all of it until they can get him in? Because he literally is just a step away.
KAGAN: Well, look, there's some of the glass. One of the problems is you don't want that flying glass then to hit the men and to cut them. So it looks like they're doing that very carefully.
SANCHEZ: You're right.
KAGAN: And there's a film, so this really looks like...
SANCHEZ: You're right.
KAGAN: ... the way they're going about that. Also interesting with these two men, whether it's by training or just by instinct, they look remarkably calm for the situation that they're in, which is clearly helping the situation. But it would be hard to remain calm hanging eight floors above the ground.
SANCHEZ: And you can see that -- I'm not sure if you heard the report -- for those of you who are just now joining us, we're following this live report, compelling report. The pictures are from KTTV in Los Angeles.
The two workmen, for some reason the scaffolding broke, and they've been left literally hanging off the side of the building. There are two of them. The one on the right is still attached -- or has attached himself to that scaffolding that has broken loose. It also is hanging and dangling off the side of the building.
The gentleman on the left is also hanging, but he is just harnessed and is literally hanging, waiting on the harness to be rescued by these firefighters. And we are watching with you to see how firefighters are able to assess and deal with this problem.
KAGAN: And once again, these two window washers were on the scaffolding, the scaffolding gave way. It's hard to tell by this picture if you're just joining us, but one of them you can see at the bottom left part of your screen. He's hanging on by a safety harness. The other one on the right part of your screen -- well, it looks like one of the firefighters is reaching out a little bit.
Anyhow, the one on the right part of your screen is still on part of the scaffolding. And it's hard to tell, just because there's more happening over there, how much of his safety harness is keeping him there or if he's just actually holding on to the scaffolding.
SANCHEZ: This is the closest, Daryn, I was going to say, that we've seen the actual -- the firefighters almost actually seeming to reach out toward that one worker there on the right. And we just learned, by the way, we were just told that film you see there was actually put there by the firefighters so when they broke the window, the glass, as you had suggested, Daryn, didn't shatter and then, you know, do more damage to that poor fellow who's sitting there helplessly waiting to be rescued.
So -- and it appears now that they've broken the glass. They're going to remove the shield, and hopefully they'll be able to get him out.
KAGAN: Let's listen in a little bit to Gina Silva. She is the local reporter in the helicopter there with KTTV.
GINA SILVA, REPORTER, KTTV: ... window washing, and unfortunately the platform they were standing on gave way. You can see it here just hanging sideways.
Both of the men had a safety rope on them, which is what saved their lives. LA City Fire is here now. They've just broken the window. They're trying to get them into the building safely.
SANCHEZ: And it looks like they're about to make a move to see if they can get that one. Now, just judging from what we have seen, perhaps before we took this picture, it may not be as difficult to get that one fellow there. It may a little harder to get the fellow on the left. It looks like they're -- see, they're literally removing large panes of glass to make...
KAGAN: Yes. That last one piece, you don't wan it to cut anybody as they're bringing them inside the window.
SANCHEZ: Correct.
KAGAN: It looks like it's that last one chunk that needs to go.
SANCHEZ: They're literally just clearing the entryway for him so that he'll be able to walk onto that ledge and then get into the building. And it does not appear that that will be quite as difficult as it will be for his -- for his partner there on the left.
KAGAN: That's easy for you to say. You're not the one hanging there by a harness.
SANCHEZ: Well said.
KAGAN: Now, if you look at the firefighter who's on the right part of the window there, it appears that he is already harnessed up.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KAGAN: You don't need somebody else hanging out the side of the building there. So there it goes, that last piece of glass. And now let's watch and see if they reach out and how they -- oh, no, there's still one more piece -- but how they reach out there and get the first man that still is hanging on the scaffolding. SANCHEZ: It looks like -- it looks like a distance he can problem manage with a step and a hand, getting from what's left of the scaffold on to the thing. And there he goes, step one.
KAGAN: Apparently somebody is controlling his harness and the cable from up top, because he has to -- they have to lower him a bit to get him down into the window. So he is -- he is also attached by his own safety rope. Let's listen in again.
SILVA: So they've got him hooked up to that rope. And now he's on -- yeah! The first one.
KAGAN: There we go. So one man is rescued. He is in safely, probably never been so happy to see solid ground in his life. So one down, one to go.
We want to go from our affiliate KTTV, to KTLA, another one of our affiliates in Los Angeles, and listen in to what they're doing as they try to get the other man -- the other...
SANCHEZ: We also have on the phone with us now Captain Rick Viloubi with the fire department there. He's going to be talking to us in just a moment. But now it appears that they're going to try to swing the worker over.
KAGAN: There you go.
SANCHEZ: And he is ready to go. So is...
KAGAN: Let's bring in the fire captain.
SANCHEZ: So is Rick Viloubi, standing by as well.
Captain, thanks so much for being with us, sir.
CAPT. RICK VILOUBI, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPT.: Thank you, Daryn. How are you this morning?
SANCHEZ: This is Rick, with Daryn. We're both here. Boy, it looks like you've got quite a situation there on your hands. But it does appear that it's been resolved. Tell us about the process.
VILOUBI: Yes, it looks like they've done a really good job. We had here earlier this morning -- at a little bit after 7:00 we had the scaffolding for window washing obviously collapse, as you can see.
It's a 12-story building. They were stuck between about the eighth and ninth stories, as you can see. And we had a couple of different ways of trying to attempt a rescue to get those two gentlemen out of there.
And as you saw, the one that we used was break a window and pull them through the window. We used a two-line rope system to keep as a safety measure, keep the lines taut at all times and send a person down. That's normally the way we can do it. We have opportunity to do a capture and then raise a capture lower, or break the windows and pull them in. And as you saw, it worked out pretty smooth. It looks like they broke the adjacent window out, reached up, secured the gentleman who was going to reach out to get him, grabbed the civilian and pulled him inside. Did the same exact with the other one.
The only problem with that sometimes could be that the rope is a little bit taut that they're hanging from, and it's tough to get them inside the window. But as you can see there, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right over, wasn't a problem. They did a fantastic job. It was our USAR team.
KAGAN: Well, that they did. Captain, it's the kind of happy endings that your department likes and the kind that we like to show here on CNN as well. Congratulations on the successful rescue of the two window washers on 6th Street in Los Angeles.
VILOUBI: Yes. Thank you very much for covering it. We appreciate it.
KAGAN: And congratulation to your firefighters as well.
VILOUBI: Wonderful. I'll pass on the information.
SANCHEZ: And congratulations to those workers who have got some interesting stories to tell at the dinner table tonight.
KAGAN: That's it. That they do.
SANCHEZ: Here's what's happening right "Now in the News."
KAGAN: We're going to begin with world news. British antiterrorist police have announced the arrest of three people. The two men and a woman were arrested Tuesday under the Britain antiterrorism law. We'll bring you more details as they become available.
A hearing is scheduled to start in about 30 minutes on Capitol Hill, with the focus on U.S. border security. One key issue is personnel.
Legislation seeks some 10,000 additional border agents over the next five years. The White House budget proposal calls for far fewer new hires.
The Vatican says Pope John Paul II is hopeful of leaving the hospital before the end of the month. This morning's official update says the pontiff's tracheotomy wound is healing and his health continues to improve.
A settlement has been reached in the Kobe Bryant case. That's according to Bryant's attorney, who said both parties are satisfied with the agreement. No details were disclosed. The case stems from a rape accusation in 2003 by a woman who had worked at a Colorado resort where Bryant was staying. And just about 90 minutes ago the ceremonial swearing-in for Michael Chertoff as the new secretary of Homeland Security. Chertoff has actually been on the job since last month.
More news just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Well, let's check the markets right now. Two separate stories going on here. As we check the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow is up 19 points, but over at the Nasdaq a different story. They're running four points below.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this first up this hour... adventurer Steve Fossett, a story that many are talking about, expected to complete his historic nonstop flight around the world within the next of couple hours despite a fuel problem we told you about yesterday, which made everyone think that this thing was going to ixe-nixe (ph), you know, gone.
Fossett radioed his team a short time ago that he's relatively confident of arriving back at Salina, Kansas. That's where he took off from late Monday. Amazing story. You know why? Because -- two- shot -- you know why? Because what it means is that he's going to have to glide in with no fuel, possibly.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Potentially. And not for a huge distance either, we should say.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Still...
SIEBERG: Yes. And he's a good glider, though. He knows what he's doing.
SANCHEZ: ... I don't want my pilot telling me we're going to glide the rest of the way into the airport.
SIEBERG: Right. Right. It makes it a bit more dramatic, doesn't it?
SANCHEZ: We should tell you, CNN technology correspondent Dan Sieberg joining us now. He's been monitoring Fossett's progress. Tell us what you know.
SIEBERG: Rick, he is in the homestretch, as they say, somewhere over about New Mexico right now. But he's not out of the clouds yet. He's expected to land somewhere in the Salina Municipal Airport on the runway there about 2:20 Eastern. So checking my watch, it's about three hours from now.
He took off Monday from Salina, Kansas, which is where he's going to land. You can see the takeoff here and the plane that he is in.
This is a very unique plane for a number of reasons. This is the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. It's funded by Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic. The plane is basically made up of 82 percent of fuel. And in a second, I'll tell you why that's so important, because it may have been a problem.
You can see him taking off there. It's very heavy when it takes off. It's about 22,000 pounds in total, 18,000 pounds of fuel.
And you can see there just a little bit of a dip as he was taking off. They held their breath for a second, but he is up in the air now.
He has just about completed his journey. The reason that the fuel was such as issue is that he apparently lost about 2,600 pounds of fuel. To put that in perspective, that will fill about 15 H2 Hummers.
SANCHEZ: Did he lose it, or he never have it?
SIEBERG: Well, they're not sure. At this point they believe he lost it, that at some point during the journey very early on, within the first few hours, that he lost this fuel. There may have been leakage or it wasn't transferring properly.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
SIEBERG: There are 13 fuel tanks onboard this plane. So it's mostly fuel.
So we're going to turn to the globe here. We're going to take the Earth out for a spin and show you where he started and where he's going to be going.
This is the Salina Municipal Airport, the runway here about 12,000 feet when he originally took off. He needed all that space to get up to that height. It's a very heavy plane, as we pointed out.
He took off from there, headed east across the country, going in that sort of a general direction. Heading up towards the New York area.
Then he went out across the Atlantic, much the same way Lindbergh took his historic flight from New York to London. Then from Europe, down around here, if I can draw it just across here, heading into places like Bahrain, Egypt.
He traveled over a number of different countries, of course, on his way, right through across into Asia here. We're going to go across China. And then he kept going -- and this was where things started to get a little bit dicey.
He came right into the Tokyo area here in Japan, and then on to Hawaii. And it was last night that he had to make this decision about whether he was going to continue on from Hawaii or land in Hawaii.
He continued on from where he was there in Japan on to Hawaii. We're going to go across the Pacific there into Hawaii. At that point he decided -- he said the four words "Let's go for it." He went then from Hawaii across the Pacific. Of course there's no where he can land once he makes that decision.
Then into the mainland. And somewhere right about here he's going to have to go across Colorado, and then up into sort of the northern part of Kansas, back into the Salina Municipal Airport.
So that's what he is hoping to. We're going to take you right back down to the airport. That's hoping -- that's what Steve Fossett's hoping to see about a few hours from now.
SANCHEZ: And there it is, Salina Airport, where he started. We'll wait and see.
SIEBERG: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Of course there's been some questions as to whether or not -- the fair one over here, Daryn Kagan, mentioned earlier, "Are we sure he really lost his fuel and it wasn't just a wonderful way of making all of us going, 'Oh, my goodness. Look at this incredible, compelling story'"?
SIEBERG: It certainly made people sit up and pay more attention. And Steve Fossett is certainly no stranger to adventure. The millionaire adventurer has ballooned around the world, sailed around the world. He's had a number of different projects.
So this heightens the drama, but Steve Fossett is suffering from a little bit of an uncomfortable situation, shall we say. He's in a seven-foot cockpit. And he spoke earlier about some of the discomfort that he's been feeling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE FOSSETT, GLOBALFLYER: Yes, I'm feeling tired, and feeling the effects of this. I've got just minimal (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And I'll be very happy to finish the trip and get on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEBERG: Probably the understatement of the year. He's been eating very minimally, sleeping, I think you heard there, a few minutes at a time.
There is autopilot, we should point out, by the way, in case he does doze off for a bit. But he's at about 45,000 feet right now, traveling about 220 knots, and hoping to land in Salina, Kansas, very soon.
SANCHEZ: And take a real good, long nap.
SIEBERG: Yes, I'll say. A few days.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Dan. Good stuff. Thanks for the illustration.
SIEBERG: All right. Thanks.
KAGAN: And we have much more ahead. We don't have a camera. There we go. We're going to talk to this camera over here.
More on the shocking tragic death in Chicago straight ahead. Keith Oppenheim is live from Chicago.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Police in Chicago want to talk to two men about the murders of a federal judge's husband and her mother. They have released sketches of the pair. They are called persons of interest. They're not suspects at this point.
CNN's Keith Oppenheim is in Chicago with late details on that this morning.
Good morning.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.
This double homicide in Chicago has literally set off a storm of activity, with two teams of detectives, the mix of FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the lead agency, the Chicago Police, working in two teams around the clock. First we'll show you those sketches that you were referring to.
They are of two men that they are calling, as you said, persons of interest. The "Chicago Tribune" reporting that these two men were seen in a car at Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow's home Monday. And these are the sketches of them.
Also, the Chicago media now hearing from Judge Lefkow, who in interviews with the "Tribune" and the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave a sense of the terrible sadness that she's going through, but also expressing outrage at the possibility these murders could have been linked to one of her two cases. She told the "Sun-Times," "If someone was angry at me, they should go after me. It's not fear to go after my family. It was just cold-blooded."
"Who would do this? I'm just furious."
Bear in mind that last year white supremacist Matt Hale was convicted of plotting to kill Judge Lefkow. He is behind bars in Chicago awaiting sentencing. But the "Chicago Tribune" reporting today that someone who sympathizes with Matt Hale is the lead of this investigation, the lead area of interest.
The U.S. Marshals Service is telling CNN that the judge and her family are being protected at an undisclosed location. She has the freedom to call whoever she wants and is making arrangements for the funerals of her husband, Michael, and for her 89-year-old mother, Donna Humphrey. And Daryn, we should note that throughout all this in these interviews, that Judge Lefkow is sounding very brave after what she has gone through, and saying that she will not be intimidated and plans on going back to the federal bench at some point in the future.
Back to you.
KAGAN: It sounds defiant, like she will not be intimidated off of that bench. Question for you here. Going back to last year, to April, the judge and members of her family did have protection. But that only lasted for a couple weeks. Why was that called off?
OPPENHEIM: It was a mutual agreement between the judge and the U.S. Marshals Service. And the Marshals Service explained this pretty carefully, that they make decisions on an as-needed basis.
And when you look at federal judges, they sort of have this understanding that part of their job has a risk, and that they will get protection when needed. They can get it immediately, but that was a temporary thing once Matt Hale was put behind bars. So she was the one who signed off on that.
The question is whether down the road there should be more protection for federal judges now that this incident has happened. And one judge in Chicago is actually calling for a general review of that, especially not so much for judges, he says, but for their family members.
KAGAN: Keith, one more quick question for you. So Matthew Hale is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6. Is that affected by this or that stands?
OPPENHEIM: That stands right now, not immediately affected, although we have read that the brother of Matt Hale has been interviewed by police. So investigators are taking a very close look, not so much at Matt Hale, because his phone calls are very much monitored and his activities are all seen behind bars, but at those people who may have been followers of Matt Hale and might -- might be connected to these murders.
KAGAN: Keith Oppenheim live from Chicago. Thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
SANCHEZ: How many Border Patrol agents does it take to protect our borders against smugglers and terrorists?
KAGAN: That's not one of those light bulb questions, is it?
SANCHEZ: No.
KAGAN: OK. Thousands more than are being requested. But the Bush administration wants a much lower number. A look at your security is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: We are just about at the half-hour. Good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez. And here's what's happening right "Now in the News."
We're going to begin out in L.A., where two window washers were rescued. You saw it unfold right here before your eyes if you were watching us about a half-hour ago from the side of a 12-story building.
They dangled for more than an hour, we're told, after part of their scaffolding just snapped off. And then the firefighters came, they broke the window, they reached out to both of them. And there's the second one being rescued. The work was being done on the eighth and ninth floors of this building.
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