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CNN Live Today

Southwest Passenger Jet Skids Off Runway in Chicago; More Trouble on Horizon for Merck

Aired December 09, 2005 - 10:34   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The sun has been up for a few hours now in Chicago, and we're getting a better look at that Southwest passenger jet that skidded off a runway last night and on to a highway. At this hour, the airport is operating with few delays. And we now know the name of the little boy who was killed when the plane struck his family's car.
Anupy Singla is with our affiliate station KLTV, and she is live on the scene.

Anupy, hello.

Hello, Daryn.

ANUPY SINGLA, KLTV REPORTER: Well, it is a pretty incredible scene. I want you Look over my shoulder. Here on Central Avenue and 51st Street, you've got a jetliner, a Southwest Airline jetliner -- hopefully that car will be moving soon -- just sitting on the street. It's been there since last night 7:15 Central Time when this accident took place. They are moving nothing, because what they're waiting for is National Transportion Safety Board officials to come in here. They're supposed to fly in from Washington D.C. That flight should arrived. They will be inspecting that accident site.

A couple of things they're going to be looking at. One, weather conditions last night. Also, were the runways plowed properly? Anything that could have gone wrong, that could have contributed to that crash last night.

Also keep in mind, CEO of Southwest Airlines, that is Gary Kelly, speaking from Dallas, saying that is an experienced pilot on that flight. He did not believe there was anything wrong with the airplane itself, but he's flying into Chicago as well this morning.

That six-year-old that died, the one fatality. His name is Joshua Woods from Leroy, Indiana, just 15 miles southeast of Gary. Certainly that resonates with a lot of parents, a lot of people out there, that a 6-year-old boy sitting in a car was killed after that car was hit by this airplane.

I just want you to talk with me now, or listen to me now with -- I'm here with the tow truck driver that was here last night, really one of the first ones on this scene. Tell me and describe for me what you saw exactly when you got out here. You were basically just looking for tows.

MAHDI ABDELQADER, WITNESS: Yes.

SINGLA: As I said, I was driving on 55th, going northbound on central, and the next minute I hear a boom. All of a sudden, just the plane coming out of the runway away from the Midway Airport, hit the white Bonneville, the vehicle, and automatically stopped on 55th and central, this plane. I was in shock, I couldn't believe it. I was like, man, what's going on?

ABDELQADER So I get to 56th and Central, I get out of my truck, go toward the plane. There's a couple of people, like two or three people standing and yelling and out of their cars, and the police officer comes, walks toward the plane and calming everybody down, and then we go by the vehicle, the plane was on top of it, and we hear the mom and the dad -- the dad got out of the vehicle and grabbed his kid out, and then the mom is stuck in there with her two other children, and they're screaming, help me, help me! And as I said, the car was so messed up there was...

SINGLA: That was the car with the family with the small boy did die, is that right?

ABDELQADER: Yes.

SINGLA: And you were telling me, too, you're still in shock, just thinking about those screams this morning.

ABDELQADER: I didn't even know that when I got to the hospital that night to go get checked out, and that's when I heard that the kid died in that car. I mean, I just lost it, you know. I couldn't believe that the kid died in there, you know. But thank God everybody on the plane was OK, and the captain, he was OK.

We talked to the captain, letting him know that everybody was OK, and he was in shock, and we smelled fuel, and that's when I told the captain get the passengers out of the airplane. That's when we went by the doors, and they opened the door, and the next minute this airbag, like this ramp just came out, and hit me and the officer, so we managed to stay there and get everybody out of the plane and...

SINGLA: Well, it was a pretty amazing situation, I know for yourself, as well as for the officials on the scene, as well as for the community here. Everybody very shocked. A lot of people standing out here with the cell phones trying to get pictures of the scene, probably not one they're hoping they'll see for a long time to come.

Reporting for Chicago, Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Anupy Singla with CLTV (ph), thank you.

And a quick flashback for you, a similar accident happened in March of 2000 when another jetliner ran off the runway at Burbank Airport in Southern California. The plane pushed through a fence and finally came to rest on a highway near a gas station. There were injuries, but no deaths. Both the pilot and copilot were later fired.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Talking breakfast. It's about to get healthier. Kellogg's making some changes to one of your favorite morning meals.

Also new question surrounding the safety of a popular painkiller. Did authors hired by the drug's maker to write a study leave out some potentially deadly information? That and more when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

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KAGAN: There could be more trouble on the horizon for Merck, for the maker of Vioxx. An editorial in "The New England Journal of Medicine" suggests the drugmaker wasn't completely forthcoming about its pain reliever.

Our Allan Chernoff joins us from New York with more on that, as well as legal news surrounding the company.

Hello.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

Well, At a minimum, this is another embarrassment for Merck, which had to pull Vioxx from the market last year, but it also could be a serious blow to the company's defense in thousands of Vioxx lawsuits.

"The New England Journal of Medicine" says that Merck withheld data from a study on Vioxx, failing to report in the journal that three patients suffered heart attacks while taking the drug in the clinical trial. The "Journal" and its editorial is saying, quote, "We determined from a computer diskette that some of these data were deleted from the Vigor manuscript -- that's the namist study -- two days before it was initially submitted to the 'Journal.'"

The editorial concludes, "These inaccuracies and deletions call into question the integrity of the data."

Merck says it did nothing wrong. The article, the company says, focused only on initial datat of the study, and "described the results of the study as of the pre-specified cutoff date for analysis."

The three heart attacks, Merck says, occurred after the cutoff date and were later reported to the Food and Drug Administration.

Merck withdrew Vioxx in September of 2004, nearly four years after the "Journal" article when a separate study showed the drug could double the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients taking it for more than a year and a half -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Allan, they could quibble back and forth about whether this information should have been included in that piece. One thing is for sure, Merck has a ton of legal troubles -- 7,000 different lawsuits, and then there's this federal trial in Texas right now, and the jury is deliberating. Could this information affect that big trial?

CHERNOFF: Well, as you say, the jury is already deliberating. Today is the second day of deliberations. So the evidence has already been presented in that trial. So it's unlikely this would have any impact right there. Although on appeal, if there is an appeal in this case, certainly the issue then could come up, but for other lawsuits, it's very much likely to play a role here, because this has been a key defense for Merck, pointing to this actual study.

KAGAN: And all these legal troubles, Vioxx at one point was the wonder drug, especially for the bottom line of Merck, and now it faces some financial trouble.

CHERNOFF: Merck is really suffering. The stock has been hammered, no question about it. I mean, this is a drug that 20 million people were taking. It was one of the blockbusters for Merck, and also keep in mind, Merck used to be the premiere pharmaceutical company in this nation, and now it's really struggle severely, just facing an onslaught, as you said, of lawsuits.

KAGAN: Allan Chernoff in New York City. Thank you.

(MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: We are going to the movies ahead. And there's a movie coming out that definitely is not your father's cowboy movie. Up next, Mr. Moviefone joins us to talk about "Brokeback Mountain" and other new arrivals in the theaters this weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a beaver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, boy. Here boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I ain't going to smell it if that's what you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a talking beaver!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: A talking beaver! OK. The adaptation of C.S. Lewis' epic fantasy leads the way in the holiday movie season. If that's not your cup of tea, we also have George Clooney and something that's really different -- how about the saga of gay cowboys? We've got it all.

We even have Mr. Moviefone, Russ Leatherman, back on another Friday preview of big films that are opening this weekend. Russ, happy holidays.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, MR. MOVIEFONE: Happy holidays to you. And let me just you know, cell phone turned off, ready to go.

KAGAN: Very good. We had a little problem with you when you were on a couple weeks ago. Good to see you can learn.

"Narnia," let's talk about that. A lot of publicity over this Disney movie.

LEATHERMAN: A lot of publicity. Classic C.S. Lewis story. Did you read the books?

KAGAN: you know, I read so much when I was a kid, but I didn't -- for some reason, didn't get to these.

LEATHERMAN: Well, Daryn, that's why I believe God invented movies, so we don't have to. Now, this is the classic story. It's four siblings who are sent out to the -- really to a farm to -- they play hide and go seek and they open this wardrobe, and it leads into a magical land filled with elves, dwarves, talking animals, everything you can imagine.

But there's evil afoot when they pass through this magical portal. And, in fact, they have to join forces with Aslan, who's the Christ-like lion, to defeat the armies of the devilish white witch, played Tilda Swinton, who's fantastic, by the way.

KAGAN: Well, but is it any good?

LEATHERMAN: Well, here's the deal, Daryn. It's -- I think it's a well done fantasy adventure. I think some of the effects are beautiful. The little girl in the movie is fantastic. But if you don't mind, can I give you a little Moviefone tip here?

KAGAN: OK.

LEATHERMAN: If you're a parent, OK, have some sense before you take your small kids to this movie. It's rated P.G. It should have been rated P.G.-13. There's a lot of very scary stuff, very scary creatures in the movie. Some battle scenes that are really very, very violent. It's sort of "Passion of the Christ" for babies.

KAGAN: Oh, my goodness. OK, that will get people's attention. We only have a minute left and we have to get these other movies in. " "Brokeback Mountain." Two hot men, but they're hot for each other. A gay cowboy movie.

LEATHERMAN: It is a gay cowboy movie. But I suggest that everybody forget about that. Go see one of the best love stories you're going to see in theaters all year. I think you're going to see Oscar nominations for Heath Ledger. Jake Gyllenhaal is terrific in this movie.

It's the story about two cowboys on a ranch. They come together, they fall in love and how it really devastates their entire lives. I like this movie and I hope that everybody can sort of put away the gay cowboy thing and just go see one of the best movies of the year.

KAGAN: Just go see a good movie and get over yourselves. OK. "Syriana," George Clooney. Speaking of hot men.

LEATHERMAN: But here he's not so hot. He's 30 pounds heavier.

KAGAN: Doesn't matter, Russ, doesn't matter!

LEATHERMAN: He is hunk-a-licious, no doubt about that. Yes, I liked this movie a lot. I think it's an important movie, I think it's topical. You have Matt Damon, George Clooney doing a terrific job. It really is about the mix of secret relationships between politics, terrorism, the oil business. I think if you like the movie "Traffic" -- it was done by Stephen Gaghan, the same guy who won the Oscar for best screenplay for "Traffic" -- you're going to like this movie.

But here's another Moviefone tip. Don't overthink it as you're watching it. Just don't try to put all the pieces together. Let the movie happen. And by the end, you're going to go, oh, yes, now I see how that lined up and that worked. But just let it happen. It's a great movie, go see it.

KAGAN: Just go for the ride. Kind of like a Mr. Moviefone segment, you just go for the ride, don't overthink it, just enjoy. Russ, thank you. Hope we see you before Christmas.

LEATHERMAN: You know, we have a little movie called "King Kong" opening next week. You probably want to talk about that.

KAGAN: OK, we'll have you back.

LEATHERMAN: See you then.

KAGAN: Thank you.

LEATHERMAN: Bye, Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, talk Santa Claus. He knows who's been naughty and nice and apparently nautical, too. The jolly old underwater elf will be making special appearances at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey. The so-called "Fishmas" celebration will also feature a scavenger hunt and holiday treats. Merry Fishmas.

Switching gears here in the next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY. Georgia governor Sonny Perdue just back from Iraq. He'll be here to talk about what he saw there.

Plus, never one to shy away from controversy. We'll tell you about Mel Gibson's latest project. The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins after a quick break.

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