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CNN Saturday Morning News
Obama Has First Big Win as Congress OKs Stimulus Bill; Ice Eyed as Possible Cause of Fatal Plane Crash; Valentine's Day Does Not Have to Be Expensive
Aired February 14, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This is the happy Valentine's Day edition of CNN ...
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: You don't sound so happy.
HOLMES: ...SATURDAY MORNING.
Of course, I'm excited.
NGUYEN: Are you?
HOLMES: Guys love Valentine's Day.
NGUYEN: I'm sure they do.
HOLMES: We do. We secretly like Valentine's Day.
NGUYEN: It's such a made-up holiday, isn't it?
HOLMES: There's some story behind it.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: But happy Valentine's Day. I got...
NGUYEN: You, too.
HOLMES: The big thing with the bow on it back there is yours.
NGUYEN: Are those for me?
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: OK.
HOLMES: So hello, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody. And happy Valentine's Day. Thanks for starting your day with us.
You know, it was a historic moment in American political history. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Pursuant to that order, the conference report to accompany HR-1 is agreed to, and a motion to reconsider that vote is considered made and laid upon the table.
(GAVEL SOUNDING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And with the bang of the gavel, Congress promises help is on the way to desperate, struggling people with this economy.
HOLMES: Also, a survival story of sorts when it comes to that plane crash in Buffalo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN REINHARDT, TOOK ANOTHER FLIGHT TO BUFFALO: ...glad that you didn't get on that plane. So, you know, I'm happy to be here. Believe me, I'm happy to be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That was a split-second decision that that woman made to wait for another plane -- saves the life of that would-be passenger of Flight 3407. We will be hearing from her and certainly giving the latest on that investigation.
NGUYEN: But up first, a huge victory for the Obama administration. Last night, Congress passed the president's economic- stimulus bill. The final price tag? Seven hundred eighty-seven billion dollars. Only three Republicans supported it in the Senate; none did in the House.
The bill now goes to the president, and he is expected to sign it come Monday.
HOLMES: Also, investigators say the crew of Continental Connection Flight 3407 did notice significant ice buildup on the wings and windshield just before that plane went down. As we know now, 50 people were killed when that commuter airliner crashed into a house near Buffalo, New York, Thursday night. Forty-nine people were onboard; one person was killed in that house.
The National Transportation Safety Board not saying for certain that ice caused the crash, but that investigation continues.
NGUYEN: Demonstrations and rallies in Lebanon marked the fourth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. These are live pictures instead.
And -- now, Mr. Hariri died in a car bombing four years ago today that also killed 22 others. Look at that crowd there today. Demonstrations after the bombing forced Syrian troops out of Lebanon. An international tribunal is working to bring the suspected killers to justice.
HOLMES: All right. Let's turn now to that big economic-stimulus package that Betty was just mentioning.
I don't know, Betty, if it bodes well or not that this much- ballyhooed and debated bill passed on Friday the 13th.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Late in the evening.
HOLMES: I don't know if that means it's going to go well or not so well down the road. But everybody has their fingers crossed, including the president, who is now really -- this is his economy after getting this thing through. But Congress, as you said, pushed it through late last night.
NGUYEN: Yes.
OK, so what's exactly in the bill? I know a lot of you are asking. So are we. Well, lawmakers passed it very quickly. They might not even know. In fact, a lot of them didn't even have time to read it. It's over a thousand pages.
HOLMES: It was a thousand pages. They had it overnight, essentially, to read it.
NGUYEN: Right. Scan through that. Can I get the Cliff Notes on that?
Well, here's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats are delivering President Obama's economic plan with the warp speed that he demanded. But that meant little time for lawmakers to actually review it.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OHIO), MINORITY LEADER: I don't know how you could read 1,100 pages between midnight and now. Not one member's read this.
BASH: Across the Capitol, lawmakers and staff poured through pounds of paper...
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: ...trying to determine exactly what's in the bill before approving an unprecedented $787 billion.
What's at the heart of those 1,000-plus pages are some $280 billion in tax cuts, and more than $500 billion in government spending. Supporters insist the goal of this economic plan is simple:
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jobs, jobs, jobs.
BASH: First, for people who don't have jobs, here's what's in it: $24.7 billion to subsidize health insurance for nine months for most laid-off workers, up to 33 weeks of extended unemployment benefits and an additional $25 a week.
But creating jobs is what Democrats insist the hundreds of billions in spending will do, by investing in infrastructure projects, like energy-efficient buildings, roads, bridges and mass transit. For example, $27.5 billion for highways; $1.1 billion for airports that prove they can start construction work now; $8 billion for high-speed rail -- a big funding boost thanks to Senate Majority Harry Reid of Nevada, who's pushing for a grant to build a train from Las Vegas to Southern California.
But there are also programs like $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts which critics argue will not stimulate the economy.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), VIRGINIA: This bill is loaded with wasteful deficit spending on the majority's favorite government programs. We need jobs, not mountains of debt to pay -- to be paid by our children. We can do better.
BASH (on camera): No Republicans voted for this in the House, and only three moderate Republicans vote for it in the Senate. In fact, it was so close in the Senate, Democrats held the vote open for more than five hours, until nearly 11:00 at night, so that the White House could send a government plane to Ohio, to pick up Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and bring him back from his mother's wake, so he could cast the final vote for President Obama's stimulus plan.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Seven hundred and eighty-seven billion dollars. Where's it going?
$267 billion of it will be used for direct spending. That's things like food stamps, unemployment benefits. Another $212 billion will come in the form of tax cuts. A lot of people will get $400 tax credit. Couples will get $800.
$120 billion to improve infrastructure. That's patching up roads, bridges and buildings, things like that around your town. Also $100 billion set aside for education. And $30 billion will be spent on energy projects to create so-called green jobs.
A lot more to talk about and get into about this economic stimulus plan, and we will be talking about it this morning with a friend of our show, deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. He's coming our way in about 25 minutes. Also got some new poll numbers to show you on how Obama is handling his job as president.
All right. We turn back to the story that really was dominating the news yesterday, the crash of that Flight 3407 in Buffalo. Here's a look now at the flight path of this particular plane.
A pretty short path just to go from Newark to Buffalo. It's a Continental commuter plane. It nose-dived as it made its descent, crashing into a home in the suburbs outside of Buffalo, just -- what -- about five, six, seven miles short of the airport, actually.
NGUYEN: And what's really remarkable is when you hear the audiotape of the tower, and they're talking, trying to find where this plane went. We'll try to get that for you this morning, because it is really remarkable sound, and it takes you right there to what was happening at the time.
In the meantime though, investigators continue to work to find out what went wrong. CNN's national correspondent Jason Carroll has the story from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Early Friday, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board recovered two clues that could help them answer the question of what caused the crash of Continental Flight 3407.
The plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight-data recorder were found in excellent condition, both discovered in the tail section of the turboprop, the only section of the plane remaining intact after it crashed into a home in Clarence Center, just outside Buffalo, New York.
The voice recorder shows, at 16,000 feet, the crew discussed problems with weather.
STEVE CHEALANDER, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: They noticed that it was rather hazy and they requested air-traffic control to allow them to descend to 12,000 feet.
CARROLL: The plane then descended to 11,000 feet on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, when the crew noticed another problem: ice.
CHEALANDER: The crew discussed significant ice buildup, ice on the windshield and leading edge of the wings.
CARROLL: According to the flight-data recorder, the pilot activated the plane's de-icing mechanism. The plane then lowered the landing gear. That was about one minute before the end of the recording.
Despite the weather, no sign of distress on the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 on approach., according to transmission from air-traffic control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407, approach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407, Buffalo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407 now approaching.
CARROLL: The plane disappeared from radar as traffic controllers call another plane to see if there's any sign of Flight 3407.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delta 1998, look off your right side about five miles for a Dash 8. Should be 2,300. Do you see anything there?
CARROLL: The flight-data recorder indicates the plane went through a series of severe pitches and rolled from side to side. The crew tried to raise the gear and wing flaps before crashing around 10:20 p.m. into this house, killing a man inside and all 49 people on board.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As I had gotten closer, you could start to smell the fire. It was -- it was really raging. It was a huge fire, and I could see nothing but the silhouettes of, like, 10-plus firefighters around it all trying to extinguish it, trying to get crowd control. And it was scary.
CARROLL: The plane was operated by Colgan Air and had been in service for just about a year.
PHILIP TRENARY, CEO, PINNACLE AIRLINES CORPORATION: The aircraft is a new airplane. It's what we call a next-generation turboprop, very, very modern. It's an aircraft that has had quality service. So, no, there are no indications of any problems with the aircraft.
CARROLL: As for what caused the crash, the NTSB says it's still too early in the investigation to know for sure.
Jason Carroll, CNN, Clarence Center, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: I want to show you something right now. This is a photograph of Captain Marvin Renslow. His sister gave the media this picture, in fact. And Captain Renslow is on the left, obviously, there with his family. He was apparently at the controls of Continental Flight 3407 when it crashed Thursday night.
HOLMES: All right. We all fly. We all fly often. A lot of us fly, eastern part of the country, the Northeast, where it gets icy and snowy...
NGUYEN: Oh yes.
HOLMES: ...and stuff a lot. How would you feel about flying at -- tell me how you feel after you hear what this guy has to say. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM ELLIS, AIR CRASH INVESTIGATOR: You're talking about an aircraft that's certified to carry up to 78 people that's using pneumatic de-icing boots and bladder technology from the 1930s.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: From the 1930s. Doesn't sound so good. We'll get into the debate now about this plane and its deicing system, and if it is, in fact, outdated. NGUYEN: Also, one of the passengers on the plane has already gone through tragedy. We're going to be talking her -- well, actually, we're going to be talking about her and the fact that she lost her husband on 9/11.
More on her story and where she was headed in her husband's name.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY JANE LUCE, PLANE-CRASH WITNESS: After a few seconds of silence, we heard this huge explosion. And the house shook. So we ran toward our back windows, which look out toward the house that was hit. And we could see flames rising high into the sky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Just one of the many stories we're hearing from witnesses. A lot of kind of the same story. A lot of people didn't know what happened. But they heard the big boom, they -- they remembered hearing a plane. But once they got out there and saw that huge fire, they couldn't tell what had happened.
Well, meanwhile, the investigation continues. And right now, the flight-data recorders, the voice recorders, are very important. They've made their way to Washington, are being analyzed.
A lot of emphasis right now being put on ice. Maybe it played a role. How big of a role did it play?
However, that plane -- many planes, have a system, features that are supposed to keep ice from building up on the wings. So why didn't that happen here, possibly.
Drew Griffin, from CNN's "SPECIAL INVESTIGATION UNIT, taking a look for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As investigators now focus on icing on Flight 3407, Georgia Tech research scientist Jim Brooks says ice buildup on a wing can take control out of a pilot's hands.
JIM BROOKS, GEORGIA TECH UNIVERSITY: The air is no longer flowing over that airfoil as it was designed. It's disrupted.
GRIFFIN: It would build up slowly, a freezing-cold aluminum-skin aircraft suddenly flying into freezing rain and ice adhering first to the outer wings, then building.
With the wings becoming heavier, losing their aerodynamic shape due to ice buildup, the plane would begin to lose lift, literally sinking in midair as it slows down. A pilot might not feel it, not see it, but the plane would start to drop. When enough lift is lost, the plane stalls and is now out of control, rolling to the side where the wing ice is heaviest, then pitching into a dive.
This eyewitness describes just that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, it was pitched and it was headed -- it was headed down.
GRIFFIN: Brooks says, to recover from a stall, including an ice- inflicted stall, a pilot would push the nose down, dive, and regain air flow.
BROOKS: What you have got to do is get that airspeed back. Now, to get that airspeed back, what do you do? You lower that nose.
GRIFFIN: But at lower altitudes, there's little room to maneuver.
There are two different deicing systems on the Dash 8: electric heaters that heat air heading into the engine and along the leading edge of the plane's propellers, and a second system called boots that helps shed ice from the wing.
Aircraft investigator Tom Ellis, who works for a law firm that has sued over the issue, says the boots are really an archaic system, like a rubber balloon inflating and deflating to push and crack away building ice.
ELLIS: You're talking about an aircraft that's certified to carry up to 78 people that's using pneumatic de-icing boots and bladder technology from the 1930s.
GRIFFIN: In 1994, American Eagle Flight 4184 crashed in Roselawn, Indiana. The finding? Ice built up beyond the reach of the deice boot; 68 were killed.
And four years ago this week, Tricia Coffman's husband, Dave, was killed, along with seven others, when a Cessna Citation executive plane crashed near Pueblo, Colorado, in icing conditions.
TRICIA COFFMAN, HUSBAND DIED IN 2005 PLANE CRASH: And I had hoped that our accident would bring interest into icing, that it wouldn't happen again, that nobody else would feel that, because you want to feel like there was something significant that came from your loss.
GRIFFIN: Investigators blamed the crew for not properly activating the deicing boots, blamed the system itself for not being automatic, and also blamed the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to establish adequate certification requirements for flight into icing conditions.
(on camera): The requirement -- 15 years now in the making -- would require all new airplanes to have ice-detection systems that activate, or alert pilots to activate, ice-protection systems. Why has it taken 15 years? An FAA spokesperson told us the requirement is nearly done, but just not done yet.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. We have (ph) Reynolds.
We were talking about these planes and what happens. It's a very -- it's kind of a simple thing you don't think about.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.
HOLMES: But it has a smooth edge on that -- on that wing.
WOLF: That's right.
HOLMES: And (INAUDIBLE) anyway, the plane is not functioning like it's supposed to.
WOLF: Any disruption, you're going to have some issues.
But, you know, this is the reason why, when you're in the airport, and -- and you happen to finally get on the tarmac, and you're sitting on the tarmac for hours and hours and hours. They have to deice those planes...
HOLMES: For a doggone (ph) good reason.
WOLF: Exactly. It's frustrating as can be, but, you know, icing and -- and -- and wind shear are two of the biggest dangers for an aircraft. And that's certainly one, especially this time of year.
HOLMES: So be patient out there next time. No, like you said, people can get so upset about it, but there is a very significant safety reason for that.
WOLF: Absolutely.
And, you know, we could see some similar issues. Right now, though, in Chicago, things are looking a little bit better. We're going obviously a little bit farther to the west from Buffalo.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: And you get to see (ph) -- here is, again, Michigan Avenue. It looks pretty good. The streets look kind of slick for the time being. Later on today, we can expect a few flurries at best. And that is going to be about it. Skies cloudy to partly cloudy. High temperature in Chicago going up to 35 degrees. So it certainly has been colder. And anytime you have just 35 degrees in Chicago this time of year, it's not all that bad.
Let's zoom in and show you the Chicago area. You see most of the snow beginning to move out right now in Kalamazoo, back over to -- to Detroit, southward to Fort Wayne. You're seeing some snow, but when you get farther south of Muncie and into Indiana -- Indianapolis rather, you're going to see that switching over from some sleet, then eventually into some rain.
If you want to talk about some rain, it has been falling in buckets along parts of the I-10 corridor, back into Mobile. Even in New Orleans this morning, although you haven't had the rain right now, you're seeing a big band of it moving off just south of Biloxi and Mobile. But just to your north and to your northwest, in Baton Rouge, they just have been tattooed by some strong storms. Nothing severe at this point, but there is that possibility later on today.
Meanwhile, into the West, it's an entirely different story. Not thunderstorms, but we are seeing some snow in the High Sierra, also near Mount Shasta. As we zoom in a bit to the Bay Area, you're going to be dealing with some wind gusts, some of them tropical-storm force gusts, going up to 65 miles an hour by the afternoon. Also some strong winds into, say, Salinas, the Monterey area, near Big Sur, anywhere from 25 to 45 miles an hour. But in -- in places like Pfeiffer State Park, you could have some gusts there, right there the Redwoods, around 50 miles an hour.
Check out the snowfall totals, anywhere from nine to 15 inches possible in places like, say, Mount Shasta. But into the High Sierra, one to two feet through the weekend.
That is a look at your forecast. We're going to talk about more coming up. Let's send it back to you guys at the news desk.
HOLMES: All right, kind sir. Reynolds, we'll see you here shortly, buddy.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, there was one woman that we talked to who was supposed to be on Flight 3407. So what changed her mind?
Plus, witnesses on the scene describe what they saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was probably about 100 yards away. I got in actually from the backyard of the houses. Literally, it was all smoke. You could just see billowing, billowing smoke coming from behind the house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, you can call it luck, maybe divine intervention. Whatever it was, it's probably the reason Susan Reinhardt is alive today.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) can't imagine what this feels like...
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: ...for her now, to think of the decision that she did make. She was supposed to be a passenger on that flight, Flight 3407 that you see burning there after it crashed into a house there outside of Buffalo. She changed her mind and changed her flight at the very last minute.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I -- I can only imagine what -- what must be going through your mind.
How -- how are you doing?
REINHARDT: I don't -- I'm not sure that it's completely hit me yet. I think I'm still in a little bit of shock.
My phone has been ringing off the hook all day, people saying, 'Oh, my God, I'm glad that you didn't get on that plane.'
So, you know, I'm happy to be here. Believe me, I'm happy to be here.
COOPER: You -- you -- you were on another flight, and then you heard that 3407 might leave before your flight was taking off. What made you not get on that flight?
REINHARDT: Absolutely.
It was a combination of things. One, I would have had to change a gate. It wasn't that much time difference, Anderson. It was maybe 30 minutes. And I had been at the airport since 3:15. And, by now, it's about 6:30. And I thought, what's another half hour? So I said, I can get some dinner. And I -- I did. I opted not to get on that plane.
COOPER: And that -- I mean, that decision, that -- that split- second decision, or several-minute decision -- I mean, that saved your life.
REINHARDT: Yes, I guess to a certain extent. And, unfortunately, I think this is the hardest thing for me. I was at the gate trying to determine if I should get on 3407. And there was a young woman there with me. We were using our BlackBerrys to determine which flight was going to go out sooner, my 4:30 flight or her 7:00 flight.
And it was determined the 7:00 flight was going to go out sooner than the 4:30. And she said: "I really want to get to my boyfriend. He is in Buffalo. I'm calling him and I'm going out on the 7:00 flight."
And she left. And my heart breaks for her family, her boyfriend.
And I didn't get on that plane.
COOPER: Do you know her name?
REINHARDT: No, I don't.
It was just one of those coincidental meetings where we both happened to be there talking about the same flight. And, as I said, we were -- we were texting. We were texting and -- and using our BlackBerrys on Continental.com to find out what flight was going to go out sooner.
(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: Can you just imagine? I mean, we've been all there, right?
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Waiting for that flight. It's delayed, and then you're trying to get on another flight. And, you know, I will do anything...
HOLMES: I know.
NGUYEN: ..that it takes, just about -- up there at the corner, standing, hovering, 'Can I get on this flight?'
HOLMES: Can I get on the flight?
NGUYEN: And she was lucky. She -- you know, it's kind of one of those things that you're going to remember next time you to the airport.
HOLMES: Who knows how that -- I mean, I can't imagine how she feels. But you just never know. There's no way she could have known. But 50 people died. She was not among them.
But 50 died in that crash; 49, as we know, were onboard that plane, one person in the house. Two survivors in the house as well that escaped with relatively minor injuries.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Were treated and released, a woman and her daughter.
So if there was a survivor story, there are a few we can bring you there.
NGUYEN: That is definitely one.
In fact, we're going to be hearing some more about exactly what happened in this crash as we get an update at 8 a.m. local time -- actually, Eastern time, for those of you watching in other parts of the country.
But in the meantime, though, we're also going to take you live to the scene of the crash. I'll talk to the I-reporter who took these compelling pictures.
HOLMES: Also Josh Levs talking to I-reports, looking at I- Reports as well.
Josh, good morning to you.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what, guys? These images obviously look amazing to us. But imagine what it was like to physically be there, standing there, seeing it right there. You're going to hear from an i-Reporter who saw the windows of that airplane burning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well good morning, everybody, and welcome back on this Valentine's Day. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Happy Valentine's Day to you. Are you feeling the love when it comes to that $787 billion stimulus package? Recovery package, whatever you want to call this thing. It is a done deal for the most part and it is on its way to the president's desk. Now, bipartisanship, supposed to be the theme here.
NGUYEN: Key word, supposed to be.
HOLMES: Three Republicans supported this thing in both houses. Three of those were Republicans in the Senate, two of them were the senators from Maine, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and also Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. So only three voted for this thing altogether. The Obama economic team estimates that that stimulus plan will create or save somewhere between 3 and 4 million jobs.
NGUYEN: It is crunch time for two major carmakers. General Motors and Chrysler are preparing to share their long-run turn around plans with Congress. If the government isn't convinced, it could take back more than $17 billion in loans. Business has only has gotten worse since those loans were made two months ago.
HOLMES: Investigators say Continental Connection Flight 3407 went through a severe pitch and roll before it crashed Thursday night near Buffalo, New York. Officials say the crew did notice significant ice buildup on the plane's wings and windshield before it went down. That's information it's getting from the data recorders on board; 50 people as we know were killed in that crash.
NGUYEN: Want to get back to the economy because talk about fast work. I mean, we've got deadlines, right?
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: Congress passed that $787 billion stimulus plan last night, over 1,000 pages, a lot of them didn't even get a chance to read it. But I guess they knew the key elements, apparently, they voted on it. It's a mix of tax cuts for most Americans and spending in many different areas.
HOLMES: We all used to do that. Remember from college, we could go through the book, maybe highlight the things.
NGUYEN: Just the major points.
HOLMES: Maybe that's what they did. Maybe you don't agree out there that this is one thing you need to see the fine print. Lawmakers did get it done. The president said he wanted it by Monday, actually. They got it done. And now he is promising quick action on that plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A major milestone on our road to recovery. I want to thank the members of Congress who came together in common purpose to make it happen. Because they did, I will sign this legislation into law shortly and we'll begin making the immediate investments necessary to put people back to work doing the work America needs done. The work of modernizing our health care system, saving billions of dollars and countless lives, and upgrading classrooms, libraries and labs in our children's schools across America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Paul Steinhauser now, he is, of course, keeping up with all things political.
Certainly the stimulus package has been keeping you up at night I'm sure. Did you read the thing?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: All 1100 pages, exactly. Quiz me on anything, anything.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: OK. But listen, how about this, though, Paul. We know it's going to go to the president's desk. But is there going to be some backlash here, maybe it will work down the road, but right now, they didn't even read the thing. They didn't have time to read the thing. Seems like another one they just rushed through.
STEINHAUSER: Yeah, that's what Republicans are saying, T.J. That's one of their criticisms of this bill is they didn't have a chance to look at the fine print, they only got it late the night before. They had less than 24 hours to go through this. Republicans are very critical about the Democrats, about rushing this through Congress. Not giving the Republicans a chance to really look into it, or even listen to them.
But you know what, when the Republicans ran the House of Representatives they pretty much worked the same way. They kind of were the bosses and they got things done the way they wanted it. So, I hear their complaints but they kind of operated the same way.
Also, other arguments from Republicans, T.J., the bill is too costly, $787 billion. They say that price tag is too much. They say it's got too much in government spending and not enough in tax cuts. They say it is a spending bill and not a jobs bill. You hear that just the opposite argument from Democrats that this is desperately need, these are tough economic times. And that you know what, we've got to get this bill out and get it out now.
As you said, President Obama, he is expected to sign it either Monday, on Presidents Day when he gets back from Chicago or first thing Tuesday morning. And T.J., he's back on the road to sell the bill again. He's going out to Denver and then Phoenix.
HOLMES: This sounds like, so much of that you just talked about, it sounds like typical Washington. Just the shoe is on the left foot, maybe, just the shoe is on the other foot. Same stuff we've been dealing with for years and years.
Let's go back to the president there. You know we talk about all these job losses and people looking for jobs. Well, there's an opening for Commerce secretary that nobody seems to want, Paul.
STEINHAUSER: You know what, Senator Judd Gregg, who just stepped down the other day from that nomination, two days ago, he voted against the stimulus bill yesterday. He didn't vote the first time around because he was the nominee. But you're right, they are now looking for two huge positions; Commerce secretary and also Health and Human Services. Because remember, Tom Daschle, the former senator, had to drop out from his nomination after that tax scandal.
You know, they are looking for two -- and also, remember, Bill Richardson, first nominee for Commerce secretary dropped off at the beginning of the year. They've got three formal nominees who have stepped down. That's unprecedented. George Bush only had one at the start of his White House and the same with Bill Clinton back in '93.
Take a look at these poll numbers, though, brand new from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation. This is interesting. We asked how is Obama -- President Obama doing overall? Overall, 76 percent say he's doing a good job as president. When we asked specifically about choosing a Cabinet, 61 percent. Normally that would be a very good number, right? But it's 15 points lower than how he's going overall. That was taken before the Judd Gregg thing, T.J.
HOLMES: Oh, goodness. The Cabinet is -- you know, I would imagine the questionnaire now, for vetting, the people he picks, the first question had to be about your taxes because that's been a problem.
All right. Paul Steinhauser, kind sir, good to see you. Want to talk to you again this morning. But always good to have you.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
NGUYEN: We will also have the latest on the crash of Flight 3407. A news conference is coming up at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Stay right here for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So what exactly caused Flight 3407 to crash some five miles from the airport? Investigators are collecting all they can from the scene outside Buffalo, New York. They're looking at the flight's last moments to learn more.
And CNN's Debra Feyerick has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The plane was nearing the Buffalo Airport. The pilot had lowered the landing gear and activated the wing flaps. That's when the problem began. An early analysis of the flight data recorder shows the plane began to pitch and roll.
STEVE CHEALANDER, NTSB: Pitch and roll being, pitch, up and down of the airplane, and roll being this way. And then shortly after that the crew attempted to raise the gear and flaps, just before the end of the recording.
FEYERICK: Controllers then lost sight of the plane on radar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colgan 3407, Buffalo tower, how do you hear?
FEYERICK: On the ground people knew something was wrong.
DAVID HARTZELL, WITNESS: We see planes or hear planes go over all the time. So, as the plane was going over, you knew something was wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, it was almost stuttering, really?
HARTZELL: Absolutely. Urr, Urr, Urr, just like that.
TOMASITA TRUJULLO, WITNESS: It sounded like something was like starting to grow, like starting to get stuck in there. And it just started hitting against it.
MARY JANE LUCE, WITNESS: You had the feeling it was going to come right down on you. And then all of a sudden it stopped. Absolutely silence for a few seconds, and then the explosion.
FEYERICK: Witnesses say flames shot 50 feet in the air, consuming everything.
DAVID LUCE, WINTESS: The house was gone. That was probably no more than two minutes.
When we looked at the site, it was pretty clear that it was unlikely that anybody had survived it. It was just an immediate fireball.
FEYERICK: People ran from their homes, desperate to help.
JAIMEE LYNN TRUJILLO, WITNESS: The whole part of the plane, that it was just -- you could see some parts to it and then it would engulf in flames. At that point I heard a woman screaming. I turned behind me because I heard a woman screaming, "That's my house! That's my house!" I turned around and she was barefoot and this couple behind her was holding her up because she fell to the ground.
HARTZELL: One of my friends had been an FAA controller, and he said when a plane hits, it virtually disintegrates. He was right, there was just nothing left.
FEYERICK (on camera): Federal investigators were at the crash scene gathering evidence, whatever bits and pieces of the plane they could find. The medical examiner's office also there trying to recover the victims. Their work will continue for days.
Deborah Feyerick, Clarence Center, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, starting shortly after CNN i-Reporters helped tell the story. They sent us photos and video from the scene. Our Josh Levs spent the day piecing through them and spoke with on of those i- Reporters.
Boy, these are just really gripping accounts, Josh.
LEVS: They were. And it was really instrumental work these i- Reporters did for us. They sent us these powerful shots of the disaster. One of them sent us this. Her name is Nicole Kamin, she lives in Buffalo.
We managed to get on the phone with her. Here's what we're going to do now. We are hear a clip from that conversation, and while we do we're going to show you some photos that she and other i-Reporters sent our way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLE KAMIN, I-REPORTER, CRASH WITNESS: I was probably about 100 yards away. I got from the backyard to the house, it was all smoke. You could see billowing, billowing smoke coming from behind the houses. I actually got a little glimpse of some of the windows of the airplane. Every time you got a glimpse, all the smoke was coming in front of you again. There was ambulance, fire trucks, police, they were all there right at the moment.
LEVS: My goodness. You're saying you were able to see burning windows of the airplane itself.
KAMIN: Yeah.
LEVS: You know, with the pictures we're seeing largely contained to this area, was the fire, was the smoke really wide spread along the whole block?
KAMIN: Yes, the smoke was everywhere. You were even two miles down the road, the air was just filled with smoke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Just filled with smoke. Now, the most talked about i- Report we received, you saw a little bit of a clip earlier, was from Will Charland (ph). Let's listen to a little piece of that right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SCREAMING, SHOUTING, SIRENS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. We're actually going to be hearing more from him a little bit later in the show. Betty, the i-Reports are still coming in. We're keeping an eye on them all day. And we will continue to bring you some right here on the air.
NGUYEN: You're going to be reporting this morning on ways people can actually get messages to the families of the victims, aren't you?
LEVS: Yes, I am. It's really interesting. Start that night at midnight there was already a couple of places to do it online. So stay tuned. And I'll tell you how you can take part in that today.
NGUYEN: All right. Josh, we do appreciate it.
LEVS: Thanks a lot.
HOLMES: All right. We know tough economic times right about now, Betty. Everybody is struggling. But it's still Valentine's Day.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is.
HOLMES: You still want to do this and that for your sweetie, whatever it may be. But diamonds, ladies, you might have to settle for something else this time around.
NGUYEN: There are nice things you can do that don't cost a lot, right?
HOLMES: And, guys, we're going to give you options, including, just break up with her.
NGUYEN: No, don't do that.
HOLMES: Don't do that. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: They are just showing you some of the faces of those who died aboard that Flight 3407 that crashed in Buffalo, New York. Just nine faces we have there. We have a few names as well. Certainly don't have all the names and faces of the 50 victims yet, but certainly thoughts and prayers going out to many of them and their families right now.
There was one victim who was onboard that has been getting a lot of attention. Beverly Eckert is her name. Her husband, actually, was killed in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.
NGUYEN: Eckert was traveling, in fact, to Buffalo of a celebration of what would have been her husband's 58th birthday. As CNN's Randi Kaye reports, she had also planned to take part in the presentation of a scholarship award that she established in honor of her late husband.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These were happier times. Beverly Eckert and her husband, Sean Rooney, high school sweethearts. She worked in insurance, he worked on Wall Street. They lived in Connecticut across the street from this woman. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were the first neighbors that we met when we moved in. They came over with a fresh baked pie. It was still warm and it was quite delicious.
KAYE: Beverly and her husband enjoyed the theater. He was an avid golfer. She had book club. They didn't have any children, just the two of them. Then the planes hit.
BEVERLY ECKERT, FLIGHT 3407 VICTIM: My husband called me and he was very calm and he was trying to figure a way to get out of the building.
KAYE: Sean Rooney never found a way out. He perished in the World Trade Center's South Tower. Beverly couldn't make sense of it. He turned her grief into action.
ECKERT: Well, I'm simply resolved that his death won't be meaningless.
KAYE: She co-founded Voices of September 11th, an advocacy group for survivors and 9/11 families. Valarie Lucznikowska lost her nephew on 9/11 and got to know Beverly.
VALARIE LUCZNIKOWSKA, ECKERT FRIEND: We've lost an advocate for humanity. I'm still rejecting the understanding that Beverly isn't here anymore. I still can't quite accept that.
KAYE (on camera): Beverly worked tirelessly in her husband's name. She co-chaired the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, devoted to exposing failures that led up to the attacks and fixing them. She pushed for the 9/11 Commission and for Congress to adopt its recommendations.
ECKERT: That this bill doesn't pass, I don't think I'll ever -- I don't think I'll ever be able to go back there. I think I'll be too ashamed because -- first, because I will have failed my husband. And, secondly, because his government will have failed him again.
KAYE (voice over): In recent months Beverly started volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and working as a teacher's assistant. She had a boyfriend, too. Just last Friday she took the train to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Obama and other victims' families, about how he planned to handle terror suspects. Valerie was onboard with her.
LUCZNIKOWSKA: She had prepared a two-page agenda on what we could do about Guantanamo.
KAYE (on camera): What did she ask the president during this meeting?
LUCZNIKOWSKA: The one thing she asked the president during the meeting was if there would be more meetings. She was hoping that this would -- there would be something to build on.
KAYE (voice over): This picture was taken with Beverly's camera just minutes before that meeting. It is one of Beverly's last. She sent it to Valerie a couple of days ago. Beverly had launched a scholarship in her husband's name in their hometown of Buffalo, New York. She was headed there Thursday night, on Continental Flight 3407, to celebrate with family what would have been his 58th birthday. Just over seven years after a plane took her husband's life, a plane took her life.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: You know, we have been getting a lot of compelling images of the crash from our i-Reporters. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SIRENS BLARE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: This is video shot just after emergency crews arrived. You can hear the sirens there. And if you witness news, send us your i-Reports at iReport.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Valentine's Day.
HOLMES: What is that song, though?
NGUYEN: I just remember it from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
HOLMES: Oh, yeah. All right. There is a reason we're playing that song. Oh, "Twist & Shout." It's really not about "Twist & Shout."
NGUYEN: Well.
HOLMES: Oh, it's dance music.
NGUYEN: That's a little bit of a love story.
HOLMES: We're doing all this -- a bit of a love story. We're doing all of this because its Valentine's Day.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: Women often want, what? They have to have the flowers.
NGUYEN: I don't think you have to have -- I'm not one of those that has to have flowers.
HOLMES: You have to have what then, Betty?
NGUYEN: I don't know. I just want a fun day.
HOLMES: A fun day? Whatever. You want something material. NGUYEN: Seriously, I don't care that much about the flowers.
HOLMES: OK, then. What about the diamonds?
NGUYEN: Those are always good any day of the week. It doesn't have to be Valentine's Day.
HOLMES: It's a recession we're in.
NGUYEN: Hey, I'm not asking for them. You're just making conversation here. I'm following along.
HOLMES: Just making conversation. All right.
What we're talking agent here, a lot of --you can't just go out and just blow money maybe like you used to in the past.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: You have to do a little something, but you have to get a little more creative this year. Here are a few ideas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice over): Roses, chocolate, and jewelry, all romantic gifts for your sweetie on Valentine's Day. But when money is tight, what's a guy to do?
Author and dating coach Jula Jane says during these tough times guys will have to step out of the box and get creative with gift giving.
JULA JANE, DATING COACH: You can celebrate Valentine's Day and knock her socks off with simple things that don't cost a dime. Actually, a woman wants two things for Valentine's Day. She wants sentimentality and bragging rights.
HOLMES: What do the women think?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I definitely appreciate the more creative gift this year. Not only does it -- it would be something from the heart, you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It actually gives him a chance to really show that he knows you, more so than doing the typical things that everybody tends to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not cooking dinner is a real -- real nice gift for me.
HOLMES: It's not about how much you spend, Jane says, but the thought behind the gift that counts. She offers these tips.
Start her morning with breakfast in bed. Run her a bubble bath, complete with candles and music. Make a picnic on the living room floor. Write a hand-written love letter, or secretly leave a love note on the mirror in red lipstick. Just don't leave it to her to clean the mirror.
Restaurants are always an option, especially if you can find one like this where owners have reduced prices for meals this year.
RICK MOORE, OWNER, VINNINGS INN: You got to pay attention to the consumer. They're still going to go out but they're looking harder. They're not going to spend on high-end wines and champagnes like they were. They're not going to spend on some of the more exotic, you know, lobsters and fillets and some of those things. Obviously, people are backing off some. So we try to keep our menus where you can -- where it's approachable.
HOLMES: Or if you don't have a sweetheart, you can always pamper yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to treat myself so something special, maybe a bubble bath, maybe some candlelight. I'm going get the big box of chocolates because I should treat myself.
HOLMES: Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but Jane says nothing is better than the gift of time.
JANE: If you do these really creative things, she won't have time to think about where's my bling-bling, you know? She might think about it a week later.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Yes, she's going to think about it, but what gets me was the love note in lipstick on the mirror? Really.
HOLMES: Look, you are supposed to get creative.
NGUYEN: Have you ever done that?
HOLMES: I have not done that, no.
WOLF: How to be creative, get some Windex and some wipes. Because that's what you're doing. I mean, the note doesn't last that long. It's not a hallmark greeting.
NGUYEN: I'm sure it's hard to get off.
WOLF: It's lip stuff on a mirror, you know.
NGUYEN: You're not going to try it this year either?
WOLF: No. But you like bears, you love teddy bears.
NGUYEN: No. That's what I don't understand. Why do men give women teddy bears?
HOLMES: It's sweet and traditional.
NGUYEN: We're not 13-years-old.
HOLMES: It's just like the chocolates.
NGUYEN: What are we going to do? Put it on our bed?
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: You should. It's a gesture. It's sweet. It's traditional, Betty.
NGUYEN: You know what? Buy us a nice dinner.
HOLMES: You get the bear or get the break-up.
NGUYEN: That's the way to my heart, food. You know that.
WOLF: You will take the bear and you will accept it and you will like the bear, or it's over!
NGUYEN: It's your day, right?
WOLF: It's all over. That's right. Because you have to think about it, it's not just -- it's not receiving the gift, it's the joy of giving. If I gave you a bear and you say no, you're taking my joy.
NGUYEN: You know what, I would love a bear.
WOLF: You are ripping the joy away from me. You're taking the love.
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness. I'm a little frightened over here.
WOLF: It's true.
NGUYEN: Have you had a bad experience on Valentine's Day?
HOLMES: Several.
WOLF: In college I used to break up every time, break up every single time before Valentine's.
NGUYEN: With that kind of attitude, I see why. No, I'm kidding.
HOLMES: You don't do that with Erin (ph), did you? That's your wife.
WOLF: Oh, no, no, no. It's a whole different world.
HOLMES: I'm sure Erin (ph) is taken care of. Hello, out there, Reynolds.
WOLF: Sounds like I'm getting a little quiet now.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: Yeah. All right. NGUYEN: Simmer down, my friend.
WOLF: You pick your battles.
NGUYEN: Good.
HOLMES: Well, happy Valentine's Day to you all.
WOLF: She likes bears.
HOLMES: Please don't take it from us, all right? Just happy Valentine's Day and good luck to you. Quick break.
NGUYEN: Right. We're no experts in this department.
WOLF: What's wrong with bears? Come on, seriously?
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: They're great in a zoo.
WOLF: Exactly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this Valentine's Day. I hope you're having a good -- well, you're probably not up yet. But I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: You're planning. It's still early.
HOLMES: Yes. Those who are dreaming about it, some people probably.
NGUYEN: Right, maybe doing it for a while today.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Well, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for starting your day with us.
Well, the historic stimulus bill is passed late last night, bringing a promise to shorten some of those massive unemployment lines that we've seen all across America.
HOLMES: Also this morning, another big story we're working on. And it seems like ice is the big focus of that crash outside of Buffalo, New York. We'll be getting the latest on the crash of that Continental Connection Flight 3407.
But we start with this stimulus bill. President Obama, he is getting exactly what he wanted on this Valentine's Day: A big old bill, his bill. The massive economic stimulus package, it is heading towards his desk pretty soon. It might take a while since this stuff weighs a few pounds and it's about 1,100 pages thick. Congress passed that $787 billion bill late last night. Three Republicans in the Senate supported it, not a single Republican supported it in the House.
NGUYEN: Well, intelligence officials in Pakistan say 27 people were killed today in a suspected U.S. missile strike near the Afghan border. Unmanned U.S. drones have conducted a number of missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal region of South Waziristan. Officials say at least 15 other Taliban and al Qaeda militants were wounded in today's attack.
HOLMES: Federal investigators say the crew of Continental Connection Flight 3407 noticed significant ice buildup on the wings and windshield of that plane before it went down. As we know now, 50 people were killed when that commuter airplane crashed into a house right outside of Buffalo, New York, Thursday night. One person was killed inside the house. Investigators are not saying for certainty that ice was the cause of this crash.
NGUYEN: We want to give you a look at its flight path before it crashed. Take a look at this. As you know, 50 people died, including one person in the house at the time of the crash. But the big question is: Why, what happened here?
CNN's Mary Snow is on the ground right now in Clarence Center.
And, Mary, are you getting a clearer picture of exactly what went wrong?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Betty, at this stage, investigators have been able to give a very clear picture of those final moments because they were able to get those flight data and voice recorders and were able to analyze them. And as T.J. just pointed out, investigators are careful to say they don't know the cause of the crash.
But it certainly appears that they are focusing in on that ice buildup. This, as teams will continue today at the site in their recovery efforts. They are still recovering remains of the victims on that flight and we are getting a portrait of some of the people whose lives were lost.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): In an instant, 50 lives were lost when Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed. First officer Rebecca Shaw seen here in her Facebook page was just 25 years old. Her mother said she'd been flying for about a year and a half.
LYNN MORRIS, REBECCA SHAW'S MOTHER: She was light. She loved to fly. It was her passion. She just -- she just loved flying. Any time she could be in the air, she was an amazing woman.
She came very, very far. You know, she was full of energy. She'd try anything, would do anything, was up for any new experience. And she just loved life.
SNOW: Beverly Eckert had become a well-known advocate for 9/11 families after losing her husband, Sean Rooney in the tragedy. She had been slated to attend a ceremony at Canisius High School where a scholarship had been set up in her husband's memory.
Fifty-five-year-old Susan Wehle was a cantor at Temple Beth Am. She was returning from a Costa Rica vacation. Her friend, Rick Ellis, was going to pick her up at the airport and last heard from her at 8:29 Thursday night. She sent him a text to say her plane was delayed and that she'd take a taxi if it was too late.
RICHARD ELLIS, SUSAN WEHLE'S FRIEND: She would go to places that I could only dream of. And every time she would go, she would do things spiritually to bring her closer to the earth, to bring her closer to God.
SNOW: Also going home to Buffalo, 66-year-old Alison Des Forges, recognized as one of the world's leading experts on Rwanda. She's remembered as a role model and human rights activist. Friends and colleagues say she may have been barely five feet tall but she was a lion of a force, fighting to stop the genocide in Rwanda.
KENNETH ROTH, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: For somebody who spent so much of the last 20 years flying around the world for the people of Rwanda, there's a sad irony that she met her fate on an airplane.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Also on board, two musicians who played with jazz musician Chuck Mangione. They had been scheduled to appear and play in Buffalo. And that is why they were headed here on Thursday night. There'd been a number of memorial services already, Betty, that have been taking place in this area. We also expect to get an update from local officials in the next hour -- Betty?
NGUYEN: Yes, hopefully, they'll provide more information, that coming to us at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Mary, thank you for that.
Well, in an effort to understand exactly what went wrong, we're going to talk to someone who had been part of the investigation just like this. The former investigator general for the Department of Transportation will join us in just a few minutes.
Also coming up at the top of the hour, the town of -- actually, the town supervisors of Clarence Center. They're expected as we talked about, to hold a news conference on exactly what happened and what they're finding. Stay with us here on CNN. We'll have that news conference for you at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.
HOLMES: Well, maybe it wasn't pretty but a win is a win, and President Obama is calling it a win for his administration. Late last night, Congress passed its stimulus plan with days to spare before his deadline. He'd said he wanted it on his desk by Presidents Day, that's coming up on Monday. The final tab, $787 billion. After he signs it into law, the president promises to keep a close eye on how the government is going to be handing out all that cash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: That's why our goal must be to spend these precious dollars with unprecedented accountability, responsibility, and transparency. I've tasked my cabinet and staff to set up the kind of management, oversight and disclosure that will help ensure that, and I will challenge state and local governments to do the same.
Once the plan is put into action, a new Web site, Recovery.gov, will allow any American to watch where the money goes and weigh in with comments and questions. And I encourage every American to do so. Ultimately, this is your money and you deserve to know where it's going and how it's spent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Like I say, it wasn't necessarily pretty, but a win is a win. And he won this without the bipartisan partnership that he had hoped to establish in the House and in the Senate. He only got three Republicans, three senators, actually, it was, to actually vote for this thing. A lot of Republicans are just not happy that -- not happy that the price tag of it was just so huge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: The Republicans proposal had the added benefit of being about half the cost of the Democrat plan. But Democrats control Congress, which means that they got to choose which approach to use. And earlier this week, they hashed out the final details of a bill that, as some of them would like to point out, was written almost entirely by them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Republicans mainly are complaining here that so much of that money isn't being directed where it's need. It's not stimulative. They say a lot of spending is wasteful, including there's money in there for new government cars, also some golf carts in there somewhere.
Paul Steinhauser, let's bring you back in -- our deputy political director here. Well, there is a lot of stuff in there. And you know what? Not everybody is exactly sure what's in there because not everybody read the doggone thing.
So, what's in there? How is this money going to be spent? What's it going towards?
STEINHAUSER: A lot of money, T.J.
HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: As you said, $787 billion. About 1/3 of it goes to government spending, for infrastructure, especially -- bridges, tunnels, roads, to build them or repair them. Part of the idea here is to create new jobs. Part of it goes for energy.
A lot of the money, T.J., about a 1/3 of it goes to the states, so they can pay Medicaid, they can pay food stamps and unemployment benefits because they've got so many people on unemployment now -- they need extra money to pay for the benefits.
And about 1/3 of it goes for tax cuts for businesses and for average Americans. If you're an individual making $75,000 or less, you're going to get $400 per year. If you're a family making $150,000 or less, you're going to get about $800 per year. That really works out to about $13 per week in take home pay.
As you mentioned, the Republicans, they didn't see the bill. That's their complaint. They said, 1,100 pages, we barely got a chance to read it.
Take a listen to House Minority Leader John Boehner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: Here we are with 1,100 pages. Eleven-hundred pages and not one member of this body has read. Not one. There may be some staffer over in the Appropriations Committee that read all of this last night.
I don't know how you could read 1,100 pages between midnight and now. Not one member has read this. What happened to the promise that we're going to let the American people see what's in this bill for 48 hours? But, nope, we don't have time to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Now, if you want to read the bill, you can go online right now. It is online on the government Web sites. And you can read all 1,100 pages.
President Obama, he'll probably sign the bill into law on Monday, Presidents Day, or Tuesday. And then, he's back out on the road, talking about the bill and later this week, he's talking about home foreclosure crisis -- T.J.?
HOLMES: But -- Paul, is there something not fundamentally wrong and perplexing about passing a bill that nobody has read and what was wrong with the 48 hours?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, I think part of the pressure here was that the Democrats wanted to get this bill to President Obama by Presidents Day. He'd asked for that for quite some time.
HOLMES: Well, just because? We don't want to read it just because we want to make this deadline?
(LAUGHTER)
STEINHAUSER: Yes, I think that's part of it. You heard the Republican complaints there. But, you know what? When they were running the House of Representatives and Congress in general, for a long time, they did some of the same tactics. So, you know, they're complaining now but they were doing some of the same things when they were running the shop, T.J.
HOLMES: Business as usual in Washington, D.C. Paul Steinhauser, we appreciate you this morning. Talk to you again here soon, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
NGUYEN: All right. So, how would the stimulus package help you and me directly? We want to know that.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: A lot of people do, especially since it's our money, the taxpayer money that's going into it. Here's Josh Levs with some answers to that.
Hey, Josh.
LEVS: Hey there. Yes, you know what? Paul was touching on it a little bit there, but there's also other ways that people are going to be helped when it comes to buying a car even paying for college. We'll break it down for you -- coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE HARTZELL, WITNESS: You could tell when the plane came in, it was going -- errrr, errrr, errrr (ph). And we see planes and hear planes go overall the time. So, as the plane was going over, you knew something was wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And we are going to get some more information on exactly what went wrong at the top of the hour at 8:00 o'clock Eastern. We're going to hear from some of the officials on the ground as to what's happening, especially with the families who lived near this crash site. A lot of them have been displaced, as you see there in that picture. There is a huge fire that surrounded that area following the crash.
One home was destroyed, but many of those living around it actually had to evacuate. We're going to find out exactly where they're going and what's going to be done since this obviously occurred just a couple of days ago, yesterday, actually.
HOLMES: Yes, it was on the night on Thursday.
NGUYEN: On Thursday, yes. And what is happening with those families. Also, what's happening in the investigation. So stay tuned for that.
HOLMES: Also, we're going to head over to Reynolds Wolf, keeping an eye on things, all things weather-related.
I see we're using a severe weather graphic again there, Reynolds. But we got some stuff going on in Chicago right now. We're about to (ph) hear that airport, snow, Chicago -- those things don't go together. WOLF: Yes, that's true. Thankfully, though, in Chicago, the situations are going to be improving. What they're going to be seeing for the rest of the day probably just a little bit of wind and also some flurries. Certainly, nothing that's going to hamper too many delays for the time being. So, it's going to be an improving situation.
However, T.J., things are going to start getting worse on parts of the gulf coast. Take a look at I-10. You got plenty of rain, you'll notice a lot of reds, a few yellows and orange spots here and they're popping up on radar -- that's for heaviest precipitation. So, you're going to have some slick conditions there on the roads.
Also, back over towards Louisiana, same deal. We're not be surprised to see a little bit of flash flooding in a few locations. And as we make our way farther back out to the west, the situation is going to be very interesting. Here's the way it's going to shake out for you.
We're talking about snow in parts of the Great Lakes and to the rain in the southeast, but it's going to be the west where you have this high area of high pressure area and low pressure that's going to create a lot of wind. And with that, you got to have some wind gusts topping 65 miles an hour especially from San Francisco southward along Highway One into Monterey. Gusts, 65. That is the equivalent of a tropical storm. So, you're going to have those through a good part of the weekend.
But in terms of snowfall, take a look at this up to the north here. In Mount Shuksan (ph), you see anywhere from nine to 16 inches of snowfall possible, into places like Lake Tahoe and southward along the Sierra Nevada, anywhere from one to two feet. Now, this is going to be in the highest peaks, your highest elevations. But still, nonetheless, we're talking about a major winter storm for much of the west coast, something we're going to watch for you very carefully.
That is the latest news for you. Let's send it back to the news desk.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, we appreciate you as always. See you here, shortly.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, the stimulus bill has gone through a whole lot of changes since it began working its way through Congress.
HOLMES: Yes. A few billion worth of changes, and it's latest form, how much does it actually offer you?
Josh Levs is here with the CNN Money breakdown -- Josh?
LEVS: Yes, hey there. You know what? We keep hearing a lot about what's wrong with it from different sides and the different side complaints about pork. But we really need to stop and break down some ways that it could help you. There's a great breakdown from the final version, the measure (INAUDIBLE) were here, thanks to the folks at CNNMoney.com. And this is it. Thanks to our Jane Sajade (ph).
How it may affect your wallet. I went over some statistics with her. We've been looking at the document itself. Let's take a look at this. We got some graphics for you.
So, I want to break down some of the biggest ways it will help you. Let's start up with this. How much would you save on your taxes? Well, we're talking about a $400 credit per worker. And there's also something in there for people who are not working. Obviously, a lot of people are in that situation right now. There's a one-time $250 payment for people who are in that situation.
Let's go to the next screen now. You might be wanting to make a purchase -- obviously, the government is trying to encourage that kind of economic activity. If you buy a car, you'll be able to deduct your state and local sales taxes. Also, if you're buying a home but only for the first time, you're a first-time home buyer, check that out -- they have raised the credit for first-time home buyers 500 bucks, that's up to $8,000. So, under this bill, you'd be able to get that much if you a home within that year.
And two more things I want to show you here. Two of the biggest things we hear every time we ask you your biggest financial concerns, you're talking about paying for college and talk about health. So, here are these two. Paying for college, you get a $2,500 credit, which is up from $1,800. And your health insurance -- for people who lose their jobs -- the government will cover two-thirds of your COBRA premiums.
A lot more details here at CNNmoney.com and I will tell you that for all these things, there are salary caps. So, if you make a lot of money, you won't be able to take advantage of all that. But for the rest of the people, guys, there's some help there in this bill.
NGUYEN: OK. Appreciate it.
LEVS: All right.
NGUYEN: You know, in an effort to understand what went wrong in the crash of Flight 3407, we're going to talk to someone who has been a part of investigations just like this, that being the former investigator general for the Department of Transportation. She's going to join us in just a few minutes.
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NGUYEN: Well, as families grieve over the lost loved ones, investigators are spending the weekend trying to figure out what caused Flight 3407 to crash. Mary Schiavo knows exactly what signs that they are looking for. She's a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation, and she works for a law firm that sues airlines. And she joins us now on the phone.
Mary, you've got a lot of experience in this area. From everything that you've heard and seen, what do you think happened? VOICE OF MARY SCHIAVO, FMR. INSPECTOR GENERAL: Well, I think it was definitely icing, but there are three different kinds of icing and three different suspects. One is icing on the wings and the inability of the boots on the airplanes to break off the ice or on other parts of the plane that weren't protected by the boots. There's another situation called ice contaminated tail plane stalls, where the tail accumulates ice.
And the sad thing is, to recover from either one of those, you have to do exactly the opposite. If you have regular icing and icing on parts of the wings that aren't covered by boots, you put the nose down to avoid a stall. And if you get tail plane icing, you sometimes have to pull the nose up to recover. But this plane does have sensors and warnings, and the crew -- if they were working, the crew would have been alerted that they were coming and probably will try to do everything.
NGUYEN: So, Mary, are you saying that it could have possibly been a pilot error and not doing the right thing to recover from an icing situation?
SCHIAVO: No, most likely what it was, is there was too much icing for this plane. And the United States government as recently as October 2008, the NTSB asked again to please have more stringent requirements for turboprop airplanes. They wanted stricter rules. It's been on the National Transportation Safety Board 10 most wanted items.
And so, I think probably what occurred, particularly given where they were in the flight pattern, is when they put on the flaps, the icing was too much for the plane to handle, and that is just a problem with turboprop planes and heavy icing.
NGUYEN: Yes, it's been a problem and we read about that, learned about it especially as of late. But at the same time, this plane was a fairly new type of aircraft. It also had all the modern technology for de-icing. So, is this something that they really need to look at when it comes to putting more of these planes in the air?
SCHIAVO: Absolutely. Though it had all the modern technology for a turboprop plane., the NTSB -- and they are going to be very interesting in this because they've been looking for more improvements -- even if you have all the equipment, it's still not the same equipment as you have on a jet airplane.
And the NTSB has been very concerned that perhaps turboprops should not be going into severe icing conditions or icing conditions such as this, and planes in the past have been banned. For example, the ATR which crashed in Roselawn was grounded for a while and was relegated to Caribbean Island service.
NGUYEN: Mary Schiavo, former Department of Transportation inspector general. Thanks for your insight this morning. We do appreciate it.
SCHIAVO: Thank you. NGUYEN: And coming up at the top of the hour, officials on the ground are expected to have a news conference. We're going to get an update on what's happening with families who have been displaced by the fatal crash of Flight 3407. A lot of families around that crash site had to evacuate. So what happens to them now? We'll bring you a live update.
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NGUYEN: Take a look at these compelling images from the crash. They were taken by i-Reporter Blake Walker who rushed to the scene right after that plane went down. He joins us now live.
Blake, talk to me about how you first learned of this crash. Did you hear it falling out of the sky?
BLAKE WALKER, i-Reporter: No, I didn't. I wasn't actually close enough to hear it out of the sky. I saw a report on the local news and heard the name of the street and realized that I know people that live on the street. And so, my concern was for them, to see if they were OK.
NGUYEN: And walk us through what you were able to capture in these pictures. What did you see and hear and feel as you walked upon it?
WALKER: You know, it was overcast and cloudy, rainy, icy. And visibility was very difficult, especially with the amount of smoke and the flames reflecting off of the smoke. It was difficult to see anything. I ended up walking up through a field and with a telephoto lens being able to make the images that I got.
NGUYEN: Were you surprised that more homes weren't destroyed? Because we saw quite an inferno after the crash.
WALKER: It was very -- it was incredible that it was so localized. You know, normally, you see on television how it takes out, you know, hundreds of yards worth of houses. And Long Street is only two blocks long actually. And I thought that the whole thing could be gone.
NGUYEN: I know you know people in that neighborhood. How is the community coping with this loss?
WALKER: Well, everyone, you know, feels a sense of loss and tragedy. But Western New York is a very tight-knit community and we're going get through this just like we've gotten through everything else.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. I know a lot of families have been displaced and they're going to be hopefully making their way back into their homes some time soon.
Blake, thank you for these pictures. They are very compelling. They take us right to the scene of what happened there on that fateful day when that plane went down there in that neighborhood. Thank you so much for your time.
And, of course, we have so much more on the investigation. In fact, there's a news conference at the top of the hour. In the meantime, though ...
HOLMES: "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts now. Betty and I will be back at the top of the hour with that press conference for you. Stay here.
