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EARLY START

Harrison Ford Injured in Plane Crash; Plane Slides Off LaGuardia Icy Runway; Winter Storm Wreaks Havoc Across Northeast; Car Attack in East Jerusalem; TNT's Sager Returns to NBA Sideline

Aired March 6, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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


CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Harrison Ford in the hospital this morning after crash landing his plane on a golf course. How he's doing this morning.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Panic on board a Delta Airlines flight. That jet just skidded off the runway, through a fence there. Its nose hanging out over the icy bay. We'll tell you how it happened and new details from the survivors.

ROMANS: Thousands of flights across the country grounded as a severe winter storm barreling across the country, closing schools, paving roads with ice. What you can expect today.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Great to see you. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

What day is it?

ROMANS: It is Friday.

BERMAN: It is Friday, March 6th.

ROMANS: And 14 days until spring.

BERMAN: We're fact-checking that right now. We got our advance people on that one.

This morning, NTSB investigators, they are on the scene where Harrison Ford's vintage World War II plane crashed on a golf course in southern California. He was the pilot of that plane, landing it on that golf course. He was hurt as that plane went down. He is in the hospital right now. We're told he suffered moderate injuring, recovering this morning.

Crews this morning are going to move that plane to a location where investigators can get a closer look. Now, we're told that people who were near the airport, that engine noise tipped them off that something was wrong seconds after takeoff. You can see here someone who lived by there was able to take cell phone video of the flight as it was crash landing.

CNN's Kyung Lah has a report now from the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, investigators have been here in the overnight hours, trying to figure out exactly why this vintage plane lost power in the engine.

What you can see over my shoulder is this extraordinary landing. You can see that the nose of this plane is bent into the ground. This is a small golf course you're looking at.

The propeller is ground into the grass but look at the body of the plane. It really wasn't that damaged. Harrison Ford was seated in one of those two seats. He did have some head injuries but some of the people here. Witnesses say that he was bleeding from the head but they managed to get him out, take him to the hospital.

He is pointed towards the runway. Neighbors say they actually heard the engine stall.

JENS LUCKING, WITNESS: I heard it having problems, then he turned around, when he was right by the house, the engine cut out, then he turned around. That's what I heard, he turned around, tried to get back to the airport.

LAH: That neighbor says Ford is quite a good pilot to manage right here, only about 30 yards from where I'm standing -- the houses are about 50 yards away. Ford's publicist says he is banged up but should be OK -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Thanks for that, Kyung. Wish him a speedy recovery.

Another crash landing, this one at New York's LaGuardia Airport. A Delta jetliner slid off an icy runway Thursday coming -- that's a chilling in all kinds of photo, coming to rest near feet from the frigid waters of Flushing Bay. This morning, two big industrial cranes moving the plane off the snowy berm where it came to rest, so the flights can resume on that runway.

CNN's Will Ripley has the latest on the accident from LaGuardia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, throughout the overnight hours, work continuing here to move that Delta flight off of the runway where it landed, slid about 4,000 feet and ended just dangerously close to the icy water, Delta 1086. We saw pictures coming in of two large cranes that were intending to lift the aircraft, turn it around and bring it into a hangar, as the NTSB continues to investigate how this happened.

Passengers describe a really terrifying scenario as this plane from Atlanta was coming in on Thursday morning, around 11:00. Shortly after 11:00. They say there was no traction. They felt a thud, they were thrown and then the plane just kept sliding, again, 4,000 feet on a 7,000-foot runway. The nose crashed right through a fence and were it not for a berm that the plane became wedged on, the plane could have actually slide into the water which would have been a very dangerous scenario.

As it turned out, passengers were able to evacuate. There was a problem with some of the emergency chutes. They didn't deploy. So, firefighters climbed up on the wing and helped these people climb out, some of them without jackets out, climbed out, walked off of the plane, and then trudged through the snowy runway, through the cold, through the ice and snow to safety.

But remarkably, everybody was able to walk away from this. And another thing that's being looked into right now, just minutes before this plane landed runway conditions, the breaking conditions were reported to be good by two other planes. It just goes to show the dangers of taking off, in this case, landing in this icy weather. Winter weather that has caused a number of travel delays in the New York area and across the country -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Thanks to Will Ripley.

The weather was terrible yesterday. The situation at LaGuardia made the travel situation across the country that much worse.

ROMANS: The storm led to the cancellation of nearly 5,000 flights in the United States on Thursday. That means more than 20 percent of all flights scheduled never left the ground. And the icy conditions making travel just as dangerous on the roads. Watch this surveillance picture in Rhode Island.

BERMAN: That is awful.

ROMANS: An out of control hatchback slides into a parked car that then hits that woman. She walked away from the crash. We're told she was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

BERMAN: Wow. In Philadelphia, the weight of the snow and ice helped collapse that roof there at a five story apartment building. One resident was taken to the hospital there for evaluation.

ROMANS: In Kentucky this barn collapsed under the weight of the heavy wet snow. You can see the whole thing caved in. None of the rescue horses were hurt but they need a new home noun.

BERMAN: Tractor trailer carrying 93 head of cattle overturned on a Maryland highway. No people were hurt in the crash. We don't know if any of the cows were injured.

ROMANS: Drivers in Kentucky stranded on Interstate I-65 for hours. Look at that. It looks like a virtual parking lot. The governor says state officials did all they could to prepare.

BERMAN: Severe flooding in West Virginia, look at this, those are rivers, actually, those are roads covered by the water there. You can see the people who are out there and tried to drive, had a tough time, shouldn't drive in standing water.

Similar scene playing out in Virginia. Those too are roads, though, man, you see the streets. Look at the street sign right there.

ROMANS: It only takes six inches of water, maybe even less than six inches to sweep an SUV off the road.

BERMAN: Crazy.

ROMANS: Huge storm now moving off into the Atlantic, but behind it is cold. Cold temperatures.

I want to bring in meteorologist Derek Van Dam for an early look at your weather this morning.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John and Christine.

Just to give you an idea of how potent this cold front actually was, we had a 50 degree temperature drop in Jackson, Mississippi, from Wednesday into Thursday, as this cold front swept through.

Here it is on our satellite loop, this large shading of white, that, of course, being the cloud cover, moving off the New England coast, plunging our temperatures to near record low minimum temperatures especially across the East Coast. Record lows near the Big Apple, 6 agrees. We're in the middle teens at the moment.

We'll be running about 18 degrees below where we should be this time of year, normal temperature for New York City is about 36. More of the same for Washington, D.C., and towards Atlanta.

This is going to be deceiving. Sunshine across the eastern half of the United States, with the exception of a few scattered showers throughout the Florida panhandle. A lot of us have been wondering, is this the last of winter? Well, one thing's for sure, only 14 more days until spring.

Back to you.

BERMAN: We have breaking news out of Israel right now. Police there are treating a car attack in East Jerusalem as an act of terrorism. Officials say several people were injured, including four police officers. Suspect who police say tried to run over and also stab several people has been shot by police and was taken into custody.

I want to get the latest now from Jerusalem, CNN's Oren Liebermann is there.

Oren, what do you know?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN REPORTER: John, we're getting more details about this and putting together the story of what happened here this morning, about 10:00 local time, just a short distance of the old city of Jerusalem, not far from where we are now. Here is what police tell us so far. Police tell us at about 10:00 this morning local time, a driver on route 1 was driving north when he turned on to a shoulder or bike lane and hit four Israeli female soldiers and a cyclist before turning back on to the road and continuing for about another quarter mile.

Police say a light rail security guard opened fire on the vehicle to stop the vehicle. Police say then the driver of that vehicle got out of the vehicle, pulled a knife and that's when security guards shot that suspect twice. Police are investigating this and calling this a terrorist attack and we're learning about the conditions of everyone involved. The four Israeli female soldiers and the other involved are lightly to moderately wounded. The suspect is severely wounded and in custody and was taken into the hospital.

A bit of a better idea where there was, again, this is just a short distance north of the old city on the line between west and east Jerusalem.

So, John, we have more details coming in all the time here. Getting more information. Certainly, we'll keep you posted on what we find out here in Jerusalem.

BERMAN: All right. Stay on that for us, Oren, I do appreciate it. Again, we have seen this kind of activity in Israeli. I call them four policewomen. It turns, they were four Israeli soldiers.

Oren, thanks for that reporting.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your morning this morning. U.S. stock futures, they're not moving much right now. Yesterday, the Dow climbed after the European Central Bank said it would start its bond buying program on Monday. The Dow gained 40 points breaking a two-day losing streak.

This morning, the February jobs report is the big, big story. That's at 8:30 Eastern Time. We'll be closely looking to see how strong jobs growth was and also what happened with wages.

Apple Pay is facing a wave of fraudulent purchases with stolen credit card information. According to "The Wall Street Journal", thieves are taking stolen credit card information and entering it into smartphones and making purchases without an actual credit card or a signature.

BERMAN: Uh-oh!

ROMANS: Guess where they're getting that data, that information? Oh, yeah, buying it from the recent hacks at retailers like Home Depot and Target. About 80 percent of the purchases have been made at Apple Stores. So watch this space.

Ten minutes past the hour, dramatic testimony and new disturbing images.

The second day of Boston bombing marathon trial. We have those details next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Day two in the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, featuring more disturbing images from the scene of the attack near the marathon finish line. Along with more gripping testimony from survivors recalling perhaps the worst day of their lives.

We get more from CNN's Alexander Field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and John, the jury saw gruesome images of the aftermath of the second explosion, the one that went off in front of the Forum Restaurant.

It's same spot where William Richard was with his family. Surveillance picks show him with two of his young children, who are pressed up against the police barrier watching runners go by before that bomb goes off.

On the stand, Richard speaks about his 6-year-old daughter Jane, who lost her leg, 8-year-old son, Martin, lost his life. Richard said that he heard the first explosion, the one that happened near the finish line. He said at that point, time seemed to slow down. He had the thought to get his family out of there but they ran out of time.

We also heard from Boston police officers who testified about their efforts to try to save the lives of two of the young women killed on that day. One officer talking about being at Lingzi Lu's side, watching her body shaking and quivering. Another officer talking about trying to comfort Crystal Campbell, seeing smoke coming out of her mouth and realizing what a great deal she was in.

We heard from Roseann Sdoia who said she was on Boylston Street and thought she was going to bleed out. At one point, she asked police to take her sister's phone number, she didn't want them to have to call her parents to told them their daughter died on Boylston Street.

And for the first time, jurors also learned about how police begun to identify their suspects. Jeffrey Bauman, the one seen in that iconic being rescued by the man in the cowboy hat, he was injured during the first bombing, the one that happened near the finish line. He says on that day, he noticed someone later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, that man stuck out in the crowd to him, he was wearing a black hat, a black coat, a backpack. He wasn't with anyone, he wasn't watching the race, Bauman said.

When he later woke up at the hospital missing both legs, he remembered that face. Right away he told police he knew what had happened -- Christine, John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: So sad. Thanks, Alexander, for that. The family of Michael Brown is moving forward with plans for a

wrongful death suit against Officer Darren Wilson in the city of Ferguson, Missouri. It comes after a Justice Department report found widespread discrimination in the Ferguson Police Department. But that report cleared Officer Wilson in the Michael Brown shooting. An attorney for the family says they disagree with that finding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY GRAY, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Officer Darren Wilson did not have to shoot and kill Mike Brown Jr. in broad daylight in the manner that he did, that he had other options available to him. And that he chose deadly force as his option and we plan to demonstrate, in a court of law, to reasonable-minded people that the choice to use deadly force was unreasonable and unnecessary under those circumstances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Michael Brown's parents have said they're disappointed with the Justice Department decision.

ROMANS: Jodi Arias is escaping the death penalty for a second time. The jury at her sentencing retrial unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether arias should be executed for killing ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. A jury that originally convicted Arias of the 2008 murder also deadlocked on her punishment. The judge now must determine whether Arias will be sentenced to life or to life with the possibility of release after 25 years.

BERMAN: Veteran NBA sideline reporter Craig Sager, he made a colorful return to action. So good to see him after being treated for leukemia. Andy Scholes has this awesome story in the "Bleacher Report", next.

ROMANS: After looking into a recent United Airlines cheap fare error, the Department of Transportation says the airline does not have to honor the tickets sold at the cheaper price. A few weeks ago, some of United first class transatlantic flights were sold for as low as $51. United said it was a software error with the currency exchange on its Denmark Web site.

The airline issued a statement saying it would void the bookings of several thousand individuals who, quote, "took advantage of the extremely low prices, which they blamed on a, quote, "third party software provider." However, in this case, the DOT said since the flights were not advertised or marketed to customers in the United States and because some buyer misrepresented their billing address to obtain the fare, it is taking no action against the airline.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: What a great night. Eleven months after diagnosed with leukemia, TNT's Craig Sager made his return to the sidelines.

ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report". Hey, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Thursday night on TNT, it hasn't been the same without Craig Sager. We definitely missed all his endgame interviews, as well as those outrageous suits he's always wearing on the sidelines. Sager made his return last night in Chicago for the Bulls/Thunder game. He received a hero's welcome.

Crowd giving Sager a standing ovation and Benny the Bull presented him with his own fancy custom Bulls sports coat. Pretty cool stuff there. Sager in full remission after his battle with leukemia. He said he lost nearly 50 pounds during his treatment, forcing him to update the most colorful wardrobe in television.

Sager picked a good game to make his return. Thunder and Bulls coming down to the wire. Russell Westbrook did not have another triple- double on this one, but had more than 40 points for a third straight game.

Thunder up by one in the closing seconds. But the Bulls, they execute an inbounds play to perfection. Pau Gasol finds E'Twaun Moore for the three. That would be your game winner. Bulls beat the Thunder 108- 105.

New York Giants tight-end Larry Donnell is OK after being on board the plane that skidded off the snowy runway at LaGuardia airport yesterday. He gave a play-by-play of what was happening, posting pictures of passengers getting off the flight. First responders arrived on the scene. Donnell was on his way back to New York to sign a reported one year deal with the Giants.

NASCAR driver Kurt Busch will not face criminal charges over the claims of domestic violence by his ex-girlfriend. Delaware prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to bring the case to trial. Patricia Driscoll accused Busch of slamming her head into a wall last September. Busch maintains he is innocent. And during his defense, he claimed Driscoll is a government-trained assassin who carries out secret missions around the world. NASCAR says Busch will remain indefinitely suspended.

Fresh off winning her last fight in 14 seconds, UFC champ Rhonda Rousey is doing an interview with a reporter and this guy told Rousey he didn't think she could compete with him because he's a man. Well, then this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RHONDA ROUSEY: Sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt my ribs crush.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: This was not an act. Rousey really did break this guy's ribs with that judo flip, guys. Lesson learned for every man out there -- don't talk trash to Rhonda Rousey. BERMAN: Had it coming, right? I mean --

ROMANS: Let as re-enact this right now.

BERMAN: I would never make that claim to you, because I know you could beat me up.

SCHOLES: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

ROMANS: I wonder what the insurance company says about that.

BERMAN: I don't think HR approves of you hurting me during the broadcast, but we can test it.

ROMANS: I will just hurt you with my words, John Berman.

All right. Twenty-five minutes past the hour.

Harrison Ford hospitalized. His plane crash lands on to a golf course. How that happened and how he's doing, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)