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Delta Plane Flips Upside-Down And Catches Fire, 18 Injured; Now: High-Stakes Meeting Between U.S. and Russian Officials Wraps Up; Gov. Hochul Convenes Meeting Amid Calls For Mayor Adams' Resignation. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 18, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, what are -- what are your questions this morning about this?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): Well, I have a series of them, Kate. As I look at the video of this aircraft as it landed it appears it didn't flare. This is what happens as you get closer to the ground and the pilots pull back on the wheel or the yoke to slow down the rate of descent. That aircraft would be descending at about 700 or 800 feet per minute. And as you get close to the ground anybody who has flown -- what happens is they pull back ever so slightly to reduce that rate of descent to make for a smooth landing.

That appeared not to happen here. Now why was that? Was there some sort of what we call windshear, which is a sudden change -- an abrupt change in the wind speed which could have dramatically reduced the (audio gap), or was there some other factor?

But even with that, it's extraordinary to see the collapse of that landing gear. That must have indicated a lot of impact or maybe some problem with the landing gear itself.

BOLDUAN: Miles, I'm just being told -- Mary and Miles, I'm just being told from the control room we have some new video in. I'm not sure both of you can see our live air but we're going to play it for everyone. Let's watch it together. The is the moment that the plane is coming -- oh.

And Miles, this seems to speak to what you were just talking about is what traditionally would happen as the pilots are bringing it in at this last minute -- and just look how hard that impact is.

O'BRIEN: Yeah, it's a hard landing to be sure. There is no evidence of what we call the flare to arrest that descent.

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

O'BRIEN: They were coming in and it was a stabilized approach up to that point at about 700 or 800 feet per minute. It's a little mystifying to me that would cause that level of destruction. So was there something else that happened that increased the rate of descent at the last minute? Perhaps some meteorological condition or was there some problem mechanically with the landing gear?

BOLDUAN: Mary, what are you thinking about this morning when you see this new video? You see the other video, you hear the accounts of the people, and the fact that 18 people were injured but everyone was able to survive and get out of this.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (via Webex by Cisco): Well, and then there's yet another video circulating out there. It hasn't -- it hasn't been confirmed but it sures looks like this. And you can see the plane from the right-hand side, and you can see that moment of impact. You can see the wheels break off, and you can see the right wing snap, which then would further explain why the plane cartwheeled. The left wing is still, at least for a while before it too gets damaged, is going to have lift. It's going to cause that plane to cartwheel, and you can see that.

Now, my questions will go back a little bit before that. I am curious about the communications with air traffic control. Air traffic control did give crosswind warnings. It did give wind warnings. There were both METARs and other weather forecasts.

And then the tower said something very strange to me. It said you might have a bump from the previous aircraft. Did the controller mean that the previous aircraft reported windshear or reported a really rough landing, or could it be -- and it just can't be because they aren't allowed to land aircraft that closely -- could it be some kind of a wake vortex? I mean, that is not allowed. Air traffic controllers must have significant space.

And then, of course, if there is windshear one would expect -- and Toronto Pearson is a very advanced airport. They do have windshear detection equipment. If there was any kind of windshear warning.

So I agree completely with Miles, and I still have questions. I'd back it up a few more minutes just to see what happened in the -- in the minute before this very bad, as Miles said, pancake landing. There was no attempt to flare at all, which slows a plane down and it will put your back wheels on the runway first.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. It's so -- I'm always so thankful to have both of your expertise on this.

I want to play for everyone how one of the passengers described what he experienced. He was sitting in the 10th row of the aircraft. Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN NELSON, SURVIVED DELTA PLANE CRASH: And we were coming in and I did notice that, like, the winds were super gusty. The snow had kind of blown over the runways. And when we hit it was just a super-hard -- like, it hit the ground and the plane went sideways. And I believe we skidded, like, on our side and then flipped over on our back where we ended up. There was like a big fireball on the left side of the plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:35:00]

BOLDUAN: Mary, what do investigators -- the good thing that investigators have, they have an intact plane. They have a lot of survivors.

SCHIAVO: Right.

BOLDUAN: Everyone surviving that they can interview after all of this.

What do you take from what you hear from that one passenger?

SCHIAVO: Well, from that one passenger it describes what we're now seeing on all these videos that are surfacing, and these videos are very helpful. But, of course, the investigators are going to look at the condition of the plane, as Miles said, and recent maintenance, and anything related to that aircraft.

But they are also going to be looking at the aircraft limitations. Every aircraft has its own limitation. You know, bigger planes have larger wind tolerances and crosswind tolerances. And this one's -- you know, it was right on the cusp. CRJ900 -- it's rated for -- if the runway is slippery not much more than 15 knots or are all the way up to 37 knots. So the investigators are also going to look if this plane was performing within the parameters that this plane is rated to perform it.

BOLDUAN: Miles, Mary, thank you both. As always, thank you so much. They're just beginning this investigation.

And as we go, let's play -- let's show that video one more time -- this new video that we've just gotten cleared -- this new video -- and let's watch this just one more time to see this new angle that we're getting of what became an amazing moment. I mean, the video to see with the plane that -- you see that fireball. That black smoke that just explodes up and how hard that plane impacts the runway.

Much more to come. That investigation very clearly just getting underway -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, more breaking news. Just getting word that the meeting between Russian and U.S. officials over the fate of Ukraine without Ukraine being there -- that first meeting in Saudi Arabia just wrapped up.

The first description we're getting from it is from Russian officials who are calling it positive.

Let's get right to CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen who is in Moscow this morning. Fred, what are you hearing?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, John.

Yeah, the meeting apparently just adjourned. And you're absolutely right -- the first information that we're getting is from the Russians. And one of the ones who is speaking is one for their chief negotiators, Yuri Ushakov, who is also a senior Kremlin aide. And he used the Russian words to describe it "neplokho," which means "not bad." That's how the Russians are describing it.

Ushakov saying that all of the serious questions between the two countries -- between the U.S. and Russia were discussed at that meeting. He also says that it's not clear that any headway was made on any of those topics, but he does say at least the two sides talked about it. So it seems as though it was a very open discussion.

The other big thing, of course, that everybody is asking is whether or not any headway was made on a direct face-to-face meeting between President Trump and the Russian President Vladimir Putin. And on that the chief negotiator for the Russians saying that it's not clear whether such a meeting (audio gap) week. So that was something that was floated but the Russians are saying they don't necessarily believe that is going to be the case.

So we're waiting to get more information but certainly, the Russians are saying that this happened in a very constructive atmosphere.

At the same time, of course, John, we know that the Russians have been pushing for this meeting to be about more than just trying to end the war in Ukraine. Now, our Matthew Chance, last night, spoke to one of the negotiators, Kirill Dmitriev, and here's what he had to say.

BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRILL DMITRIEV, RUSSIAN NEGOTIATOR, CEO, RUSSIAN DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND: We had some meetings with Trump's team members and all I can say is that they are great problem solvers. And I think President Trump is a great problem solver and also his team is a team of great problem solvers.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: What has that team promised you here? Have you -- have they given you an indication about what they're going to give you?

DMITRIEV: No. I think the promise is let's get dialogue. Let's figure out the best solution for our countries, for other countries, and for the global community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, John, the Russians are saying that these discussions are going to be continue with lower-level diplomats, especially on the question of trying to find an end to the war in Ukraine. And again, one of the things that we've been seeing -- one of the differences we've been seeing from the U.S. side and from the Russian side -- of course, we know that the Trump administration has been speaking about their main goal being ending the war in Ukraine. The Russians, for their part, are saying that for them, that is one of

the things that is on the agenda for them. But they are envisioning basically a complete reset of U.S.-Russian relations, including sanctions relief in the future and including better diplomatic and economic relations between the U.S. and Russia as well, John.

BERMAN: Well, they might be on the road to getting that.

Fred, what was the Russian term again that was used to describe the meeting?

PLEITGEN: Neplokho -- not bad.

BERMAN: All right, very well. There you have it. Frederik Pleitgen, terrific reporting from Moscow. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Notably, John Berman not trying to repeat that.

BERMAN: Not a chance. Not a chance.

BOLDUAN: We'll get you by the end of the show.

[07:40:00]

The path forward -- that is what the Democratic governor of New York is saying it is time to discuss today when it comes to the Democratic mayor of New York City. That is because Gov. Kathy Hochul is now considering whether she will take the extraordinary step to remove Mayor Eric Adams from office.

The governor announced the meeting after four of the city's top officials just quit in protest, saying that they could no longer serve under Eric Adams. And this is all connected to the federal corruption charges he faces, and the alleged quid pro quo he was offered by the Trump administration, and a top Justice Department official directing prosecutors in New York to drop the case against Adams.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino has much more on this and there is so much going on. First and foremost, what are you hearing about the meeting that the governor has now called.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well look, the governor's going to call this meeting and it's going to be held here in Manhattan today in her Manhattan office. And there are some top Democrats that are expected to attend according to my sources. They include Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Congressman Greg Meeks. Also some members of the City Council -- the City Council speaker, as well as the city's comptroller.

There are going to be individual meetings. Some of them will be held in person. Some of them will be held virtually for those who may be in Washington, D.C.

But the governor has made it clear that she is seriously weighing this decision. And it's a little bit of a shift from what she had said about a week ago where she said that it would not be very democratic to remove the mayor from office. But clearly, we've learned a lot of different things since that last statement.

So now the governor is saying that she is seriously thinking about it. She's convening with the city's leaders -- notably, the city's Black leaders. That is very much of her political calculation here. It is not a small thing to use her executive power not only to remove the mayor who was duly elected by the people of the city of New York, but also the second Black mayor in the city's history.

Now, as you said, this was -- you know, this was as a result of these four top officials announcing they were stepping down from the Adams administration yesterday. These are four career public servants highly regarded in the city's government circles. In fact, they were put in there after the last time we saw a rash of resignations when the mayor was first indicted last September.

And this was all of the governor's effort to kind of bring some stability to the office.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

PAZMINO: So now we're seeing that stability go away.

So we'll see what happens after today's meetings. There are two things on the table -- whether the mayor -- the governor uses her executive power or whether they convene what's called an inability committee. And that is essentially New York City's version of impeachment, but it would require a certain amount of votes and a process that's never been tried in the city's modern history.

So both options are a bit challenging.

BOLDUAN: And he is up for re-election. We're also waiting for a federal judge to decide what to do with the dismissal request from DOJ.

PAZMINO: Right.

BOLDUAN: I mean, there are so many avenues here.

What's Eric Adams saying about all of this now?

PAZMINO: So he has stood pretty defiant so far. He's made it clear that he does not plan on stepping down. He has repeated a phrase that he has said since he was indicted -- "I'm stepping up, not stepping down."

And he hit the church circuit this Sunday. He attended a couple of different services and spoke about how he is facing this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY: They're dancing on my grave right now -- every news headline, every report, every calling, it is over for him. And I want you to be clear you're going to hear so many rumors and so many things. You're going to read so much. I am going nowhere, nowhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: So a pretty defiant tone there.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

PAZMINO: But the fact of the matter Kate is that the mayor is really just cratering support.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

PAZMINO: Many of the city's lawmakers and state and local officials have said that he should step aside for the good of the city. Others calling on the governor to use her executive power. So his support is just dwindling by the minute.

BOLDUAN: Gloria, let's see what happens today. Thank you so much for your reporting -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, for the first time in its 53 years, Southwest Airlines is announcing layoffs. It plans to cut 15 percent of its corporate staff. That's about 750 jobs. The layoffs will begin in April. They will include mostly corporate employees, as we just said, and it is expected to save the airline $500 million over the next two years.

Investors have been pushing for leadership and policy changes at Southwest, including the recent reversal of its open seating policy.

All right. We are standing by for a new report from the Vatican. This morning, the Pope is in the hospital as he faces the most serious health situation of his papacy.

And that's no banana. A venomous snake was found in a box of bananas at a grocery store. New Hampshire might never be the same again.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:49:55]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michelle King, is stepping down after she refused to provide staffers on Elon Musk's team with sensitive personal information about Americans who receive Social Security benefits.

[07:50:07]

Now, this resignation happened after 14 attorneys general filed suit to stop Musk and his team from accessing sensitive data at a number of federal agencies.

With us now is the attorney general of the state of Connecticut, William Tong -- one of the attorneys general that brought this lawsuit. Mr. Attorney General, thank you for being with us. First, just describe to me exactly what this suit is over, specifically.

WILLIAM TONG, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. Good morning, John. Good to see you again.

This suit is about stopping Donald Trump from letting an unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, and his army of tech bro wannabee stormtroopers from tearing up the federal government and accessing sensitive information.

Now, this suit -- there are two suits. There's DOGE-1. And I was in federal court with Tish James, the attorney general in New York, on Friday seeking a preliminary injunction in that case. We already have a temporary restraining order.

But the cast in front of Judge Chutkan in D.C. is about the appointments clause. And so in the Constitution it says if you exercise significant authority, you've got be confirmed -- nominated by the president but confirmed by the Senate. That didn't happen here. His appointment -- his work is in utter violation of the U.S. Constitution and the appointments clause.

BERMAN: All right. Now, as for the fate of this suit, as everyone who listened -- almost everyone who listened to the arguments observed, Judge Chutkan seems skeptical of the argument you were making for the temporary restraining order on the basis of the fact that she indicated you had no specific -- or not enough specific evidence of harm to get that order. She said you were basing it on media reports.

What's your response to that?

TONG: Yeah. So I don't agree with that, obviously. I think she sees it the way we do on the merits and knows that the -- that DOGE and Elon Musk, and his army of hackers pose a grave risk to Connecticut and the people in our states to this country.

And, of course, now we see Michelle King, the administrator of the Social Security Administration, resigning. We see DOGE seeking access to the IRS and taxpayer -- specific taxpayer information. We know they're already canceling contracts at the Department of Education and, of course, Treasury.

So the immediacy is there, it's real, and we hope that Judge Chutkan sees it our way.

BERMAN: So there was a statement released overnight from Joshua Fisher who is the director of the Office of Administration here. An interesting memo put out that seems to address at least your argument that Musk is in a role without being confirmed.

Number five on this declaration of Joshua Fisher from the Office of Administration, it says, "In his role as senior adviser to the president, Mr. Musk has no greater authority than other senior White House advisers. Like other senior White House advisers, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself. Mr. Musk can only advise the president and communicate the president's directive."

They liken it to Anita Dunn in the Biden administration. Just an adviser, not one who needs to be confirmed.

What do you say to that?

TONG: Yeah, there are tons of tweets by Elon Musk saying that he has tremendous power over federal spending. So it's another example of -- you know, they're just making stuff up. They can't -- they can't seem to shoot straight on this.

And if the point that they're making is that Elon Musk doesn't actually have any authority and hasn't been confirmed by the Senate, doesn't have any role -- well, that's our argument. That's the point. You've got an unelected billionaire running amuck with unchecked power over information that's vital to states, private information that belongs to people in this country, and will do great damage to the United States of America.

And so it's as if, John, Donald Trump came down to the studio right now and said hey, John Berman, you're a good guy. Why don't you go over to the nuclear research facility for the U.S. Army and just do whatever you want? You know, the most secure nuclear research facility there is. Of course, we would all have a problem with that.

And parachuting Elon Musk and his army of hackers into a number of federal agencies with unfettered access and control is similarly damaging and dangerous.

BERMAN: All right, attorney general of Connecticut Willy Tong. Thank you so much for being with us this morning. Appreciate your time.

TONG: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Police in Maryland have arrested the leader of what is being described as a cultlike group called the "Zizians." Thirty-four-year- old Jack Lasota was taken into custody Sunday and charged with trespassing, obstruction, and also had a firearms charge. The group that he has been leading has been linked to several homicides, including the murder of a border patrol agent near the Canadian border in January.

[07:55:00]

Their goals of -- the goals of the group not entirely clear, but online writings span topics from radical veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.

Lasota and another member of the group are scheduled to appear in court today.

The U.S. and Canada are gearing up for a rematch Thursday in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship. Canada seeking revenge apparently after Saturday's loss in Quebec that had been dubbed -- that has been dubbed "Fight Night" because three fights broke out within the first nine seconds of the game. The U.S. went on to beat Canada 3-1 -- nanananabooboo -- in that one.

The coaches are now previewing what it could all now mean for Thursday's rematch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE SULLIVAN, HEAD COACH, TEAM USA: I would anticipate the next one will be as -- every bit as competitive if not more.

JON COOPER, HEAD COACH, TEAM CANADA: And now it's win one more game. It just happens to be against the team that beat us after the fireworks that went off on Saturday night. So I think it should be a pretty good made-for-TV event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Competitive, fireworks, brawling. Thursday's game -- for Thursday's game the puck drops at 8:00 p.m. in Boston.

A Valentine's Day surprise that probably no one ever or especially any grocery store worker would want. An employee at a New Hampshire market found an only mildly venomous snake inside a shipment of banana. A state fish and game official says the snake is a two-foot-long ornate cat-eye that is native to Ecuador. The good news: if bitten by one of these guys or gals it would not be fatal, but it can cause some pain and swelling in humans, experts say.

The snake was not harmed and has been given to a local reptile handler.

So only, like, slightly ouchy and bad, John.

BERMAN: Yes. No one likes swelling, Kate.

All right. New details this morning on how Pope Francis is doing. The 88-year-old pontiff is at a Rome hospital. He has been there since Friday.

Let's get to Barbie Nadeau outside the hospital for the very latest on his condition. What are you hearing this morning, Barbie.

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: We did get a very brief and quite curated update from the Vatican spokesperson who said he had a tranquil night. He ate breakfast this morning and has been reading some newspapers. Now, we haven't gotten any other details other than that yet today.

But, of course, he's just two days into this new course of treatment. This is the third course of treatment they've tried for this respiratory infection. Before he came into the hospital on Friday he was on, of course, some medication. Then they put him on antibiotics. We were told yesterday that wasn't working so he's on a new course. So the second day into that and the fifth day into the hospital. Everyone's hoping, of course, that this is going to be what helps him

recover from this. But, of course, he's got a complicated clinical profile. He's 88 years old, he has mobility problems, and he is missing half a lung. So all of these things are complications as he goes forward.

But, of course, there are a lot of people concerned -- not just Catholics -- hoping that he gets better. And I'm sure he's got the prayers of the world behind him and supporting him.

And we're expecting another update in about five hours' time, John.

BERMAN: All right, five hours, as you said. The world wishing him well. This episode seems a little different than the ones we've seen in the past.

Barbie, the Vatican called it a "complex critical condition." Our Christopher Lamb saw him last week and said he looked OK but sounded bad. It was hard for him to talk.

How is it that he's been conducting his duties?

NADEAU: Well, you know, he's been compromised in conducting these duties for the last couple of weeks before his hospital admission. And on several occasions he couldn't actually read his prepared statement. He had to hand them to someone to read them for him.

And now we saw this a couple of years ago, too. I mean, he seems to be quite susceptible to these respiratory infections. Not quite as bad as we've seen this time.

But, you know, the Vatican is fine-oiled machine. There is a backup and backup and then a plan B and C. So these things -- the church will go on even if the Pope can't read his prepared documents. But, of course, everybody's very, very concerned. He's in very, very bad health and this is a scare. This is definitely a scare, John.

BERMAN: Yeah. We will wait and see to read this updated -- hear it in five hours because every shift in language from the Vatican is so important.

Barbie Nadeau, thank you so much for your reporting on this -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Back here a bitterly cold blast of arctic air is set to move across the United States this week. The storm system already creating dangerous conditions. Snow, ice, brutally cold temperatures in several states including parts of Kentucky and West Virginia, which was just hit by deadly flooding.

CNN's Derek Van Dam has much more on this. I mean, I was remembering the images we were seeing coming out of Kentucky and the flooding that they saw there, and now this. What are you watching?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, this is -- yeah, this is going to be a critical next few days for people who are recovering from the flooding that's ongoing. Look, it's cold already across some of the hardest-hit areas -- Kentucky, Tennessee, parts of southern Indiana into Virginia, West Virginia.

But I want to point your attention towards what's coming. Look upstream, we call that. That is across the Northern Plains. That cold arctic air mass is going to descend on those very areas that have been hit hard by the recent flooding.