a deadly nightclub fire in romania. concert fireworks appear to be to blame for a blaze that killed 27 and injured more than 150. the latest on this tragedy. presidential debates. the u.s. republican committee, the rnc is blasting the moderators of this week's debate on cnbc. they say it won't happen again, at least not on an nbc channel. halloween is the spookiest time of year. we'll show you how to scare yourself silly. welcome to viewers in the united states and around the world.

news room starts right now. a good day to you. we start this hour with the deadly club fire in romania. flames ripped through the club during a concert killing 27 people. nearly 200 people went to area hospitals, many in critical conditions, with critical injuries, i should say. some 400 people were inside the building when it started and here is the thing. there was only one exit to escape. we got details from alexander. listen. >> reporter: there was a basement from the factory from the communist era. the beginning of this year, in january the authorization to open the club. but, again, we must say that last night it was a show, a rock

band had a show. the entrance was free so we had almost 400 people over there. there were fireworks in the middle of the show. one of the people who were there and fortunately they escaped, told me they had two pieces of fireworks at the beginning of the show, then at the end of the show. because it was in a basement and they had a wooden box with insulation sponge on them, they were covered in this sponge which burns like a torch. just one flame opened the way to tragedy. >> now for the latest, let's go to erin mclaughlin. who more do we know about what caused the fire? >> hi, george. the cause of the fire is being

investigated. i got off the phone with the head of the department of emergency situations and he said authorities believe fireworks were being used at the nightclub and they are looking at that as a potential cause. he added the necessary permits for using fireworks in that venue had not been applied for, according to fire services. this was a free concert, being held by the group called good-bye gravity. since it was a free concert, pre-halloween, in launch of their new album. some 400 people packed into the basement of this concert venue. eyewitnesses say when the pyrotechnics show began is when the fire started. at first, people thought it was part of the show. as the realization set in that

something horrible was happening, people began to run to an exit saying 27 people killed, 146 people have been admitted to the hospital with injuries and some are critically injured. authorities say they are concern thad death toll could rise. >> erin, at this point, the process of identifying the people, identifying the 27 dead, identifying those injured, talk to us about that process. >> reporter: the head of the emergency serviced said of the 27 killed, 17 of them had not been identified. that's how badly the burns were they suffered. no indication on their bodies as to their identification. as for those who survived, being treated in the hospital, five of those patients have yet to be identified. the key concern are the families. they have set up emergency

service numbers for families to call into. the operators have lists of individuals and have been identified. if a familiar my member calls in with a name that was not on the list, they refer them to emergency services to try to find out if their loved ones are among the unidentified missing or unidentified dead. clearly, this is a heart wrenching process. people of romania had a tragedy like this in 20 to 25 years. clearly, people here mourning this loss. the government has declared three days national mourning. >> certainly feel for these families. they are waiting for identification from the many people who were injured and the many who were killed. erin mclaughlin, thank you for your reporting and information. now, we move to the war in syria.

diplomats agreed on a peace effort in the united states as they look at their role in the war. u.s., russia and a dozen countries met on friday calling for a cease-fire in syria. they are urging the united nations to mediate talks between the syrian regime. u.s. secretary of state, john kerry outlined there are differences between the leader, bashar al assad. >> the foreign minister and i and others agree to disagree. the united states position is there is no way president assad can unite and govern syria. >> meanwhile, the united states is set to deploy troops, several dozen troops, planning to help train and advise syrian forces fighting isis. the white house says they will not have a combat mission in syria, but will defend themselves, if needed.

cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr has more. >> reporter: president obama told defense secretary, ash carter, he wanted faster progress in the war against isis in syria and iraq and to come up with a plan, a u.s. official tells cnn. now the president ordered a small number of special operations forces into northern syria to help local forces fight isis. >> the president does expect that they can have an impact in intensifying our strategy for building the capacity of local forces inside syria to taking the fight on the ground to isil. >> reporter: the teams, less than 50 troops could be part of the delta force, green berets and navy s.e.a.l.s. their mission, provide am

mission, communication, intelligence and supplies on the ground. the danger, they could come under fire from isis fighters. until now, the president long said he would not put troops in combat, especially in syria. >> i do not foresee a scenario in which boots on the ground in syria, american boots on the ground in syria would not only be good for america, but also would be good for syria. >> reporter: the white house insists, that is still true. >> these forces do not have a combat mission. this is not, in any way, an attempt to diminish the risk that they will face or the bravery they will need to summon to carry out these operations. >> reporter: the special operations forces are expected to be across the border into this area of northern syria. the u.s. will use f-15 and a-10

jets at nearby air base in turkey to strike targets, the isis capital. the u.s. wants anti-isis forces to be able to take back the city. the top u.s. special operations commander recently underscored what the u.s. troops can provide. >> a lot of intelligence comes from talking to people on the ground. this is a very unique capability that special forces offers for us. they are out there with the people. they talk to local leaders. >> that was cnns barbara starr reporting from the pentagon. cnn counterterrorism analyst, philip mud says this isn't necessarily a game changer for the fight against isis in syria. listen. >> i think the white house is trying to say, we will stay on the ground to fight isis, we can't afford not to, but we are not going to make a major commitment to get back in a

fight. 50 people on the ground to help the kurds and others is not a major commitment. whether you like it or not, it's simple, get out of the game. in contrast to most observers in washington, the russian presence is an advantage. find me someone with more influence with assad. we don't have that influence. the saudis don't. the russians do. i think the russian intervention press the president. the second point, it has an impact on politics. i'm not a politician. as you heard before, there are politicians on the republican side going to say, are you kidding me? the best we can do is 50 on the ground? the president has to have something to say about those not serious about the fight against isis. the pentagon is right to say, this is a combat mission. not because these forces are on the front line fighting but the prospect we are going to lose is

high. if you are looking at the potential that 50 people can change the fight when it's assad with the russians and iranians versus isis, the al qaeda affiliate, we are for supporting a small sliver of the population. this is a commitment that is deadly serious, but not going to change things on the ground. >> when it comes to the financial cost, money, how much the u.s. spent fighting isis, here is a look at how it breaks down. the pentagon says it is spending almost $6 million a day on these air strikes. more than $5 million a day for missions support. it all adds toup to $10.9 milli a day. the total cost of the campaign to almost $5 billion. on top of that, the u.s. spent some $500 million to train syrian rebels, although only a handful graduated that program.

friday saw a devastating attack on a market near damascus. a syrian activist group says dozens of people were killed when regime rockets slammed into a crowded street in douma. we have more but the videos are graphic. >> reporter: this is what syrians were doing rather than being invited to peace talks. friday morning, a market dozens killed. nearly 20 strikes in the past two days activists said. two missiles targeted the local hospital thursday, closing it. imagine dealing with this without a hospital. [ sirens ] >> reporter: he's dead, one man shouts. visible, obvious medical help arriving here. still, the shelling continues.

they are being exterminated, he shouts. where is the world. they are in vienna. america, saudi arabia swapping bombs. russia sticking by the regime. no syrians dead. regime or rebel invited to that five-star hotel. nobody here had a voice in vienna. not just douma gets hit. this was aleppo's southern countryside a few days ago. also pummeled by a regime fierce with russian backing. these images, filmed by activis

activists. the father of four, age 34, died moments after filming these pictures. his voice, most likely also not heard in vienna. nick payton walsh, cnn, southern turkey. in iran, another american citizen reportedly is under arrest. u.s. media identified him. a dubai based citizenship. the details of his alleged crime are unclear. he is the first u.s. citizen detained in iran since the nuclear deal was signed in july. he's one of five americans held in the islamic republic. you are watching cnn news room. still to come this hour, one way to ease prison overcrowding is to set thousands free. that is what's happening in the

united states. is it a good idea? you'll hear plenty of reaction on this. plus, u.s. republicans are mad at a news outlet over something one republican calls, quote, crack sandwich. the story ahead. here's a little healthy advice. take care of what makes you, you. right down to your skin. aveeno® daily moisturizing lotion with 5 vital nutrients for healthier looking skin in just one day.

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breaking news we are following in the cnn news room. a russian passenger plane traveling from egypt to russia crashed in the central sinai. the statement also said the prime minister is currently meeting with ministers and security officials regarding this crash. a plane traveling from egypt to russia crashed in the central sinai. we will, of course, continue to gather details on this and bring the latest as we learn more here on cnn. now to the campaign trail in the u.s. presidential race. democratic candidate, hillary clinton, visit a university in atlanta, georgia.

she found herself up staged. listen. demonstrators started singing and chanting, black lives matter during the speech. it's demanding more attention to allegations of police violence and abuse against african-americans. her supporters then began yelling, let her talk. civil rights icon and u.s. congressman john lewis tried speaking to the activists. they were escorted out a short time later. on the other party's front line, the republican national committee, known as the rnc suspended a february debate on the american network, nbc. this, after the candidates blasted this week's debate on sister networks, cnbc. party chairman accused the moderators of lacking substance, going so far to label the debate

as quote, crap sandwich. we have more. >> reporter: the leading gop candidates outraged over wednesday's debate, meeting to where he write the ground rules. among those calling for change, ben carson. >> it is supposed to be established to help the people get to know the candidates, and get to know what is behind them and what their thinking process is, what their philosophy is. what it's turned into is a gotcha. >> reporter: sunday's meeting is an unheard of gathering of rivals. the campaign's ewe united -- >> the board fired you. why should we hire you now? >> is this a comic book version? >> reporter: complaining moments after it ended. >> it was one gotcha question,

one low blow after another. >> reporter: charging that party bosses failed to take their concerns to the networks. more evidence of the gop at a cross roads, as politicians, led by party outsiders, struggle for control of the party. in an unprecedented move, previously announced today, the rnc is suspending ties with nbc news for a february debate, saying, i expect the media to hold a debate of concern to the american people. cnbc did not. that was, first and foremost among the candidates complaints. >> the bigger frustration is all the candidates on the stage prepared for a substantive debate. >> we have $19 trillion in debt, people out of work, isis and al qaeda attacking and we are talking about fantasy football? >> reporter: nbc is disappointed and they want to work with the

republican party. maybe after an in-depth conversation they will come to an agreement and the debate will continue. i spoke with the head of communications for the party this afternoon. he says the rnc will not hesitate to find a new debate partner, if they do not have confidence in nbc news going forward. we are seeing tremendous fallout from that debate. >> that was cnn's brian reporting. fox business network debate in november and a cnn debate that you will want to catch here in december. big changes this weekend when it comes to federal prisons in the united states. roughly 6600 federal inmates will be released from prison. the release is aimed to ease overcrowding and harsh sentences given to non-violent drug offenders. a win for prisons and a win for inmates.

that's not always the case as jean casarez reports. >> reporter: samuel hamilton spent 32 years in prison. when he got out a year ago, adjusting was difficult. >> so many people, just so many people moving at one time and just crossing the street, i chose everything with caution. >> reporter: even though hamilton got a master's degree behind bars, it didn't matter as he tried to get back into the work force. >> you find yourself not getting a job because of your criminal history. >> skills. >> reporter: believe it or not, a job isn't the biggest hurdle after you gain your freedom. what do you see as the biggest challenge? >> housing. we see so many people coming home without housing. >> reporter: this weekend, those challenges will become a reality for thousands of felons in this country, released to communities around the nation, which could

lead to 40,000 out over the next several years. the u.s. sentencing commission amended federal guidelines last year to reduce prison sentences of federal drug felons an average of 18%. the target date, november 1st. nationwide texas will receive the most, followed by florida and iowa. cocaine addictions account for 57% of the inmates relaced. >> a lot of people think the crime is going to go up with the inmates coming out. >> i doubt it. i don't know. if it does, it will be because of the conditions on the ground and our communities. we have so much poverty, so much hopelessness and homelessness. >> reporter: the commissioner agrees. >> who is going to watch these people when they go out on parole? >> reporter: it isn't the first time. in 2007, changes in sentencing

guidelines from federal crack cocaine resulted in reducing sentences for 16,000 federal drug offenders. a five-year study compared those released early to inmates who served their entire sentence. the study found both groups reoffended at similar rates. who benefits from a sentence reduction? the prisoner or the bureau of prisons? judge jack wine stein is a judge in new york who had to make sentence reduction decisions. top priority, he says, is safety of the community. >> the first question the judge asks himself is, if i release this person now or shorten the sentence, will he be a greater danger to the community? the statistics say, very clearly, no. >> reporter: 25% of those coming

out are noncitizens. in a statement to cnn, u.s. immigrations tells us, it will take 1700 of those released into custody by next week. they will likely be deported. jean casarez, cnn, new york. later, i'll ask cnn law enforcement analyst for his take on the upcoming prison release. cedric alexander has a wide ranging amount of experience. his views should be fascinating. we invite you to join us for that conversation later. we want to update you on breaking news we are following here at cnn. a russian passenger plane traveling from egypt to russia crashed in sinai. the statement said the prime minister is currently meeting with ministers and security officials regarding this crash. i'll have more details for you as we learn more here on cnn.

a british man who was never tried for crimes, but spent 14 years in u.s. custody is now back home. coming up, details of his detention and long awaited homecoming as this broadcast continues around the world on cnn international and cnn u.s. i'm only in my 60's. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs.

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welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. you are watching cnn news room. i'm george howell. we are following breaking news in the news room. a russian passenger plane traveling from egypt to russia crashed in the central sinai according to a statement from

egypt's prime minister currently meeting with ministers and security officials. we will bring you more details as we learn more. for now, let's go to ian lee, tracking the latest from cairo, egypt. ian, what more can you tell us about this plane crash? >> george, there was a lot of confusion initially about the status of the crash. it is confirmed. we are waiting or expecting another statement from the prime minister to give us more details to come out in a few minutes. what we are hear sg that there were over 200 passengers on board this aircraft that did go down in central sinai. now the exact location of the plane crash is still unknown. we are working to confirm that. sinai, the northern part, especially is a hot bed of insurgency, so, where that plane did go down, it will be

difficult for rescue personnel to make it to the crash site, depending on where it did go down. it is a mountainous region, very rugged. we are hearing, at least in the northern part, emergency personnel are on stand by. it originated from a popular tourist destination. charter flights go in and out of there every day and multiple charter flights and we are learning more about this one that went ian, at this point, indication of how quickly they will release a new statement or information? >> reporter: we are hearing the prime minister should be releasing more information. there was a lot of confusion, initially, here. at first, we were hearing

reports the plane left egyptian air space. we were later to confirm it did crash. egyptian officials are convening to discuss the situation and we are expecting to hear more from that meeting, shortly. >> ian lee live for us in cairo, egypt. to recap for viewers in the u.s. and around the world, a russian passenger plane with some 200 people on board has crashed in central sinai. the exact location, still unclear, according to to ian leon the ground in cairo, egypt. it is airbus a-321 jet. again, this plane ridge gnatted. as we get more information here at cnn, we will pass that along to you. romania declared three days of mourning after a blast killed 27 people. close to 200 were injured and

many of them critically. i'm joined on the phone by the head of romania's department for emergency situations in the internal affairs ministry. thank you so much for being on the line with us. the very latest we know is that 27 people were killed. we know nearly 200 were injured, many of them badly, badly burned. what more do you know at this point? >> caller: the death toll, up to this moment is exactly what you said, sir, 27 deaths. 26 occurred on the scene. despite they were taken by the teams there. one of the deaths took place in an emergency department. now, there have been 184 patients which -- 88 of them by ambulances. the rest arrived by various

methods, walking wounded that didn't have serious problems which needed immediate care on the scene. the number of patients which remain admitted in the hospital at this moment is 146. out of these patients, there are patients which are very critical which are under ventilation because of their airway injuries and because of smoke inhilation as well as part of them suffering from severe burns and the high percentage of their body surface. in the next few days, we may get a rise in the death toll of the tragedy we have. >> i also have to ask you, when it comes to identifying the victims, when it comes to identifying the people who were so badly burned, difficult process, we can only imagine. but, how is that process coming

along? i know there are a lot of family members out there who want to get word on what's happening. >> caller: the last information i had, which was about one hour and something ago was that we had 17 patients, unidentified bodies from the deceased persons and five persons not identified who are admitted in hospitals. the minister of internal affairs put numbers out for the families to call on and to advise the families, we have the list of all the patients admitted and identified here at the center for national coordination. if the names fit with the names on the list, then we indicate which hospital is the patient. if the names they are asking about are not on the list, then we indicate the process that they have to do, which is contacting the police force and

the medical examiners, which are working on the identification of the 26 of the 17 unidentified bodies. of course the hospitals have the unidentified admitted patients. >> given your ties, your role with the department for emergency situations, i want to ask you about this structure. we understand there was one exit and there were so many hundreds of people trying to escape this building when the fire came through. first of all, is that normal? is that legal? seasoned and, is that, in fact the case? >> it is now under investigation. i can tell you, of course it is not legal to have one single exit for such an activity. from our information we have an

investigation going on from our initial information we have from fire service is it shows us that this show and the place where the show was held and the company holding it didn't request, didn't have any kind of authorization for the fire service for such kind of activities or having such an activity with such a number of people in that space. especially regarding the use of fireworks inside that space. so, this is what now our investigators and prosecutors are looking at. i confirm what you said, it is not legal and is not normal to have such an activity in such a space. >> talking to us about the process to identify victims of this fire and also the fact that there was one exit in this nightclub as the fire raged through. thank you so much for your

insight and your information. we want to return to breaking news we are following here at cnn. a russian passenger plane traveling from egypt to russia crashed in central sinai. nic robertson is live in moscow, gathering details. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: the latest we have from the state media is it was an adverse 321, carrying 224 people. that's 217 passengers and seven crew. it was on flight from the sinai, a common destination on the way to st. petersburg. it disappeared from the radar screen 23 minutes after it took off according to the head of the federal air transport agency here in russia. the airline, the carrier itself caught has been around here, established in 1993.

it's been around 20 or so years. the carrier itself, flight 9268 was the flight number of this aircraft that is believed to have had a lot of russian holiday goers on board heading back to st. petersburg this morning. 23 minutes after it took off, it disappeared on the flight path over the sinai. >> nic, reiterate for those just joining us, the name of the plane and how many passengers on board. >> reporter: 224 people total on board. of those, 217 were passengers. the other seven were crew members. this is flight 9268. this is an airline that was established in 1993. it's quite familiar to many people here. it was enroute from st. petersburg when it disappeared

off the radar 23 minutes after it took off. this was the last moment that it was seen on the radar and subsequent to that, we understand that there has been a search to find possible sightings of wreckage. >> nic robertson live on the line with us. thank you for your new information and reporting and to reiterate what nic brought to us, this plane flight 9268 has crashed in central sinai. according to nic's reporting, 224 people on board. again, airbus a-321 jet that crashed. we will, of course, continue to dig for information to learn more about where the plane crashed, about people who were on board this plane as we continue here on cnn. we'll be right back after the break.

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we are following breaking news here in the cnn news room. a russian passenger plane traveling from egypt to russia crashed in the central sinai according to a statement from egypts prime minister currently meeting with officials about the crash. there were reportedly 224 people on board this plane. said to be an airbus 321. we will bring you more details as we learn more about the plane crash in central sinai. this weekend is expected to be a big weekend when it comes to federal inmates. many will be released from prison. it is meant to ease overcrowding. so, it is considered a win for prisons, as you might think and a win for inmates, but their adjustment is often a tough one. let's bring in cnn law enforcement analyst, cedric

alexander to talk about this. with your background in law enforcement, people will hear this and think, wait a minute. that's going to increase crime as prisoners are released. what is your take on that? >> we don't know that, yet. i think that's to be determined. i think the most important piece to keep in mind is this, at some point they have to be released. we had a broken drug policy, sentencing process that did not work. we have a lot of people who are in jail who are low level criminals and who are doing very long terms. but, what you have here is an agreement among both sides of the aisle, republicans and democrat that is agree there needs to be prison reform in this country. those that are incourse raarcer low level types crime get the

opportunity to go back into the community and get their lives back, hopefully with support of family and friends. >> who would be released? are we talking older inmates? >> we are talking low level, drug abuse or drug cases in this country. so, a great deal of care has been given, a lot of thought has gone into this. i happened to be at the white house last week when the president talks about prison reform in this country. he made some dynamic points as to why this needs to happen. i think, at the end, when this is all overwith, these persons will be allowed to come back into communities and they will be given an opportunity they had not been given because they had been locked up for such a period of time on the low level types of nonviolent. let me be clear about that, nonviolent crimes. >> let me talk about that. when they are released from prison, they will be back in the community and released for work. the fact they have a criminal

background, how do prisoners transition back into the community? how do they find employers who want to hire them? >> hopefully, opportunities in communities where they go where they have social support and will be in direct contact with their parole and probation counselors. there will be a readjustment period, yes. they will be released from prison. at some point, they are going to find themselves in the place they are going to doing this early release. it's an issue that has to be addressed now or later. i believe if they are given opportunities to go back into communities, have an opportunity to get their lives back with support that will be there for them, hopefully, maybe we'll see positive outcome in all of this as well. the most important thing to note here is that we need to ease our prison system of a lot of persons who are in there for

very low level crimes, as a result of a failed drug policy that did not work out and started back in the '80s and '90s. >> talk to us about the issue of prison overcrowding. it's a big issue. you have insight from dealing with prisons and the dekalb county jail here in the metro atlanta area, how bad is prison overcrowding? >> certainly, there is overcrowding in many jails across the country. a lot of it relates to what we are talking about today. let me be clear, we want to make sure those that are violent individuals will not be released. that is not going to happen. >> they are not part of this? >> they are not part of this. we need to be very, very clear about that. this is for low level, oftentimes drug abusing individual who is have no history of violence, whatsoever.

i think much of the concern of some american people is the fact if they are released, what is the likelihood if they don't have work committing the crimes. i think when they are given the opportunity, at this point in life, and connect with the family and communities, there will be opportunity from them to regain their life and move forward. we certainly do. we are spending $80 billion a year, well over $80 billion a year once we begin to release some of these individuals. here again, george, what's very important is that bothsides of the aisle are in support of prison reform, both republicans and democrats. i think that's key and it speaks to those elected officials on both sides of the aisle speaking for their constituents across the country, too. >> thank you so much for taking time. >> thank you for having me, george. >> thank you very much. you are watching cnn news

room. the last british detainee at guantanamo bay is back home thanking supporters. ending a prolonged campaign for his release. erin mclaughlin has more. >> reporter: the man known as detainee 239 arrives home on british soil. he spent 14 years in u.s. custody. he was never tried for crimes, never charged. no evidence presented against him, only allegations, accusations he led a military unit in afghanistan for osama bin laden. allegations he denies. >> shocker is the victim here, not the person who is the bad guy. the people who tortured him need to be questioned. >> reporter: the u.s. denied allegations of torture. he had been cleared for release twice, he is the last of the british residents and nationals

to leave. >> reporter: he just arrived at this airport in london. now that he's on home soil, his priorities are two-fold, to see a doctor for medical treatment and reunited with his family to see his son for the first time. for years, thousands of people campaigned for his release. protests and petitions. even a music video, which features his voice. >> please, we are tired. either you leave us to die in peace or either tell the world the truth. >> reporter: after he arrived, he released a statement thanking everyone that fought for his release. we cannot establish peace, but we can establish justice. if anything brings the world to peace, it is to remove injustice. he is the second client to be released from guantanamo in the past 24 hours. >> i think president obama finely, six years after his

promise is trying hard to close the place. >> reporter: so far this year, 17 detainees have been transferred out of the facility. 112 detainees remain at guantanamo bay. many have been okayed to go home, it's just not clear when. >> with we want to return to breaking news out of egypt with a russian bound commercial jet carrying 224 people crashed in the central sinai. eric van dam is following this and joins us in the weather center with more details. what have you learned? >> obviously, information is sparse out of the region at the moment. we'll be sure to pass along what we have including the weather conditions at the time they lost contact with this particular plane. we went on flightaware.com. we use the services of this

website tracking the flight. this is what it ran parallel with before veering to the north and west toward the central sinai peninsula. the red sea to the south. egypt and israel to the east. i'm going to zoom into the flight path before losing known contact. you see this airplane was meant to make contact with the cypress air control about 23 minutes after take off. that, unfortunately, was the last moment air control heard from them. a-321 airbus, maximum distance of about 3,000 nautical miles with full passenger payload on board. again, leaving to st. petersburg, russia. let's get a closer look at weather conditions to give a first impression of whether or not weather could have been a factor.

of course we have the tropical cyclone in the arabian sea, certainly not impacting this part of the world. we zoom into egypt. the sinai peninsula. clear conditions across the area. from a meteorlogical standpoint, looking at nasa's website, no disturbances in the weather overhead. little cloud cover over the peninsula at the last known contact with the plane. from my professional viewpoint, george, it does not appear weather was a cause. we are getting clues to the last moments of the plane. it doesn't appear weather was a major factor. back to you. >> thank you. we will continue to track this breaking news here in the cnn news room. again, a jet with 224 people, a russian passenger jet that crashed in the central sinai. i'm george howell at the cnn

center in atlanta. more breaking news after the break. .

this is cnn breaking news. >>welcome back to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. we get straight to the breaking news we're following out of egypt. a russian passenger jet traveling from the resort town to st. petersburg, russia, has crashed into the sinai peninsula. a source in russia's federal air transport authority tells russia's state-run news agency flight 9268 was carrying 217

passengers, was carrying seven crew members on board. sinai state-run newspaper reports that there are 20 ambulances on their way to the crash site presently. let's turn now to our own ian lee who is tracking this story from cairo, egypt. now that we understand that ambulances are headed to the location do we have any more information about where this plane crashed? >> reporter: george, right now we're hearing reports that it crashed in the northern part of the sinai peninsula, near the town or just south of the town of anriesh. we do not know at this point what was the cause for the plane to crash and that is important because the site of where it crashed, the northern part of the sinai, is home to an insurgency that has killed hundreds of people over the past couple of years. we don't know if that played a role at all. we don't know what the cause was. but that will make it more

difficult if it did crash in that area to retrieving and helping anyone who may have survived or just trying to make it to that site as it is an area that isis' affiliate in sinai is known to operate. so that will be very hard for rescue personnel. it is a military zone. we'll wait and see what happens there. we're waiting for the prime minister's office. he is going to be releasing a statement, another statement shortly, to give us more details. but the sinai peninsula is a very rugged terrain. it will be difficult anywhere to retrieve a plane as there's high peaks, very rocky area for rescue personnel trying to maneuver, navigate, to get to any sort of downed plane. sharm el-sheikh where this plane originated from, this is an area known for its tourism. there are flights like this that

go in and out of that city all day. and so we'll be watching to see what really caused this plane to go down on a route that is traveled fairly regularly. >> ian, it's still very early in this process about learning about the plane crash, learning about information. are you hearing or seeing any reports in egypt just about people maybe in sharm el-sheikh who are asking questions about what happened, possible family members? what are you hearing from egypt? >> reporter: what we're hearing from the russian embassy is that they are looking into it. they're trying to see -- they're reaching out to people that could have family members, loved ones, really still a bit early to find out if there was anyone still in sharm el-sheikh that had a connection to anyone on this plane. usually these planes when they come in, they're families taking

vacations. this one coming from st. petersburg. barely cold there right now. we see a lot of these this time of year. people coming to escape the cold. to the beaches of sharm el-sheikh. and so you do have a lot of families on board these flights when they come down. people looking to take a holiday. so we haven't heard of anyone who may have a connection to that plane still in sharm el-sheikh. we're hearing though from the russians that they are trying to contact the people, their loved ones who did have people on that plane. >> ian underscoring that point, it is still very early in this, but certainly as we report this news about the plane crash there will be a lot of family members on the origin and destination side who are asking questions and want to know information. so we will of course continue to look into it. ian, thank you so much for your reporting. let's turn to our own nic robertson live in moscow this hour gathering information as well. nic, what more do we know?

>> reporter: i can tell you what the family members here in russia will be hearing. they will be hearing what state media is reporting. across the whole spectrum of media here, state media and others, they are at the moment reporting that that plane went off the radar after 23 minutes after taking off from sharm el-sheikh. but they're also reporting at this time, and i have to emphasize this is early stages, but we're talking about what the families are learning here. they'll be learning things from watching russian media. what they're learning is that the pilot made a call back to the ground control requesting an emergency landing at the nearest airport citing technical issues. that's what's being reported by state media here. that's yet to be fully confirmed. but it's certainly what the families will be hearing. as we know now, 224 people on board that flight 9268.

there were 217 passengers. an initial estimate of those 17 were children. and there were seven crew members as well. very little is known in detail about precisely what happened. this airliner itself has been in operation since 1993. so it's been around for a while. it was operating on what is a well-known tourist route between st. petersburg, rather coming back from sharm el-sheikh on the sinai peninsula, coming pack to st. petersburg. people perhaps getting some sunshine before sort of plunging into the depths of the russian winter here. at the moment we're hearing from the ministry saying they are looking at all angles, looking for information, and as soon as the foreign ministry have hard and concrete information they'll be working with their colleagues at the russian embassy in cairo who will be working with the

egyptian authorities -- as soon as the foreign ministry has more information they will make it available to journalists. it is likely at this time as well that the family members here, we're told that many of the people on board the aircraft were russian holidaymakers, that the family members will be in a similar situation, tuning into the television stations here, but also trying to make connection with the foreign ministry and other ministries that they hope may be able to help them as well as the airline. of course the phone lines at the airline right now are jammed and busy. we're not able to get through at the moment, george. >> nic robertson with the very latest live in moscow, thank you so much for your reporting. nic says as many russians turn on their televisions, as they look into media reports, they may hear from russian media. this plane was in the air for 23 minutes after leaving sharm el-sheikh and that the plane -- the pilots reportedly, according to russian state media, made a call to the ground to report

technical issues. again, this is information not yet confirmed through cnn. but according to our own nic robertson, that is what is being reported presently in russian state media. we will of course continue to confirm information ourselves and bring you the latest as we learn more here on cnn. now to the very latest on the deadly nightclub fire in bucharest, romania. the nation has declared three days of mourning after flames tore through a concert friday night. the fire killed 27 people and nearly 200 went to area hospitals. many of them with critical injuries. some 400 people were inside this building when it started and here's the thing. this was only one exit to escape. earlier we heard from dr. arafat, head of romania's department for emergency situations in the internal affairs ministry. here's what he had to say. >> the response on the scene was very fast. the first responders arrived in

10 to 11 minutes, the first vehicles. then we declared what we call red plan which is for mass casualty incidents. we could concentrate on the scene over 50 ambulances of different categories including intensive care units, mobile intensive care units, chincludi materials and whatever is needed on the scene and multiple victim ambulances as we call them which are transporters that can take about four patients in the same car. so this is one of the things that we could do despite the fire appliances, the rescue appliances and the rescue teams which were mobilized from the fire service. after that, from the scene we started distributing the patients to hospitals. but as i told you some of the hospitals received as well patients arriving on their own. so the second step was redistribute the patients between the hospitals and we were offered by the military hospital of bucharest the -- and overly other hospitals in bucharest, we were offered places with intensive care

capacities and with plastic surgeons and intensive care specialists to take care of the patients. >> that's the latest there from dr. arafat. now let's bring in our own erin mclaughlin in the london bureau following this story. what more do we know about the cause of this fire? >> reporter: hi, george. the cause of the fire is under investigation. but we heard from the head of the department of emergency services from him there, he said that pyrotechnics, fireworks, were believed to have been used as part of the concert and that authorities are looking very closely at that as a potential source. now the evening began as a fun pre-halloween event. a free concert by a rock band held in a trendy venue. a basement of an old factory. because the concert was free, hundreds of people were in attendance. eyewitnesses say that it was during the pyrotechnic portion

of the concert that the fire was sparked. at first concertgoers thought it was part of the show. as the realization came that something horrifying was happening, that is when everyone tried to run to one exit. in total some 27 people were killed, 146 admitted to the hospital. video from the scene showed people being treated on the sidewalk. the head of department for emergency services says that another line of inquiry will be the facility, the venue itself. he says that it did not have the necessary authorizations, the necessary permits, to have that type of event, especially the fireworks portion of that event. something that authorities are looking very closely at. >> erin, dr. arafat brought up the point that you mentioned it's not legal for that building to have only one exit. that's something that they're looking into as well. erin, briefly can you also tell us about this process?

as family members will want to know the process to identify the injured and to identify the dead. >> reporter: that's right. dr. arafat said of the 27 people who were killed as a result of that fire, 17 of them were so badly burned that they have yet to be identified. of the 146 admitted to hospital, five of them still alive have yet to be identified because of the extent of their burns. some of these victims are covered with some 80% burns. so the government key source of concern for them, of course, is the families and getting the families notified, getting the victims identified. they've set up a number of hotlines for family members to call in. the operators have listed. if the family member calls in with the name of their loved one, they cross-reference that to the list. if the name's not on the list they refer them to further emergency services to help them with that very important identification process. romania is a country in mourning

right now. the government officials say they have not seen a tragedy on this scale for the past decades. and they've declared, as a result, three days of mourning to honor the dead. >> erin mclaughlin live in our london bureau, thank you so much for your reporting. you're watching "cnn newsroom." we continue to follow the breaking news. a passenger plane traveling from egypt to russia has crashed. we'll have more on this story as this newscast continues. diplomatic progress made in the roadmap for peace in syria. details ahead as "newsroom" continues. ♪ it's the final countdown! ♪ ♪ the final countdown!

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sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm george howell. we continue to follow breaking news, a russian passenger plane traveling from the resort town of sharm el-sheikh to st. petersburg, russia, has crashed in the central sinai peninsula according to a statement from egypt's prime minister. a source in russia's federal air transport authority tells russia state-run news agency that kogalymavia 2968 reportedly vanished from radar 23 minutes after taking off from sharm el-sheikh. sinai state-run newspaper

reports there are 20 ambulances on their way to the crash site. we are expecting more information this hour and will bring to it you as we learn more on cnn. let's turn to our meteorologist derek van dam who has been checking the weather situation in that region. derek joins us at the weather center. what have you learned? >> i think it's very important as sparse information that we have at the moment, we start to eliminate all the possibilities including the weather at the time of the last point of contact with flight kgl 9628. what we use at these moments in time is a service called flightaware.com, it tracks the worldwide flights including this particular airliner. just to put this into perspective, where we are geographically, this is the gulf of acaba, the sinai peninsula, israel to the north and east, the red sea to the south. you can see the last point of contact and the actual plane's path for that brief 23-minute flight. when we talk about the weather

patterns across that area i look at lower-level winds and upper-level winds. airliners typically fly anywhere between 30,000 and 40,000 feet above the sea. looking at all possible weather scenarios across that region, it appears that upper-level winds were near normal with what we would expect for this part of the world. and at the surface. so you can see very calm winds across the sinai peninsula. cairo only reporting winds sustained at about 10 to 11 kilometers per hour, so roughly 5 to 7 miles per hour. in terms of cloud cover, not much in that region as well. we're still tracking a major tropical cyclone across the arabian sea i. you can see that is far away from the sharm el-sheikh region in the sinai peninsula where the last point of contact with this particular plane is. this is a satellite image, in fact i went to nasa's world view

website. this is a high-resolution satellite image of this particular region. you can see very little cloud cover over this region. so from my professional standpoint as a meteorologist, it does not appear, george, that weather was a factor within this plane's disappearance or crash. but of course all the facts still need to be found out. but from my standpoint, it looks as if the weather was not a factor. >> covering all angles on it, thank you so much for the insight there on the weather front. and also our own nic robertson just a short time ago told us in a report that as russians wake up and turn on the televisions, as they look into media reports, many are hearing from russian state media that one ofthe pilots or both pilots may have contacted the ground to report technical issues. again, that is according to nic robertson's reporting of what is being said in russian state media. cnn is continuing to gather

information and confirm facts as we know them and we'll pass that information along to you as we get it. now we move on to the war in syria. diplomats from the united states, from iran and russia and other countries, have agreed on a new peace effort after meeting in vienna on friday. the talks led to an understanding on key points, including rights for all syrians. but the leaders are still very far apart on the future of the syrian president bashar al assad. >> reporter: the meeting in vienna by itself did not produce a political solution that could pave the way for peace in syria. however, all sides that were involved did say they find the meeting was very important, also of course for the very first the iranians were at the table. secretary of state john kerry said afterwards that he believed there were many points that the international community does agree on that are important to try and stop the fighting in

syria. he says all sides agree on the fact that syria needs to be preserved as a unified and secular state, that the syrian government institutions need to remain intact, that the priority has to be to defeat isis, and also that there needs to be a transitional political process at the end of which there needs to be elections that include all facets of syrian society. of course the big question is how could elections be possible in a country that first of all, to a very large part, is occupied by isis forces? but also one that is very much ravaged by fighting. i spoke a little earlier to stefan dimastura, the u.n. envoy for the syria conflict, and he explained how he believes it can work. >> they need to be seen being ready for the later stage. the first thing will be the meeting between the opposition and the government. in order to come up with a form

of governance which is actually all-inclusive. that one can propose a new constitution and a new constitution can prepare for the elections. all that in a rather short time. >> there was a big point of disagreement and all sides talked about it, the future of the syrian president. how can you narrow it down? how can you get either side to budge on that? >> first of all, by not talking too much and openly in discussing that issue, which is clearly an issue of contention. >> of course, that point he was talking about was probably the largest point of disagreement among all of those in the room today. and that is, of course, the future of syria's president bashar al assad. on the one hand you have the russians and iranian hot say they believe if there is a transitional process in syria that assad needs to be part of that process, and also should participate in any elections that could happen in the future. whereas the united states, saudi arabia, and turkey say assad has

no place in syria and needs to step down if there is going to be any sort of meaningful reconciliation in that country. the meeting in vienna is one that produced some results, however, secretary of state kerry said he believes this is only the beginning of the diplomatic effort to try and stop the crisis in syria and the parties did agree to meet again in about two weeks. >> the vienna talks wrapped up as news broke out friday that the u.s. will deploy some special forces troops to syria. the white house says the plan is to send fewer than 50 special forces personnel to northern syria to help train and advise rebel groups that are fighting on the ground against isis. not for a combat role put we're told they will defend themselves if necessary. cnn intelligence and security analyst bob baer says the u.s. isn't sending enough troops to make a difference. >> the president's policy had

been, you know, hands-off, pull our troops out of the middle east, it will take care of itself. what he didn't count on was the refugees and the fact that syria, even iraq, would even get worse. you know, and right now they're casting around for anything. this is the best they can come up with. because the kurds are fairly good fighters and their feeling is with enough weapons and enough training they might be able to make some inroads into the islamic state, and it collapses. but i think frankly it's a hail mary pass. >> and that reference, a hail mary pass, is a reference to american football play when the quarterback throws a long pass in a desperate effort to score a touchdown but the completion of that pass is likely unsuccessful for the touchdown. >> friday also brought a devastating attack on a market near damascus. a syrian activist group says dozens were killed when regime rockets slammed into a crowded

street in do you mean uma. we warn you parts of this report contain graphic images. >> reporter: on a day when peace was being discussed in vienna, war was being waged with all its hideous consequences in syria. the day had barely begun when the missiles slammed into the market in duma. amid the smoldering wreckage, more than 40 bodies. duma is destroyed, shouts this man, where is the world? a question syrians have been asking for four bloody years. across the front line in government-held territory, we can just pick out duma and the other besieged suburbs. sign posted by swaths of smoke. the war has reached such levels of depravity that a massacre on today's scale is now routine. a jet circles overset. fatima watches and prays. the neighborhood has been destroyed in this war.

her family has been ripped apart. she's been left to look after her grandchildren while her four sons fight in assad's army. she hasn't seen them for two years. it's the fate of her parents that troubles her the most. both died in i.s.-controlled territory. she says, i wasn't able to pay my last respects, i don't know where they're buried. her husband mahmoud shows me the upper floors of their home, what's left of it. what's your message to the west? "my message is to let them see the syrian people as human beings like any other citizens, people are dying, we need humanity, we need them to stop supporting terrorists." over the last four and a half years mahmoud and his family have lost much of what they own. this is what remains of their house. it used to be three apartments but it's been heavily damaged, all the power cables looted from it. look at the state of the neighborhood in which they live.

how many more years of this can they and all the other people in syria take before finally some sort of political solution is found? and even if that distant dream is realized, syria will take decades to recover. a shattered country with a generation whose childhoods are defined by war. dan rivers, itv news, damascus. >> you're watching "cnn newsroom." we continue to follow breaking news, a russian passenger jet traveling from egypt to russia has crashed, possibly killing more than 200 people that are said to be on board. we continue to follow this story as the news continues around the world this hour on cnn international and cnn usa. the same hands. same eyes. same laugh. and since she's had moderate alzheimer's disease, i've discovered we have the same fighting spirit, too. that's why i asked her doctor about new once-a-day namzaric™. vo: new namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimer's disease

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this is "cnn newsroom" and we continue to follow breaking news out of egypt. a russian passenger plane traveling from the resort town of sharm el-sheikh to st. petersburg, russia, has crashed in the central sinai peninsula. this according to a statement from egypt's prime minister. a source in the air transport authority tells russia's state-run news agency kogalymavia 9628 was carrying 217 passengers on board, was carrying seven crew members. sinai's state-run newspaper reports there are 20 ambulances on their way to the crash site presently. our team is covering this story from egypt to russia. let's start with nic robertson who is following the story from the russian capital. nic, what more do we know about what is happening?

>> the reports that are being reported here in russian media, on russian television, people here are told to expect a press briefing in the next hour from the airport at st. petersburg. we'll wait to see if that happens. also the emergency ministry are sending three planes to egypt to help with the investigation. the government has established a hotline for families to call into. the foreign ministry is saying when they get more details they will make those details available to the press. the details that we have so far are this, that there were 224 people on board the aircraft when it took off from sharm el-sheikh. seven were crew, 217 were passengers. it was flight 9268, commonly known this air carrier commonly known here as metro jet. this is the logo that it has printed on the side, written on the side of the aircraft. 17 of the passengers we're told were children.

after 23 minutes in the air, it disappeared off of radid carrad. we're also hearing these were russian tourists, families will have heard that it's being reported at the moment, and we should caveat this information that we've yet to have official confirmation, but this is what the families will be hearing right now, is state media and media in russia are reporting that the pilot made a call to the ground requesting an emergency landing at the nearest air field. because he was experiencing technical difficulties. again, we can expect updates from the russian -- from russian officials. they're indicating that that is coming. perhaps within a matter of hours or so. >> and nic, just to reiterate what you're telling us, go 17 passengers, 17 were children.

>> 17 were children. that's the understanding we have at the moment. seven of the people on board were airline crew. what russian media is reporting here again is that the pilot, the captain, made a call. the plane disappeared from the radar 23 minutes after it took off early this morning. and sometime in that time period the pilot made a call requesting an emergency landing at a nearby air field. it crashed in the northern sinai. this route between st. petersburg, the plane was en route from sharm el-sheikh, a holiday destination by the seaside, still warm weather, blue skies, on its way back to st. petersburg, which is where russian media are reporting that a government official in the next hour or so will likely make the first official briefing that we're going to hear. again, these are early reports, and i think a lot of details here are still going to need running down and checking.

but it does seem at the moment that the russian authorities are moving quickly, establishing a hotline, sending three aircraft to egypt to help in the recovery here and the investigation. and also to try to provide information, foreign ministry saying it will provide more information when the details become available. >> nic robertson live in moscow, thank you so much for your reporting. now let's turn to our own ian lee live in cairo, egypt, following the story there. ian, we understand that ambulances, 20 of them, are on their way to the crash site. what more do we know from egypt? >> george, we just got a statement from the prime minister's office updating us on the latest. and i'll share that with you now. we're hearing that there are now 50 ambulances on their way to the crash sate. this crash took place in the northern part of sinai, central-northern part in an area

near hasna, the village of hasna. the crash happened -- or at least the plane disappeared at 6:20 in the morning. who found the crash initially were air force jets from the egyptian air force. they were the ones that spot the it. this northern part of sinai is a militarized zone. egyptian security forces are battling an insurgency there. now, that being said, we don't know what the cause of this crash is. right now we're hearing that it's more likely to be technical issues. but if it is in this area, it will make it difficult for security personnel to get to it as they do have this insurgency to contend with. we're also hearing that this is a mountainous area which will also make it difficult for any sort of rescue operation. right now egyptian officials say that if there are any survivors,

that they will be brought to hospitals here in cairo. but from what we're hearing, it is unlikely that there would be any at this time. now this plane was taking people as we heard from nic, tourists from sharm el-sheikh, to st. petersburg. this is a very popular route. sharm el-sheikh gets a lot of tourists hike this coming down, trying to escape the cold weather. as we heard, 17 of those people killed were children. a lot of families go on this route. egyptian officials though saying they still have yet to reach the site of the crash. the only eyes that they've had on it now are from military jets patrolling the skies over sinai, george. >> ian lee live for us in cairo, egypt. ian, we'll stay close with you as we learn more information from where you are presently. thank you so much for your reporting. you're watching "cnn newsro newsroom." we continue to follow the breaking news.

this passenger plane traveling from egypt to russia. it has crashed. hundreds of people are feared dead. we continue to follow this breaking news and we'll bring you more after the break.

you are watching cnn and we are following breaking news this hour out of egypt. a russian passenger plane traveling from the resort town of sharm el-sheikh to st. petersburg, russia, has crashed in the central sinai peninsula. this according to a statement from egypt's prime minister. a source in russia's federal air transport authority tells russia's state-run news agency that kogalymavia flight 9268, better known as metro jet in that region, for people who fly

tat plane, apparently was carrying some 217 passengers, it was carrying 7 crew members, according to our own nic robertson, 17 people on the plane were children. it apparently vanished from radar 23 minutes after it took off from sharm el-sheikh. egypt says dozens of ambulances are on their way to the crash site and we're expecting more information this hour and we'll bring you that information as we get it. first let's bring in aviation expert julian bray joining us via skype from cambridge, england. still very early in this investigation for sure but we heard from our own nic robertson in moscow just a few moments ago that many russians are hearing from state-run media that the pilot radioed for an emergency landing reporting technical issues. what more do you know? >> yes, i've heard that story as well. i think that is probably right. and if that is the case, then it

might rule out another rumor going around that it's another missile incident. so if it has gone technical and the pilot has did requested an emergency landing then he would have actually prepared the aircraft for an emergency landing. so that hasn't happened. and i understand that they're saying now that the debris field is quite wide and it is totally destroyed. 224 people on board, i'm hearing and that the egyptians say it is actually in a war zone. so there are some problems there. there's some terrorist activity going on. but they seem to be on top of it, they seem to have actually got some ambulances on the way. >> julian bray with us live via skype. our viewers are also seeing this plane. it's a metro jet, a plane like this. this is what people are used to seeing who use this aircraft. julian, i want to ask you, our

own ian lee told us a few moments ago that basically backing up what you're saying, as far as the sinai peninsula, there is an insurgency there that would be certainly difficult as crews try to get to this debris field. but also the terrain there. it's very mountainous. can you tell us more about that? >> yes, it is. that's going to make the recovery position rather difficult. so they're approaching it apparently by land at the moment. so they've got ambulances on the way. but obviously it might rule out aerial activity. unless, of course, they can get some kind of accommodation with the warring factions on the ground. so what we now have is a recovery operation. and they are not confirming it but it does sound as though everybody on port has perished. and our hearts go out to the families involved. these are all tourists coming back from sharm el-sheikh, which is a very popular destination

for the russians, especially this time of year when it gets cold. and it was due back into st. petersburg in london time about 3:51. and it took off and it was due at st. petersburg about 12:10. there's more information coming in now. there's also -- we're getting flight tracking radar screens up which actually shows that the plane disappeared at one point, which means that of course all the systems have shut down or it's crashed. >> julian, for viewers watching here in the united states and around the world, i want to be very precise about the information that we're passing along. again, what we're hearing from nic robertson in moscow is that many russians are turning on the television or getting information from russian state media that this plane, the pilots may have called for an emergency landing, reporting technical issues. again, cnn has not yet confirmed

that information. still very early, julian, in this investigation. but what comes next? who will lead the investigation in this to determine exactly what happened here? >> well, what actually happens now, of course, is notwithstanding that the pilot may or may not have called for technical assistance, there will be -- investigation has already started. and so the russians will be sort of involved, as will the egyptians, because it's actually come down in egyptian territory. so it should be that particular area that will claim jurisdiction of it. but of course they will actually bring in outside expertise and help, including from your own country and from the u.k., and we expect the team of investigators to be invited to go to the crash scene and assist with the reconstruction. and what they will probably do is actually take the aircraft or when they recover the pieces, as

they've done before, to a warehouse, then try and reconstruct the aircraft to try and find out exactly what's happened. but these are early days and early, of course, at the moment is pure speculation. >> and also, again, just talking about this information that's coming across the airwaves and that's also online, i want to reiterate from what we are learning here at cnn, even though this happened, this plane crashed in a contested area, there is no information, again, no information to indicate that this plane might have been shot down as there are some theories out there -- >> you're right quiquite right, right. everything is speculation so nothing is on the table or off the table. so you have to look at all possibilities. and the thing is, this is a very well-established aircraft, airbus a-321. it's about 17 years old. but as we know, these have very rigorous maintenance schedules.

so in fact that 17-year-old aircraft is flying around with a lot of brand-new kit in it because it's periodically swapped over because every piece is timed and so on. it is a fly by wire aircraft so it's all computer controlled. and so it will do a lot of the thinking for the pilots, if you like. so they do actually have these backup systems. so if it has crashed, then it's some kind of catastrophic failure. we don't know how it's caused. and this no doubt the investigation will help us there. it does carry the black boxes, the voice recorders, the data recorders. so if they can recover those, they will find out what has happened. but we are talking about a recovery operation rather than a rescue operation. >> important to point that out. there will be a lot of families who will be awaiting word about who was on that flight.

as you mentioned, getting to this area may be difficult for crews but we understand from our own ian lee that some 50 ambulances are presently on their way. julian bray, thank you so much for your insight. please stay with us, stay close to us, we will come back to you a little later, i'm sure. you're watching "cnn newsroom." also want to point out that plane you were looking at, metro jet, that's what it's commonly referred to there by many people who use the plane. it is a kogalymavia kgl flight 9268. apparently crashed. we have information that this crashed in the sinai peninsula. stay with cnn, we will have more information as "newsroom" continues. for the same price.gigs so five more gigs for the same price? may i? 50% more data for the same price. now get 15 gigs for the price of 10.

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let's update you on the breaking news on "cnn newsroom." a russian passenger plane traveling from the resort town of sharm el-sheikh to st. petersburg, russia, has crashed in the central sinai peninsula according to a statement from egypt's prime minister. a source in russia's federal air transport authority tells russia's state-run news agency the kogalymavia flight known as metro jet, you'll see that image many times, that's what it's commonly known by for people in that region, the flight 9268 was

carrying some 217 passengers. it had seven crew members on board. our nic robertson reports that 17 people on that flight were children. meteorologist derek van dam is here as well. derek has been looking into the weather situation, which when these things happen it's always a question. what was happening there in the region? what can you tell us? >> so very little information at the moment. as we continue to aggregate all the bits and pieces of information that we do have, it's important that we eliminate all the possibilities, including weather as one of the factors of this potential plane crash. and that's what i'm going to investigate now with you. go a little bit deeper into what's happened across that area. in moments like these we often go to the services of a website called flightaware.com. very useful in tracking worldwide flights. this is the last known location with contact from flight kgl 9268. and that was the last moment

after 23 minutes of flight, a very brief flight, eventually crashing into the sinai peninsula. a very mountainous area. just to put this into geographical perspective, this is the gulf of aqaba, israel to the north and east. as we lack to the weather situation throughout the middle east during the last moments of contact with this particular airliner it was clear. we continue to track a major tropical cyclone across the arabian sea but that is well south and east of the sinai peninsula. let's zoom into this region and you can see sharp am el-sheikh also just how clear the conditions have been throughout this part of the world over the past 12 to 24 hours. this is a high-resolution satellite imagery from nasa's world view and you can see that there was very little cloud cover across that area. we also want to investigate the

wind speeds. not only at the upper elevations where airliners fly, roughly 30,000 to 40,000 feet, but also at the surface where the recovery effort will happen. and you can see that winds in the cairo region, just about 15 kilometers per hour. more of the same throughout the sinai peninsula. however, this is getting into the coldest time of the year, so temperatures will range anywhere between zero to 5 degrees celsius, roughly 32 to 45 degrees fahrenheit across that area so that's going to inhibit the recovery effort there, making it very, very cold for let's say the potential survivors of this incident, george, and also the recovery efforts for the emergency personnel as well. >> again, weather doesn't look to be a factor? >> from my professional standpoint, it doesn't look like weather was a factor in this crash. >> thank you very much. again, we continue to follow this breaking news here on cnn. thank you for being with us. i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. for viewers around the world we

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