tv CNN Newsroom CNN September 9, 2009 3:00pm-4:00pm EDT
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>> the people ee's beat, everybody's dead. >> police say he did it but now we're learn how long he did it. it's a jaw dropper. never before in the history of the u.s. has so much been spent to influence a debate. it's official. lobbyists, television ads and political donations top $375 million. grassroots effort? yeah, right. that's the glass busting, hopefully the tank won't blow. >> incredible to watch, but why is the guy taking these pictures watching instead of helping? and look at this. >> are you all right? >> real reporting from afghanistan, the war zone
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becomes part of your national conversation, for wednesday, september 9, 2009. and hello, again, everybody, i'm rick sanchez with the next generation of news, this is a conversation, this is not a speech and it's always your turn to get involved. on this day, i want you to think about this number as the president gets ready to address health care. the number is $375 million. this is the most ever spent to try and influence, some would say, confuse you. you, the american people. speaking of confused, listen to this precious moment. >> i understand -- >> ma'am, ma'am. >> ma'am, i agree with you. but the courts don't. >> all right, that is ohio
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republican congresswoman jean schmidt, one of the berthers indoctrinated with falsehoods proved to be wrong, questioning whether the president is a real american. that's that woman who's addressing that congresswoman there who eventually leans over. in fact i'm going to play it for you again. you'll hear schmidt whispers that she agrees with what the woman is saying. but the courts, they don't agree. here it is again. >> i understand. >> ma'am, ma'am. >> i'm sorry, i have to -- i'm sorry. >> i agree with you, but the courts don't. >> it was just before the my bad, that's where she said, i agree with you, but the courts don't. what courts? we have no clue, but we did have
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ask the congresswoman to come on and explain to us to which she has responded that she doesn't want to. they're all dead. >> how many people are there. >> my whole family's dead. they're all beat to death. i don't know, man. >> those are the chilling words of guy heinze jr., calling 911, he's calling to report a mass murder in a brunswick, georgia home. today yet another shocking development on this story that has really been filled with them. twists and turns. police are now saying all eight victims were essentially beaten to death. bludgeoned. no, they were not shot as most thought. they were, as originally reported, bludgeoned to death. there's a ninth, a 3-year-old still on life support. that would mean this guy, guy
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heinz jr. is his name. he beat to death his father, beat to dead a child with downs syndrome and beat to death a 3-year-old child. that's what the police are alleging. then he called 911, but how could he have done all of this alone. >> we want to know what really happened. the police may think they know what happened, but we want to know really the truth and it could. be one person doing all that. >> there's a lot of people who agree with that. think about it, how on earth could one man beat eight people to death in a cramped mobile home? again, nine if you count the 3-year-old on life support. do the police officers have this right? to try and help us out on this, we have turned to the absolute best when it comes to this type of story, he's dr. cyril wecht.
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he joins us now from pittsburgh. dr., good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> have you ever in all your years and all the cases that you have handled seen anything that resembles this? >> no, not even multiple shootings where people can be dispatched with much moral lack contributity. -- alacrity. the only thing i can think of is that the individuals, the males with more physical strength were eliminated first, rendered unconscious, beaten to death, and the others were rendered more or less helpless. but it still begs the question of how this can be accomplished without anybody running out the door and so on. >> let me just stop you there, doctor, just for a moment, just so you and me together can share these pictures with the rest of
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the country who's watching right now and curious as we are. let's put those pictures up, roj, if you have got them. we have got some pictures of the crime scene itself. there's the outside, i don't know if you can see it, but i'm looking at a window which is half open, with a fan in it. all you have to do is kick off the fan, and then there's a porch and a sliding glass door and another sliding glass door on the other side. so there's places to exit in an emergency. why wouldn't someone exit? >> i don't know the proximity of any neighbors, both for v visualization and for hearing any commotion. the other thing that will be checked to be certain is the toxicological analysis where these people were drugged. that's farfetched, but certainly to be accomplished. the big thing here from a scientific standpoint is whether or not they can use that one particular instrument was used. i doubt very much that he used a
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crowbar to kill a and then a baseball bat to kill b and a ball peen hammer to kill c and so on. so they're going to have to show one particular instrumentality and they're also going to have to show absence of dna from anybody else, hair, fiber or dna. >> you mean an accomplice? >> yes, if there is no dna, i can't imagine that you can bludgeon people with that kind of physical contact, that kind of altercation without leaving some kind of scientific evidence. he visited there at the very least, so it's not a problem with his dna being there, unless it is found where it should not be like in wounds and things of that nature. there's a lot more to be disclosed but in the meantime, it certainly does raise a
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question as you have pointed out so clearly as to how eight people could be bludgeoned to death by one individual. >> and you know what, doctor, nine if you clue theinclude the 3-year-old that's still on life support. and the fact that you can bludgeon to death with a baseball bat, your own father? >> what time of day was this? >> there's something else that comes into play, let's do this, i want to hear the 911 tape again, maybe there's some clues that you can decipher in his voice, in his presentation, that seems to be slurred, somewhat erratic if not change. let's listen. >> you live there? >> yeah. >> did you just get home this morning. >> yeah, i just got here. >> when you came in the house, what did the house look like. >> it looked like -- my whole family's dead.
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>> did somebody tear up everything or they just beat up -- >> the people's bait. everybody's dead. >> the people's beat. i got to tell you, we had never seen this guy before, all we had done is heard his voice when we first heard this story. i thought he had some kind of problem, mental problem perhaps. but it seems to me, and you would probably say the same thing, it sounds like he's under the influence of something there, isn't he? >> one has to be careful in inferring too much from speech patterns, et cetera, everybody reacts differently, but i would agree with you, the speech sounds very slurred and it strongly suggests alcohol and/or drugs which would cause this kind of slurred speech. i think that we have to learn more about his background, we have to learn more about his relationships with these people who were killed and -- >> i will tell you this, by the way, you asked me just a little while ago, there's a possibility it could have happened overnight, because the phone
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call wasn't made until morning. so i bet you would say that overnight killings are maybe more possible? >> yes, yes. if you've got people who are sound asleep and you very quickly go, not necessarily producing death with each one as you go from one to two and to number three and four and so on, but sufficient to produce unconsciousness, a degree of immobilization, a degree of lack of alertness, and ability to respond in any way, then you can go back and finish the job. so that will be interesting to see, too. the nature of the injuries, and how they relate to the positions of the bodies and as i have said, and it bears repeating, the instrument that was used. because i think that's extremely important. >> toxicology results we're told are going to be back in three months. >> three months. >> that's a long time. >> meanwhile we're going to be
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continuing to follow this fascinating story, as heinous as i have ever seen before. we're glad to have dr. cyril wecht. this is an amazing piece of video that i'm going to be sharing with you. that's michael ware who was reporting on the taliban in kandahar afghanistan, he almost lost his life to an ied. here's a question for you, how much did your voice matter to your congressman or your senator on health care during all those town hall meetings that were going on across the country? or was it really much more having to do with money? the money that he or she may be getting to argue for or against this reform? regardless of what may be in your interests. i'm asking that question for a very serious reason and i know
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it's a very serious question. wait until you hear the numbers that i have got for you on this. the money that's being spent to make sure health care reform is influenced one way or the other. scary. we'll be back. because of one word, imagination and reality have merged. because of one word, a new generation-- a fifth generation-- of fighter aircraft has been born.
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all right, we have got some breaking news that i have to share with you right now which is somewhat perilous, as a matter of fact. it is a scary situation. one that none of us would ever want to find ourselves in. let me give you the details. you ready? we at cnn have just learned that a plane, an aero mexico plane, a
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boeing 747, with 104 people on board has been taken hostage. the people on board have been taken hostage. the plane is hijacked and the threat that the hijackers are making is that they will blow this plane up in midair, we presume. if they don't have an opportunity to speak to the president of mexico, felipe caldron. this is taking place in mexico city. there's a news feed coming in now. i'm going to direct simultaneous translation for you. hold on. let's play it up and i'll translate. [ speaking spanish ] >> he seems to be saying, bad timing, the moment that i
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started listening to this, the announcer here at cnn started making the statement announcement and i can't hear over his voice. but what i think i hear them saying is that they do think the plane is going to try and make some kind of landing. all right, they're expecting some kind of landing in the south part of the airport. they have security arriving at the airport right now. this is coming in from the west, they said. security forces and security vehicles are arriving now.
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the airplane has been told to land on 27 left. they have hijacked an aeromexico plane. it was going to land in mexico. they have asked the pilot to go around seven times. the control tower received a call. from the pilot saying the plane has been hijacked. the voice -- they want to speak to the president of mexico, calderon, there are the security forces arriving at the airport now. he says they heard some accents in the cockpit that seemed to be
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either columbian or boll livian. -- bolivian. the hijackers say they have an explosive on board and they will use the explosive unless they are able to speak with the president. the plane has a capacity of 104 passengers. now we're seeing the plane on the ground. he says they're seeing the plane on the grind. of he says the pla's saying tha, apparently the plane is on the ground, the plane has touched down but they're still on board and still apparently threatening to blow it up. unless they talk to the president, calderon.
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so the plane has landed, the plane has landed is what our tbs teca, the plane has landed on 17 right. security forces and federal officials have now arrived at the airport and are getting ready to surround the plane. they're arriving, if you're just joining us on cnn, we're following a developing story, at the mexico city international airport, where we have just learned, it has been hijacked and they're threatening to blow the plane up with 104 passengers on board. we don't know if negotiations have started yet. the plane came in from cancun, mexico.
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due to arrive around 1:00 mexico time there in mexico city's international airport, the capital airport. let's listen to what the correspondent has to say. he says there's no, that police and federal security forces are amassing at the airport. but many of them are still arriving. he says they expect even more people to be arriving in the zone soon. these are the very first reports that are coming out of the airport now, about this situation occurring now in mexico city.
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all right, we have got another correspondent now who's talked to one of the officials. once again, she's reporting that at 1:40 is when this happened. there is the plane that left cancun, you can see it from the you can c yucatan peninsula, a boeing 7378, 104 passengers. they say the threat came from someone with a bolivian or a colombian accent. that's the second time we have heard that by the way. there is the plane. there is a shot of the plane for
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the first time, the actual plane that has been hijacked. they have made the plane land. they wanted to go around seven times, that's what they asked for. they said they wanted to circle the airport seven times while they talked to the president. here's correspondent lara -- she's explaining -- she's explaining that she's with the president and the president was scheduled to inaugurate a new hospital in mexico city, that's president felipe calderon, of course. she's also explaining that the president has not made a comment.
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with the next couple of moments they are going to make a decision as to whether the president will be traveling or not. she said that his president's spokesman there in mexico said that they're undecided whether they're going to be leaving for campeche, it sounds like it's going to be canceled now as they decide what they're going to do with these hijackers and the 104 souls who are, i imagine, sweating bullets right now on this plane. once again, she's now describing that she is where the president is, the president was scheduled to go to campeche, and there's a helicopter that has just arrived or has just left. she's talk about a helicopter
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arriving at the place where the presidential palace is, and that the president was scheduled to fly somewhere, but that may be canceled. for those of you joining us on cnn there,'s breaking news from mexico city, an airplane with 104 people on board, it's a 747, i understand. aeromexico 747. it's starting to look like that's not a 747, by the way. is it? it's a 737, it's a boeing 737 from aeromexico. we're getting you this information on the fly, literally. i'm translating what i'm hearing now from tv a srkazteca, there hijackers on board who are threatening to blow up the plane and they are saying that they will blow up the plane if
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president felipe calderon doesn't speak to the hijackers. the hijackers are described from their accents as either being bolivian or colombian. delicate negotiations may soon be taking place here at mexico city's airport. hold on, we have new information coming on from a correspondent in mexico. he's saying -- they're calling this an emergency of national significance. they say among others, the secretary of transportation and some of the defense officials are now convening in mexico to try and come up with some kind of decision as to how they're going to deal with this. while we watch the tail of the
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plane, seen right there, that's the tail of the plane, on board that plane are 104 people and we believe at least two maybe more hijackers, who have taken over the plane, threatening to blow it up, if they are not allowed to speak to president felipe calderon. as we watch the story, and we have been watching it now for about 20 minutes, you see some of the security officials scurrying to the airport to try and deal with any eventuality. we're listening to the mexico
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correspondents. three hijackers we're now hearing. and they say one of them is bolivian. they're saying it's a bomb. they say it's a bomb. in a box, a large box, that apparently is wrapped in brown paper. they say it's a brown box, there's a bomb on board. they now say there are three hijackers, three hijackers is what tv azteca is reporting. and they're all three bolivian. they want to speak to the president. we hear the phone going off back there as they try to get the
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information to us. rick sanchez at the world headquarters of cnn in atlanta, really what is a difficult story to watch for the sake of those people there in mexico, they're threatening to blow up the plane, the plane has landed, it's on the ground. mexican officials are approaching the plane, it's not clear what they're going to do or what their strategy is. we have learned that the president may be canceling some of these plans so that he can deal with this. we have also heard that the minister of defense and the minister of transportation are having meetings right now to determine what strategies they are going to use. we have been learning quite a lot within the last 25 minutes as we monitor this report from tv azteca.
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now we see helicopters arriving there at the airport, not far from where the plane is, we don't know who's on board those helicopters. it is curious at this point that there's still as much movement at the airport. usually one would think that a lot of the traffic at the airport would be shut down. but then again, if there's a plane coming in and it only has enough to get to this airport they have to let it land. we have seen more landings than we have seen takeoffs. i don't know what the next nearest airport is to that airport in mexico. but we do see quite a bit of movement. i believe this is file tape. this is a live picture. we're looking at live pictures once again. we don't know if in fact this is -- who's on these helicopters that are arriving now. i'm told now that the font, put that font up, they just changed it. it said that it's three
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bolivianos. information we got moments ago, and we have been getting this information to you as we have been learning it. as i listen to this in spanish and translate for you is that the plane is on the ground and we have also learned moments ago that there are three hijackers, three hijackers who have commandeered this plane and curiously enough are still on the plane. now we move back to showing you some of the videotape we got moments ago. these are mexican security forces arriving at the airport after learning that the plane had been hijacked and that there's a national emergency, that is how it's being described, a national emergency. now we're back to the live pictures that we're getting from tv azteca. i know many of you are just now joining us, getting home from work. you're catching us in developing news mode. this is a developing story that's taking place at the airport in mexico. and i think -- all right, let's
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listen in, hold on. [ speaking spanish ] >> we are now starting to look like they're starting to let some of the passengers off the plane. the correspondent is describing how some of the people have exited the plane and are entering the busses. yes, they have started to release the passengers. interesting how fast this story is moving. members of security forces from the marines and from the army are there at the airport, he says, they have opened the door and some of the passengers are now being allowed to leave the plane.
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on the left side of the plane, they are looking out the window now from the plane and they are removing -- they are removing some of the passengers. he says he can't hear you because you're breaking up. let's go over this information once again. are the hijackers being freed? are the passengers being freed? how many passengers? how many passengers have been freed? we were able to see them leav g
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leaving -- i was able to see at least 100 people, 100 people, he says. they have been put on busses and they have exited the scene. 100 people, he said. they came on busses and we saw the pilot at the door, ground control was there. they came next to the bus and i watched the passengers exit. they looked tired, some were standing, some were sitting, but they got on the busses.
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and they were able to get away. jose ramon, we're having serious problems, we can barely hear you, you're breaking up, says the anchor. a large number -- a large number of passengers have been freed. once again, all right, so this is the second time we have heard this now. when you're doing simultaneous translation, you want to make sure you're getting this right and i want to do the best job i can for you folks at home. the anchor has just reiterated what i thought i had heard as well. that 100 people, according to the reporter who was watching this, 100 people have been freed. liberated, removed from the plane. if our numbers are correct then, that pretty much brings this thing to a boil, and 104 people
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were on the plane, and if three of them were on the plane, that would include the pilot as well, we don't know if he's left, but it does look like most of them have been taken off the plane. mike brooks, our law enforcement expert who has dealt with this kind of things in the past, this thing is moving faster than anything i have seen in the past. >> i was extremely surprised because if you look at security at different airports around the world, you really have not had anything like this happen for quite some time in mexico city, especially with the aeromexicana flight, that is part of the united states alliance, that is headed up by delta airlines now. >> flight 576 is the flight number. angie, tell me what aeromexico is saying at this point,
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anything? are they confirming? aeromexico is not commenting at all on this story. i imagine they're busy taking care of the situation there at hand. the information that i'm bringing you is coming direct from reporters there at the scene. mike, i know that you probably know latin-american politics as well as i do, i have spent a big part of my life following these kinds of situations and we know that there's been no love lost between the mexicans and the colombians and the bolivians. we know that there is a drug cartel that has been problematic, we know that there's been indigenous wars that have developed between these two countries. does it look to you like a different brand of terrorism, maybe not the same kind of terrorism that we in the united states refer to that often has its roots in the middle east, but a different brand of terrorism that might be involved in this. >> right before i joined you, i got off the phone with one of my
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fbi counterparts and they had just heard about the situation going on and they're reaching out to the u.s. embassy as well. but they could not say if it was any known terrorist groups, when you talk about columbia, but right now we have heard nothing of that nature to say if it's associated with any, you know, an organized terror group, if you will, or if these are -- if this is just somebody who has a relationship between mexico, bolivia and columbia, we really don't know. >> what's interesting is when we use the words terrorism, there's a loose translation which means essentially to terrorize and i think there would be no doubt that whoever has commandeered this plane had the intent of terrorizing the passengers on the plane and many other people who had planned to fly and certainly to directly affect the politics of president colder
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ron. come deron. >> to terrorize any population with the furtherance of political objectives. >> are you as surprised as i am, that they were able to bring the plane down as quickly as they did and that they were able to get, if true, as reported by this one reporter at tv azteca, that he was watching with his own eyes that they were able to get 100 passengers off this plane. that would leave just one person, perhaps the pilot and the three suspected hijackers? >> i'm very surprised that there's that many hostages or those many people were released, but one of the things i can tell you, rick, is if they're still on board the plane, the captain of that aircraft, he or she will be the last one off.
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that's usually the way things go. having worked i don't know how many different hijacking scenarios throughout the years, and working in training throughout the united states, that's usually what we see. >> are you as curious as i am as to how, in this day and age, with all the security efforts that we have taken to make sure the wrong people don't get on planes, and be, to secure those cockpit doors to make sure that no one can get into that cockpit that someone was able to do so or is there a difference between the international standards that airlines use and the standards that we use here in this country? >> the standards for a airmexicano. i was a member of their security department for a number of years, and we would meet regularly with all the sky team
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members, aero mexicano and with air france and others to make slur th sure that the security was up to snuff and still to this day, there's an international force to make sure that the standards are met. they have the air transport officials in the united states, and they also stay on top of the standards internationally for different airlines. >> mike, let me ask you a question that i think i can't help but ask and it has to do with this time of the year every year where we ponder these types of things, i don't know if terrorists were related to dates, but we are just two days away from the anniversary of 9/11, by the way, we're seeing live pictures -- let me interrupt myself, we're seeing live pictures of the troops on the ground there. troops on the ground for the very first time, surrounding what appears to be a helicopter.
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we're told the u.s. embassy is working with the mexican government now to try and figure this one out. determine who's responsibility it was for this hijacker. mike, let me just ask this question, then i'll listen in once again. we're two days from the anniversary of 9/11. is there anything going on in your head that makes you think that there may be any relationship at all. >> you know, rick, right now we really can't say that there is, but it's something that's always in the back of people's minds especially when we get close to an anniversary because there are a number of different terrorist groups who have the format of terrorism on anniversaries of different days of different acts. >> it may be important just to note it. let's listen in, these are pictures we haven't seen before. there's the plane, look at the relationship between the plane and the people who are there with security forces. and let me see if i can listen
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in. they're doing an interview with a passenger. how did you know the plane had been hijacked? we learned from the pilot when he announced to us. he told us that everything was okay. tranquil. this is a woman describing what it was like to be on that plane. it was very difficult, the whole scene was difficult, she says. but the pilot told us to remain calm. there were children on the plane, there were people coming back from vacations. the plane was full. was there ever a crisis?
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no, not, never, there was never a crisis on the plane. we were thinking that the plane must have been packed, and that's why we were circling and they weren't allowing us to land. but then, we saw the federal police forces arrive on the plane and people started taking their pictures. the plane was completely full. how long were you on the ground before they rescued you. >> we were sitting on the plane for 45 minutes. in those 45 minutes, did the hijackers say anything to you? no. he did not speak to us. he did not have any contact with the passengers. thank you, adriana romero for taking us through that. so there you have it. interesting interview with one
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of the passengers who says she didn't know. that she didn't know, i'm listening to see if she adds anything else. she wants her family to know that she's okay. the passengers never heard from the hijackers and they were on the plane for 45 minutes after the plane came down. the pilot never told thema there was a crisis or a problem. the pilot told them that everything was under control. and they alluded to the fact that they were going through some kind of hijacking situation. jill dougherty's joining us now, she's in washington, d.c. i imagine, jill, you have made contact with some of our folks at the state department. what do they do in a situation like this? >> number one they want to find out if there are americans aboard. so what they have been trying to do, just a few minutes ago, we understand that they did not yet
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have that manifest, and that manifest would show, rick, of course if there were americans aboard. so they are in communication right now, the u.s. embassy in mexico city is communicating with the mexican government and lost with the airlines trying to find out that information. and essentially there are three things they wants to know, are there americans aboard, if so how many might they be. and they're also looking who might be responsible for this and they want to know what u.s. agencies might be used to assist in all of this. so it's very early and as we said, we don't yet know from the state department whether they indeed have that manifest and they certainly are not saying at this point whether there are americans aboard. >> it would almost be difficult to think that a plane can fly from cancun to mexico city without having at least one american on board, given it's proximity to the united states and the fact that cancun in and of itself, not to mention mexico city is one of the most famous
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tourist test natidestinations f americans, right? >> but you have to pin these facts down, they try to work very quickly, obviously this is a big embassy in mexico and with the consoulate, et cetera. >> jill, stand by, and we'll get back to you and certainly let us know if there's any new information on this story. the plane has landed on the ground, we understand that all the passengers have been removed from the plane, 100 or so. as described by reporters. one of them has been interviewed a few moments ago. we're hearing from another passenger. let me see if i can pick this up for translation.
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we were scared, we were frightened and there was a lot of fear at the time. but it seemed like things got under control once we came down. we were immediately surrounded as soon as we left the plane by the federal police. did you get a chance to see the hijackers? yes, someone told me that -- someone told me it was him at the back of the line. he was a very well-dressed man, a passenger, he was just a normal passenger.
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there was nothing strange going on as far as we thought when we first landed. we had no idea what was going on. hold on. we have got the mexican president -- we had the mexican president. it sounds like they're trying to get an interview now with the spokesman for the president. sounds like they were going to do an interview, but they lost communications. as we continue the interview with one of the passengers. where was the commotion and was
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there any commotion? was it going on in first class? no. we didn't see anything up there. what happened in the front of the plane, we didn't see. we were in the middle of the plane. it sounds like there may have been some commotion in the front of the plane, but this passenger says where she was, she never saw it, and didn't even know what was happening. we're learning now the president of mexico, felipe calderon has not left, is still in -- he was supposed to go to campeche, but he's not going to campeche, he's been delayed. and it sounds like he will be in his residence.
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four helicopters have now landed at the airport. and the situation stays as it is. mike brooks still with us. mike, i still haven't been able to figure out frankly, as much as i have been listening and to translate what's going on whether the passengers or have not yet been taken into custody. it sounds -- it sounds -- there's the plane once again. we're looking at it. it sounds from one description that there's a possibility that at least one of the hostages was in fact taken off the plane because she described him as being someone in the back of the line when we got off. now that's just one passenger, and you know how these things are. you start -- you ask a lot of people a lot of questions, and you get a lot of different answers so i'm still trying to figure out what happened but it does seem curious, does it not, that these passengers are saying most of them, most of them did not even know that there was a hijacking going on on the plane. >> that's a good possibility because many times after the passengers get off the plane, if they don't see what's going on
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up in first class up near the door to the cockpit they really don't know. and we heard one of the passengers saying it a they were surrounded immediately by the mexican federal authorities, and what they do is they will take each one of these people. they will divide them into different groups, and they will interview them because one of the things you always are concerned about, rick, are what we call sleepers. these are people who we don't know if they are passengers or if they possibly could have been hijackers or involved in the hijacking plot. these are things that law enforcement will talk to these people about and take a look at the manifest just like joe was saying to see if there's any americans on board. what we've also been seeing, rick, it looks as if one of the pilots is leaning out the window of the cockpit talking to some officials there on the ground. you also see, it looks like one of the chutes was deployed on the other side -- on the opposite side of the aircraft, because most airports, rick,
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have a designated area that they will go to, that the plane will pull up to, for hijack iing situation, usually a designated area at every international airport. >> mike, if there is still -- would they still be handling this right now as an active potential explosive situation? is there still a possibility that there are explosives as the threat came in on board that -- that plane, and if so, why are there so many security forces so close to that plane? >> reporter: you know, i was thinking the same thing. it's very, very close. it's hard to see also the camera position how close they are to the aircraft, but, you know, you always have to keep that in mind. you don't know, you know. there's -- you don't know what you don't know, and, you know, you always have to say if they believe that there were explosives on board and there was a hijacking taking place and it's still ongoing, you have to
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go under the assumption that there could be explosives on board. >> look at these pictures, look how close the ambulances have come and how close the security forces and the airport police are. there are pictures now of them going on board. all right. there's the soldiers actually going on board the plane. there's the soldiers actually going on board the plane. these are the first shots we've seen of them doing that. and these are the passengers leaving the plane. and there's the passengers on the ground. they seem to be told to stay do down. there's a pilot. there e there's another pilot.
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so he just said the totality of passengers have been rescued, all passengers have been rescued, and he pointed out the two pilots, understand again for those of you just joining us, these are the pictures that we can describe as a rescue. these are the passengers after they are on the ground just after the plane hits the ground. the plane lands at the airport, forced to land, as we understand, and these are the 104 or so passengers who are immediately or, well, let me not say immediately. we learned from the passenger that they were sitting on the plane for 40 to 45 minutes before they were rescued, but consid considerably -- considerably brief considering what many people were thinking could happen in this situation.
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there are some passengers who are receiving first aid, according to the reports that we're getting there. we apologize for going on the fly on this for you, but the story really has been developing before our eyes, and i've been trying to describe it to you and do the translations as best i can, and really the story has unfolded at a very brisk pace. usually these things can take a long, long time. if we look close there, it's hard to tell the difference between the hostages and the potential suspects. mike brooks, you're joining us now. do you see anything there as you will be at these pictures, and how do you know anybody there is or isn't a potential suspect? >> reporter: you really done, rick, and that's the thing. as you said, they will take all of these people. we see the law enforcement take them away from the plane. they will all be questioned because, again, you never know who on board could be a sleeper. now we see that there are steps
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having been put up to the plane, and we see a bus there right in front of the plane, so that apparently are there going to be more people released? that's what it looks like now. >> yeah, it's interesting to see. we are really -- you know what? i've got to tell you. it's good to see these pictures. i know that i had reported it earli earlier. five people have been detained. we see them now with their hands tied above their heads. the passengers are walking on by, but five suspects have been detained, taken by armed security forces. we see them. they are handcuffed.
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fire fighters arrive on the scene now, but, again, he refers to the suspects. i do believe he said as many as five which would be somewhat confusion because the number we've been using has been three. there's some of the suspects now. all right. there's one of the suspects there in the yellow shirt. there's another one wearing a pink shirt who are the suspects being taken away now from the scene, from this plane, apparently hijacked, commandeered by these suspects, these hijackers, these alleged hijackers. it appears they are going to be taking the -- they are going to be taking the suspects on to a black hawk helicopter that has arrived at the airport now. there's one of the suspects in the yellow shirt. three, three suspects now,
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clarification, three suspects. one of them with the yellow shirt, another one with a pink shirt and another one with a shirt with checkerboards. we don't see them all, but one of them looks like he's very young. there he is. there's the one in the pink right there. see him right in the middle of the screen. there's another one of the suspects being taken away. he's got the jeans. got the pink shirt. he's got his hands above his head said to be handcuffed. we're back to five. or could be more even he says. five suspects now. five suspected hijackers. that's what the reporter was asked once again to count, and he said i'm counting five people who are being taken away or
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detained. now as mike brooks would tell you, because he's been having this conversation, that doesn't mean they are all hijackers. that might mean that they are all simply suspects for one reason or the other, and they are going to be questioned or perhaps even conversations that they may have had with the suspects. mike, am i right? >> reporter: i'm seeing one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, possibly eight people that are -- that have their hands behind their backs that are being escorted by law enforcement right there at the scene. >> well, that doesn't jive with the three suspects that all the passengers described or that officials described to us earlier. >> reporter: it doesn't, but as i said, you know, there's always a possibility that there could be sleepers, so these people that are traveling alone -- you know, we don't know right now, but there's always that possibility because you never know who will just kind of blend in with the crowd and appear -- here they are right here, rick, getting on board. >> wow, look at these
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