they position the chopper and this time, deputy don mcadoo makes the drop. has an additional challenge to deal with. >> my pilot was a little bit fatigued. my systems operator, kevin, who is standing on the skid running the hoist and basically putting us into position, he's been at it for about an hour. the winds have really kicked up. >> the chopper's whirling blades add to the turbulence. >> wow. it is pretty scary in itself, that wind that's also being created. >> i'm like a yo-yo. i'm at the mercy of my systems operator who is lowering and raising the cable and also the helicopter pilot who has to hold that helicopter in steady position in those winds. >> all the time the rescue's going on, other rafters keep whooshing merrily by. >> you see these people kayaking by, rafting by, and they appear oblivious to what's going on. >> mcadoo is worried. time may be running out for the rafters. >> had these people lost consciousness, fallen off into the river, we would have had a much more perilous mission that we might not have been able to save them. >> finally

on the cnbc news line is robert mcadoo.nel on who said of the 1300 flights that have been canceled so far today because of weather, 700 are out of dallas-ft. worth on a day, very big news day for a company that's going to be head quartered there. do you think that's fortuitous? does that affect the situation? >> say that again. >> roughly half of the flights have been canceled because of this horrible winter storm across the country are in dallas-ft. worth as american is set to get off the ground on its first day as this pro form ma company. do you think that will set it off on a bad foot? >> no, no, we have bad weather every year. this is something we just have to deal with. not a big deal. >> what is it like to integrate what is going to become one of the largest airlines in the world? over 100,000 employees, thousands of routes? it is sort of like turning a cruise ship but where does it start? >> well, first thing you have to do is get all the employees pulling on the same end of the rope. i think this particular managem