Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live 20130707

San francisco plane crash goes down in history as the first fatal commercial plane crash in this country since 2001. Heres what we know so far. Two Chinese Students were killed in the crash yesterday. They were on their way to a summer camp here in the United States. The president of Asiana Airlines says their seats were in the back of that plane, right now National Transportation safety administrate investigators were analyzing the socalled black boxes, the data reporter, the cockpit voice recorder as well. Were expecting to get more information at a press conference at about 4 30 eastern time. And new this afternoon, investigators are also expected to look at Navigation System at the airport, which was apparently turned off yesterday because of maintenance on the runway. The system helps pilots land. Nbcs john yang is on the ground for us at San Francisco International Airport this afternoon. What is the latest there, sir . Reporter well, craig, the ntsb investigators were still pouring over that fuselage that burned out, broken fuselage, still sitting on the field off runway 28 left at San Francisco International Airport. And when you look at how much damage there is to that plane, the fuselage entirely gutted by fire, the tail section broken off, it is amazing to realize that a lot of people just simply walked away. Until it landed at San Francisco International Airport, asiana flight 214 had a routine 10 1 2 hour flight from seoul, south korea. At 11 27 a. M. Pacific time, the boeing 777 carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew was on its final approach to runway 28 left. Some passengers said they felt it was coming in too low. Witnesses said the planes tail struck the seawall beyond the end of the runway before the rest of the fuselage slammed down on the pavement. Passengers described the wild ride. We hit pretty hard. At that point, i think were going to fly again. But it will be just like starting to take off thing and then we crash back hard. It was a loud noise and the whole plane shook. The top just totally collapsed on a lot of people, so a lot of people were injured, yeah. Reporter the pilot quickly called for help. Emergency landing. Asiana 214 heavy San Francisco tower. Asiana 214 heavy emergency vehicles are responding. Everyone on their way. Reporter brian piper saw the crash from a nearby hotel and used his phone to capture the aftermath. I heard the boom, saw the crash, i reached around to grab my phone, my hands were shaking, because i knew it was a terrible crash. Reporter on board, those who could began finding their way out. Plane crash, are you okay . Youre alive. Youre sitting in your chair. You unbuckle, start looking around. Door is not open. Lets get out. Open the door and start ushering people out. Reporter dozens of people are still hospitalized and hospitals from San Francisco all the way to palo alto at stanford university. At least seven are in critical condition, including an infant. What more do we know about the two students from china who died in that crash . Reporter well, as you said earlier, craig, these are two 16yearold girls from china. They were part of one of two groups from middle schools in china who were coming to the United States for summer camp, including tours of College Campuses in the Northern California area. And they were seated in the back of the plane, and officials believe they were thrown out from the plane when the tail section broke off, leading to their deaths. Craig . Nbcs john yang on the ground are us there in San Francisco. Thank you so much. 305 people survived the plane crash. The crash of flight 214, Benjamin Levy was one of them. You saw him in john yangs report a moment ago. He was in seat 32 on the righthand side of the plane. Benjamin, good to see you again, sir. First of all, how are you feeling today . Of course very bruised and hurting still. But very lucky to be here today and thank you for having me. Just a quick correction, my seat was 30 k. 30 k. Gotcha. Did you have a sense that something was wrong before the crash . Might be one of the few that did because i was sitting by the window, by the emergency exit and watching in the landing as i often do i travel often. And i could see there is some piers extending out of the runway into the water and we were very low, you know, based on my experience. We were coming in too low. And im thinking were going to hit water for a fraction of a second, thinking, of course not. It is going to be just fine. But somehow it felt very low. As soon as i felt the pilot putting full throttle on the engine, the engine roaring to try to gain lift again, thats when i realized something was wrong and we hit first pretty hard the runway and then the airplane starting to go back up because, again, the engine was pushing very hard to try to gain some altitude last minute. And the plane started lifting up and towards the left, at which point as i explained i think yesterday i was feeling hopefully we can take off again and do another run at this without any landing gear or some emergency landing. But we just started slamming really hard into the ground after that. The plane was lifting up and slamming back down. Benjamin, inside the cabin at that point, what was the scene like . It was surreal. I think i felt like it was everything happening in slow motion. First you dont believe it is happening to you. Second, you dont know if youll live through this. It is terrifying. Everybody is screaming and not believing in total disbelief. Everybody thought well touchdown, be out of the plane in ten minutes, everything was totally fine. So first disbelief, everybody scared. The plane is crashing really fast, and, you know, then you stop. This whole scene is out of this world, but you stop and you realize, okay, youre alive, a lot of people still screaming and, you know, injured and i think screaming mostly because theyre injured or people quiet because they were so shocked. And, you know, the surprise was the fact that everybody got kind of surprised. There was no announcement, no sign that anything was wrong. And then we heard no emergency, like, get out, do this, do that. Very much the people were left on their own to kind of really get on this plane and i think whoever the Flight Attendant was there and was helping as best they could. So it was a very but for like, chaos, considering there was no fire yet, people get impressed by the damage of the airplane, but a lot of that fire and destruction happened afterward. Thats really what saved peoples lives. The fuselage stayed in one piece except the tail. I was sitting in the rear of the plane, but right next to the wing on the righthand side, so, yeah, what saved the plane, it stayed on the belly, didnt flip upside down, no way we would be here to talk about it. And the fact again that a lot of injuries, but at the time, you felt stable and all tried to get out as fast we could. You took a photo, i understand, after you escaped from the plane. We have that photo. Yeah. How soon after the crash did you snap this picture and as you look at this picture today, and as you look at the video that im sure you have seen over the past 24 hours and other pictures like this, what goes through your mind . I dont know. It is just scary to think you were there. I think the pictures were taken maybe, you know, i want to say ten minutes, five, ten minutes after everybody right after everybody was out. Because, you know, i opened my door that was next to really literally next to me, in front of me, opened the door, surprised how easy it was to open, but no slide, it was taken away in the crash so people had to walk through debris and exit and i recall after maybe two minutes there were some firefighters pushing foam and water over the plane, so people started sliding because it was becoming slippery. But a lot of people were getting out i was basically screaming, stay quiet, were okay, were going to be okay, stay together, help each other, get out, get out, get out, leave everything behind. And then when most of the people in the rear section of the plane were out, i tried to go back, i couldnt go back straight because my chair and all the corridor was blocked by chairs all over the place, to go around to see one lady was cut, her leg under a chair, we tried to free her, which we did, but she couldnt walk and another lady passed out. I think she was in shock. And then i saw a firefighter, first time i saw a firefighter in the plane at that point coming from the rear of the plane. I didnt realize the tail was gone because i think it happened right behind the bathroom area. So it still appeared like it was a war at least from where i was standing. And then, you know, actually was ushered out by one of the attendant who told me to get out through the front. I got a look at what happened in the front, in front of the wings and exited to the left of the plane by the slides. And thats where i saw that most everyone was already out, which was a blessing. Flight 214 survivor Benjamin Levy. Mr. Levy, thank you for your time. Thank you. Again, investigators from the National Transportation safety board are already on site in San Francisco. What will they be looking for . Greg feith is a former investigator for the ntsb. Greg, first of all, lets start here, this morning the president of Asiana Airlines ruled out mechanical failure apparently already. How unusual is it for the head of an airline to already start ruling out causes . Craig, thats very unusual. I was very surprised by the statements that he made about the mechanical soundness of the airplane and the fact there was no engine problem. It is such an early stage of the investigation. Well before even the trained investigators have started the process. So i was very surprised by those comments. What are the priorities for the first investigators on the scene of a crash like this . Right now as youve been reporting, the team is out, theyre documenting the wreckage, theyre looking for that evidence that could disappear. It is perishable evidence as the president described it. The volatile stuff is what the investigators really want to try and capture. Hardware itself is going to be there. Theyre going to be documenting, of course, all the cabin safety issues. The fact that mr. Levy was talking about that there was no fire in the cabin during the evacuation process, thats important because from the outside, you see this catastrophic fire, you see all this billowing smoke, yet we have all these survivors. Well, theyre going to want to know how the folks got out in such a timely manner before the fire erupted in the aircraft. All of that is taking place right now, simultaneous cvr and fdr data being previewed and pumped back to the team, so that that will give them some idea if there is in fact a mechanical problem, they can start focusing on that as well. Cvr, fdr, cockpit voice recorder, flight data recorder, not black boxes. The black boxes are orange. You just alluded to some perishable evidence. What would be the perishable evidence youre talking about . Well, when we look at the cockpit, you definitely want to try and capture as many of the instrument readings. This is an electronic cockpit, all glasscock pit. You have television screens. But the screw carries personal items there, so you want to see what kind of paperwork they were reviewing, or previewing as as part of the approach procedures. Want to try to capture anything that could disappear, whether it is manifest paper work, and things like that, to some of that evidence that would be in the cabin as well. Again, there was Fire Fighting activity taking place. So there may be some damage to items in that cabin that prior to the Fire Fighting could have provided evidence. You want to try to capture that before too many people are in there tromping around or the aircraft is moved that would change the dynamics. Given the extent of the damage that we saw yesterday, that we continue to see today as the boeing 777 lies there, given the extent of the damage, how surprised are you that there wasnt a higher casualty count . If you would ask me that question about an airplane that crashed maybe 20 years ago, i would have been extremely surprised. But evolution with aircraft manufacturing certification standards that both the faa and the worlds regulatory authorities require of not only boeings but air buses and bombardiers and all the other manufacturers, it is a testament to the process, it is a testament to the industry that we have been able to build these airplanes that are capable of carrying well over 1 Million Pounds that the crash survi survivability that we have learned from past Lessons Learned has now improved aviation safety to the extent that we had 307 people on an airplane and 305 survived. And so i think thats a testament to the regulatory process, the oversight and, of course, the industry. Greg feith, former ntsb investigator, greg, a big thanks to you, sir. Appreciate your time. Youre welcome. Week three of the George Zimmerman trial starts tomorrow. The defense will continue presenting its case. The question now, will zimmerman take the stand . Also ahead now is the time to come together to be responsible. Today, Gabby Giffords wraps up her Cross Country tour promoting gun responsibility. But can she bridge the city, country divide on gun control . Also a new push for emigration. The house takes up the bill this week as a former president pushes to support reform. Youre watching msnbc. In washington, the house returns from its Holiday Weekend tomorrow, so brace yourself for yet another brawl over immigration. This time the house gop is in the drivers seat. New york times columnist david brook went head to head with Earl Labrador this morning on meet the press over the issues at hand. Ive seen a lot of intellectually weak cases in this town. Ive rarely seen as weak a case as ive seen against this bill. All the major objectives, the Senate Immigration bill will do. Compared to the big things this bill does, theyre minuscule. Mystified by congressman, respond to david brooks on that. Im sorry, but what i just heard was totally ridiculous. The brain trust is here. Theyre not totally ridiculous. Angela raw, and bob franken and colin hannah. Good to see all of you on a sunday. Angela, ill start with you. David brooks, his main point there was that many of the issues addressed in the bill will reduce illegal immigration. They will generate growth, will reduce debt, all gop objectives. And, again, we should note this is according to nonpartisan cbo, the congressional budget office. Why are they arguing thats not enough . In part because they werent the first actors. Ive seen everything from representative mccall saying that the president is hopeful that the house will not take up immigration so that he can use it as a key talking point as we get closer to the midterms in 2014. Ive also seen eric cantors memo from this past friday where eric cantor doesnt even address immigration as one of the potential things theyll take up. I have no idea what theyre looking for specifically. The House Judiciary Committee has marked up smaller bills, they have taken this kind of piecemeal approach and representative baoehner, speake boehner is unwill ing to addres this. That was one of your real frustrations, not being able to pass that bill. Yeah, i mean, i understand sometimes you get legislation through that you want. I was also frustrated we didnt pass Social Security reform. I thought the plan i laid out on both was reasonable. But sometimes it takes it takes time for some of the complex issues to evolve. And looks like immigration is has a chance to pass. Is that true . Chance to pass right now . Demographics have shifted even more since president bush tried. Im actually an optimist on this. I think it is a golden opportunity for the house to show that it can be effective and functional, after the senate really produced, i think, a dysfunctional process. I understand what david brooks is saying in terms of how of the issues covered. But i really dont think that the way to go about this is to cut it up into smaller bills. I think you do need to combine Border Security and a path to legalization if youre going to get anything that will pass muster of the american people. Bob, are there certain aspects of the senate bill you expect House Democrats to take a closer look at perhaps and maybe even oppose . Well, the question of amnesty and the standards for that, amnesty is a word the opponents usually use is certainly something the democrats will try to loosen up. When collin talks about from a conservative point of view there is a need for balanced legislation, he is one of the conservative voices who said that. But, colin, im sure youll agree, within the republican conference, which is what they call their caucus in the house, there is a group of people who have a visceral hatred of immigrants, no other way to put it, particularly those south of the border. They may be the people that get in the way of any sort of reform. Angela, quick response, co n colin. I wouldnt accept the contention there are people with a visceral hatred of immigrants. Thats unfortunate. There are opponents in the house to any kind of comprehension immigration reform. Well leave it there. We have so much news we have to get to today, guys. I appreciate your time and i apologize to you for cutting you short. Angela, bob, colin, well check back with you a little later. Thanks again. Time ticking for edward snowden, the nsa leaker believed to be in moscow. Hes fielding asylum offers from a few countries. One of them now has strings attached. Russian media reports venezuela put a deadline on its asylum offer to the former nsa contractor. He only has until tomorrow to accept or reject. To get the best sale prices . I do do you think you can get the same great prices all in one place with walmarts low price guarantee . Lets see. Ok. Every bbqs got to have. 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A disaster like that in a major city is surely something that most First Responders prepare for in some way. But hope to never see. Nbc news contributor William Bratton is the former head of the new york, boston and Los Angeles Police departments. And is now an nbc news contributor. Congratulations. Good to see you, sir. Good to be with you. One thing most striking yesterday was the sheer speed at which local fire and ems seemed to be able to respond to this thing, despite not getting much of a heads up. How do local Law Enforcement agencies prepare for what we saw yesterday . Well, the good news, one of the pieces of good news coming out of the horrific tragedy of 9 11 was that Emergency Responders really began to get their acts together in ways in which they had not done prior to 9 11. Train, train, train. Drill, drill, drill. Happens all the time, constantly. And particularly at airports. Airports where, lets face it, the First Responders there have a lot of time to train. Youve been on flights where you fly in, disconcerting sight of the burned out plane fuselage on most major airports, theyre constantly drilling and testing on those fuselages. Thats the good news. The ntsb is the lead Investigative Agency here, already in San Francisco. But upon hearing that the plane had crashed, what steps do local police what steps do local Fire Departments do they take to spring into action . Well, this is all done beforehand. The protocols are in place as to who is going to be the lead agency, initially it is going to be certainly focused on rescue. Then it is going to move into search and recovery. And then there is going to look into the aspects of as they did in this one, very quickly, potential terrorism, fbi, potential crime, local police, is it in fact, what it appears to be an accident in which case fire department, ntsb take over. These are all agreed to before the facts, so it is almost a seemless transition from fire to police to fbi to federal agencies. As you saw this unfold yesterday, like all of us here, as a former head of three major police departments, what was going through your mind in terms of the response . Did it look textbook to you . Well, first off, like everybody that saw that, just looked absolutely frightening. The idea that the casualty casualties was so small compared to the scale of the event was very surprised about that. Within a short period of time, they had over 200 responders at that scene, ambulances, fire, police. And it was something to watch in the sense of admiring in terms of how both the passengers and crew got off that plane, but then how quickly the First Responders got there, took care of the plane, the fire, potential explosion, began to deal with the seriously injured and others. It was textbook as best i can tell from what ive seen so far. All right, brandnew nbc news contributor bill bratton. Welcome to the peacock. Maiden performance with you. Thank you very much. Well get you back for more time next time. New details on the crash landing of flight 214 in San Francisco. Well have a live update on the injured and well also ask an experienced pilot why the crash wasnt worse. Youre watching msnbc. Well, ready to go look . So ready. Lots of options, huh . I can help you narrow it down. Ok thanks. This ones smudge free. Smudgefree. Really . And this one beeps when you leave the door open. Get those brand name bells and whistles, even on a budget, with red white and blue savings. Thank you more saving. More doing. Thats the power of the home depot. Buy now and save 300 on this stainless steel samsung refrigerator. So it was no surprise when he set out to give the world the hardestworking, bestsmelling cleaners he could. Like mr. Clean with the scent of gain. That combines irresistible scent and powerful cleaning. And his lemonscented antibacterial spray that kills 99. 9 of bacteria. People sure loved having something that smelled as great as it cleaned. Thats why when it comes to clean, theres only one mr. The day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain. And a choice. Take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] thats handy. The tail was up in the air and it almost did a flip. I think it righted itself and came down on its belly. The top just totally, like, collapsed on a lot of people, so a lot of people were injured, yeah. Everyone lined up out, out, out, like a military process. Survivors of that deadly plane crash yesterday describing the horror, describing the aftermath. Right now investigators in washington, d. C. Are looking at the socalled black boxes, Asiana Airlines describes the pilots as a skilled veteran crew. Were expecting more from the ntsb in about an hour. An hour ago, San Francisco General Hospital, which treated the largest number of patients from the crash updated us with the condition of the survivors. They say right now they have about 19 people in the hospital, six of them in, including one child, are in critical condition. Heres the surgeon describing some of the injuries. The most critical injuries are two are head trauma. And severe abdominal injuries with bleeding. And then there is several people as i mentioned with very bad spine fractures, some which include paralysis. Stephanie truong from kntv outside San Francisco General Hospital for us. What more can you tell us about the conditions of the survivors in other area hospitals there . Reporter good afternoon, craig. You know, the good news is the numbers are winding down for those in critical condition. And we will get into that right now. In all 182 were taken to area hospitals in the bay area, 49 in critical condition. At last check we can tell you at stanford medical center, 55 patients treated and released, 11 still admitted. Two are in critical condition. Nine in either fair or good condition. Lucille packards children hospital, seven patients admitted, all in good condition. And at other area hospitals in San Francisco, including st. Francis and st. Marys, they have five in all, and none in critical condition. So that is the good news. But, craig, as you had pointed out to the chief of surgery here at San Francisco general, which did take in the largest number of patients at 53 had something really good to say today. She was talking about two of the adults who suffered severe internal bleeding, abdominal hemorrhaging and had road rash all over their bodies. She was saying that the First Responders who had gone to sfo right away were so good at triaging and taking care of those people that by the time they got here, they had a shot. She said had they not gotten that great initial care, two of them, at least two of them who got here, would not have survived. And the number wouldnt be two dead, it might have been four. Again, shes praising the First Responders, craig. Stephanie truong from kntv. Thank you for that report. The flight crew of asiana jet gave no indication of trouble prior to the crash. I want to bring in daniel rose, aviation attorney, former u. S. Military pilot, spent a lot of time with you yesterday. Thanks for coming back. The first indications of a problem with flight 214 apparently came from this controltransmission. I want to play it for you. 214 emergency vehicles are responding. Emergency vehicles are responding. As a pilot what do you take away from the fact there was no distress call originally from the pilot. That call came from the control tower. That was after everything already happened there was no distress call. There was one transmission about seven miles away that didnt go answered. So we dont know what the flight crew was trying to communicate at that point. There was certainly no may day emergency, i need to is that customary. Things are hitting the fan really quickly in the cockpit, is that something that yeah. I mean, the three rules of flying are aviate, communicate, navigate. And it is to fly the plane and then if there is something wrong, communicate what the problem is. So the flight crew would have been expected to say, i have a problem here, i need to do a missed approach or go around or try it again or something else. After that plane came to a halt, what were the first steps likely taken by the flight crew . Well, you can see he was on the radio, probably, you know, there is no checklist for this kind of a situation where, you know, your engines are off the plane, your landing gear is part. The smartest thing to do is make sure Emergency Personnel were rolling, which apparently he did, and then shut down all the electrical and fuel to make sure that you dont induce a fire or take away the elements that could cause a fire. You are an aviation attorney. How difficult is it to assign liability in a case like this . Well, you know, the liability will really track what the ntsb finds. If the ntsb finds there was a certain amount of piloting error, they may find contributing factors from maybe either design issue or the way the plane was handled by air Traffic Control or the systems at the airport, the instrument landing system not being functional. So the liability legally should and usually does track with the ntsb findings. How unusual was it, by the way, not sure if you saw this yet, but we already had the head of the airline, the head of Asiana Airlines came out and said, the plane was just fine, no sort of malfunction with the boeing 777. How unusual is that . Or am i making too much out of that . I dont think you are at all. It is surprising. Hes not part of the investigation. You know, some of the air slnz t have the ability to monitor inflight systems. It is still so early to really get an in depth analysis of what the engines were doing or any other system on the flight to make that kind of a, you know, broad statement. It seemed like he was more falling on the sword than anything else. Daniel rose, thank you, sir. Do appreciate you. Now to sanford, florida, folks, where the trial of George Zimmerman resumes tomorrow. And the defense team will continue to present their case. Friday, the prosecution rested and was able to deflect emotion for acquittal from the defense team. Zimmerman pled not guilty and says he shot Trayvon Martin in selfdefense. Nbcs Kerry Sanders has been covering this trial for a very long time now. He joins us live from sanford, florida, on a sunday afternoon. Kerry, first of all, who do we expect, expect being the operative word here, that the defense will put up on the stand this week . Reporter well, i think we can know for certain because i spoke to defense attorney mark omara that Trayvon Martins father, tracy martin, will be called to the stand. The reason hell be called to the stand is, remember there was this 911 call and in the background you can hear the screams. First of all, sybrina fulton, who is Trayvon Martins mother, she testified that voice is my son. That is trayvon benjamin martin. Then you had when the defense began you had George Zimmermans mother take the stand and say, no, that is my sons voice. And so youre going to see the defense call tracy martin, the father, and the reason theyre going to do that is when he was first played that tape, that 911 tape by the police and asked whose voice is that, he said i dont know. He was asked, is that your son . He said, i dont think so. So that testimony is now going to be introduced on the stand. Now, later tracy martin said, no, that was my sons voice. You caught me at a time when i was emotional there is reasons i couldnt determine that was my sons voice at the time and why i said it wasnt my voice, but it appears that based on what the defense has told me that indeed that is one of the people theyre going to call. Theyre also going to call some people we perhaps have already seen on the stand, including the detective chris serena who gave testimony that at times appeared to help the prosecutions case, and at other times seemed to help the defenses case. Kerry, quickly before i let you go, the defense, i understand, can ask the judge to rule on a stand your ground motion after all of the witnesses have been called. Could you explain how that would work and how that could affect the trial overall . Reporter well, we have a unique law in the state of laws other states, it is nicknamed stand your ground. In most parts of the country, if somebody breaks into your house, you can defend yourself, like your home is your castle, called the castle doctrine. In florida, it is expanded a little bit beyond your house. And in this case, as you know, an open area behind the apartment, nobody can claim that was their home. And in this case, George Zimmerman can, his attorney believes, go to the judge, either before the jury comes back with a verdict or quite frankly he believes after the jury comes back with a verdict and ask for immunity under this stand your ground law. Now, it is important on two things. Most important, perhaps, because it would negate if the jury came back and said that there was guilt of Second Degree murder. But it is also important because it applies to a civil case. And so in the criminal case, you have beyond a reasonable doubt. In the civil case, it is preponderance of the evidence. If that stand your ground is invoked, that means that Trayvon Martins family cannot sue George Zimmerman after the criminal trial and civil court because of stand your ground law would eliminate that. It is unclear how the judge would handle all of this, of course. It is up to her opinion and her decision. And one note, judges in florida are elected. Kerry sanders, thats a good spot to leave it, my friend. Kerry sanders from sanford, thank you, sir. Right now, solemn day in arizona. A final homecoming for the 19 firefighters killed in a wildfire there last week. You are looking at some brandnew pictures of a 125 mile procession of 19 hearses. One for each of the hot shot firefighters. The procession is making its way from a Coroners Office in phoenix to prescott. The firefighters hometown. The hearses are being accompanied by motorcycle escorts and members of the honor guard. Mine was earned in djibouti, africa. 2004. Vietnam in 1972. [ all ] fort benning, georgia in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. Because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaas commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy, get an Auto Insurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who is wounded in a mass shooting in 2011 was on a las vegas gun range with her husband mark kelly last week. It was part of a sevenstate tour promoting responsible gun ownership. It was also the first time that giffords has fired a handgun since she was nearly killed. Philip rutger is White House Correspondent for the washington post. Hes been covering the former congresswomans tour. Philip, good to see you. The image there of Gabrielle Giffords firing a handgun is a very, very powerful one. How did it come about . Whose idea was it . Well, it was really her idea. They started this tour and the very first event they did was at that shooting range in las vegas. The largest shooting range in the country. And the night before she told her husband mark kelly that she wanted to shoot the gun. And, you know, they said that morning, you know, gabby, you dont have to do this. They said she wanted to do. She raised her left arm and that in itself was telling because her right harm is partially paralyzed. So shes using her kind of second arm there to try to shoot that gun and she was a pretty good shot. The campaign, what theyre calling the rights and responsibilities tour, it started in alaska, it ended today in north carolina. This is part of her message. Lets listen. Yeah. Stopping gun violence takes courage. The courage to do whats right, the courage of new ideas. Stopping gun violence takes courage, the courage to do whats right, the courage of new ideas. How is giffords and her husband how are they received on the tour . Quite well. You know, there is not a lot of kind of open public opposition to her. Shes quite a sympathetic figure around the country, even among those people who disagree with her policy agenda. But it wasnt really about drawing big crowds. The tour was more subtle than that. It was trying to convey a message in some of the red states like alaska, like north dakota, that it is okay to own guns it okay to use them, okay to enjoy guns, and it is also okay to support background checks. And thats what she and mark kelly were trying to do. She looks fantastic. As you mentioned, that right arm obviously still partially paralyzed. How did she deal with the rigors of a tour like this . Quite well. I traveled with her on the private plane, and had some meals with her and she, you know, this was a really grueling trip. These were long flights and she really did very well. You know, shes very alert when you talk to her. It is obvious that she kind of understands the conversation happening around her and knows whats going on. She struggles still to talk, but she traveled with a speech therapist and they did some work on the plane as they were traveling between the states and so that seems to have helped her a lot. Theyre a pack. Americans for responsible solutions has raised more than 11 million. You write in your story that, quote, they preach gun responsibility rather than gun control, and hope to sway enough lawmakers to restart a debate on capitol hill over expanding background checks. From what youve observed, are they reaching the nra at all . The nra gun owner at least with their message . Well, theyre trying to. It is a really tough political fight and i think theyre going to they are going to need more than just this tour to kind of revive that debate on capitol hill. There is going to need to be some sort of mour dramatic change in the political calculatio calculations. Bloomberg going after senators who voted no. On the tour it was telling that they would go to the states and gabby and mark did not attack senators who voted no. They tried to make an argument that they hoped would be convincing. Thank you. Thank you. A tough anniversary for nelson mandela. The former South African leader marks one month in the hospital today. He was admitted june 8 for a recurring lung infection. Hundreds of South Africans if not thousands have been keeping vigil outside the hospital singing and praying. Mandelas 95th birthday is next week. [ male announcer ] fight pepperoni heartburn and pepperoni breath fast with tums freshers. Concentrated relief that goes to work in seconds and freshens breath. Tums freshers. Tum. Tum. Tum. Tum. Tums fast heartburn relief and minty fresh breath. [ slap ] [ male announcer ] your Favorite Foods fighting you . Fight back fast with tums. Calciumrich tums starts working so fast youll forget you had heartburn. Tum tum tum tum tums the wreckage of Train Derailment in canada is still smoldering more than 24 hours since the dev accident there. The train went off the tracks yesterday sparking deadly explosions. A short time ago officials updated the death toll. As we are speaking right now officers have found five bodies inside of the rooms that you can see behind me. Of course, we are working hand in hand with the Coroners Office and with the victim unit back to talk with the families. Officials went on to say there are still about 40 people still missing. We are keeping an eye on the situation in quebec. We have a crew on the scene there. We will bring you updates on that story as they continue to come in. Our top story today the deadly main crash in San Francisco. Turning from politics and spend time talking about this. Bob franken is back. Colin is back, as well. Bob, syndicated columnist, you have seen a lot over the years, good sir. As you watch this plane crash unfold what has been going through your mind . A couple of things. I note that the train wreck had more fatalities than the plane crash did. The reason for that probably is because of all of the very thorough investigations done of plane accidents in particular where the real purpose is to try to come up with the safety procedures which minimized the casualties in this particular case. One of the things that struck me was the sheer speed at which people were able to get a off that plane and the sheer speed at which First Responders were able to get to the plane. Sure. A lot of investment has gone into First Responders from a national standpoint. You certainly hope from a political standpoint and from policy making that we will continue to make investments into our critical infrastructure, into plane safety and security. I hope that is the biggest Lesson Learned here. A lot of people are concerned should we be flying. This is the first fatal crash in four years. Colin, i think the mayor of San Francisco said this could have been far worse. Absolutely. I have been a member of an Airport Authority board. One of the things a good wellrun Airport Authority does is have good on sight facilities. Thats what provides the opportunity fquick response. Thanks to all of you. Thank you for watching this sunday afternoon. Disrupt with karen finny up next. And i know savings. This metal frame pool on rollback, you save 80 and this 4 burner grill on rollback, you save 11. Get more summer for your money at walmarts Super Summer Savings event. Wellso ready. O go look . Lots of options, huh . I can help you narrow it down. Ok thanks. This ones smudge free. Smudgefree. Really . And this one beeps when you leave the door open. Upgrade your laundry room and Kitchen Appliances during red white and blue savings. Thank you more saving. More doing. Thats the power of the home depot. Your choice, maytag or ge washer, now just 399 each. Folks have suffered from frequent heartburn. But getting heartburn and then treating day after day is a thing of the past. Block the acid with prilosec otc, and dont get heartburn in the first place. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. Good afternoon. Im karen finney. Thanks for joining us. It has been incredible images across the country and around the world from San Francisco, california to sanford, florida to cairo, egypt. This is disrupt. Flight 214. Crash landed. Slammed into the wall. 307 people on board. Two were confirmed dead. 291 passengers to area hospitals. Absolute miracle that this many people survived. Who do you recognize that to