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We're so tech savy here at AC360°. At least, we like to think we are these days. So, we've got more goodies for you.
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[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/US/01/16/hudson.plane.crash/art.battery.gi.jpg caption="The disabled Airbus A320 is nearly submerged Friday as it is moored near New York's Battery Park City."]
Brian Vitagliano
CNN Field Producer
When news of a “plane down” in the Hudson River broke, everyone in the CNN New York Newsroom went into breaking news mode. From the Bureau Chief to producers to news assistants everyone picked up the phones and the coordination began. Being a CNN field producer I was eager to get out of the door and start reporting, I also knew the temperature was in the teens and wind chills in the single digits. With producers, reporters and live trucks dispatched to the scene and to various hospitals around the city, I wanted to make myself as useful as possible.
I picked up my gear - a Sony A1U video camera, Apple Mac Book and a wireless Air Card - and headed out the door. Often when you’re a one man/woman band you are able to be more nibble and find access to places and people a larger crew may not. At first I didn’t think it was that cold, but when I got to 43rd street and the West Side Highway, the wind whipping off the Hudson just cut right through me. My first thought was, how are these passengers going to survive without frostbite and, most frightening, hypothermia. I maneuvered through EMS, OEM, NYPD and FDNY trucks and tape to the pier where some of the passengers of flight 1549 were being treated and then taken to the hospital.
Our CNN live truck was further down the West Side Highway and cabling to my location for a live signal was not possible. With my hands getting numb I attempted setting up my DNG (Digital News Gathering) equipment up for live capability. It's essentially a laptop that can transmit to a satellite. Albert Lewitinn, a senior producer for Campbell Brown's "No Bias No Bull" was actually off yesterday, but being the solid journalist he is, he heard the news and made his way down to the site to lend a hand. I had Albert grab the camera as I worked the laptop, trying to lock a signal into CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. When you are covering a breaking news story no matter how big or small the story – time is of the essence. The bitter cold and driving wind made everything more difficult and time consuming. Eventually I got a clean signal into Atlanta and began to stream live video of passengers being escorted into ambulances. It was chaotic and it seemed as if every New Yorker with a still camera or video camera was on the scene trying to capture their own bit of news.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/US/01/16/hudson.plane.crash/art.battery.gi.jpg caption= "The disabled Airbus A320 is nearly submerged Friday as it is moored near New York's Battery Park City."]
Maureen Miller
AC360° Writer
Tonight we'll have the latest developments on the plane that plunged into the Hudson River. We learned today that the Airbus 320 is missing both engines. They are somewhere on the river bottom, apparently they fell off after impact on the water.
The engines are vital to the investigation. We'll tell you what will be done to retrieve them.
We also have new details on the heroic pilot who landed the plane on the river. C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger spoke with both President Bush and President-elect Obama today. And his wife spoke to the media, calling her husband "a very humble guy."
She also talked about the call she got from him after the splash landing. "When he called and said there had been an incident. You know I thought he had,you know, run into something in the parking lot out of the airport," said Lorrie Sullenberger.
Tonight we'll also show you what Capt. Sullenberger may have faced inside the cockpit. 360's Gary Tuchman strapped himself into a flight simulator to get a sense of what it might have been like on U.S. Airways Flight 1549.
And, don't miss John King's CNN exclusive interview with President-elect Obama, four days before the inauguration. They cover everything from his date with history to whether he'll keep his blackberry and how his kids are taking it all.
Those stories and more tonight on AC360°.
Join us at 10pm ET.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/01/16/art.mattingly.jpg caption="CNN's David Mattingly on a Coast Guard boat by New York's Battery Park in front of the downed plane."]
David Mattingly | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
The biggest surprise today from the investigation of the "Miracle on the Hudson" is that BOTH engines of the crippled Airbus 320 are missing.
Originally we heard only one had been sheered from the jet's left wing. But divers today confirmed that indeed both engines are gone.
A Coast Guard crew gave us a quick ride to where the plane is secured. You can see in the photograph behind me, there isn't much to look at. Ice was forming under one wing that is rising up above the water.
One inflatable rescue ramp is still attached and floating. But most of the plane is submerged. This is a problem.
The NTSB investigators can't retrieve the black boxes (located underwater in the rear of the aircraft) until salvage crews lift the damaged jet onto a barge. That is supposed to happen tomorrow.
Until then, this is all we get to see.
Elaine Jackson
CNN viewer
Media mania America's agents of free speech
With up to date headlines within our reach
There was ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC
CNN with full coverage on your TV
America's race for President became quite a sensation
For two years it was the interest of the entire Nation
Around the clock the cameras were rolling
Keeping up with numbers of the polling
Wolf Blitzer was the all time favorite for me
The Situation Room was a great place to be
I give a hearty shout out to all the ladies too
You added a touch of special to what you do
I couldn't miss 360 with Anderson Cooper
Most assuredly I think he was super
Count on a twist of humor from Jeanne Moos
Dan Rather reigns at the helm of the pros
Ed Bradley, Peter Jennings and Tim
The media world is still missing them
Newspapers and magazines get honorable mention
If I didn't say your name it was not by intention
Political news coverage; the media did it all
My count of a winner is too close to call
It's been great tuning in with you each day
Thanks for allowing a poet to have her say
Editor's note: Click here to see Elaine Jackson's other poems .
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with President-elect Barack Obama's Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton at the State Department in Washington January 15, 2009.
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