that the jury would sentence her to death. >> we'll just have to see, 11:33 eastern time is when the jury will announce its decision, or i guess the judge will in this case. thanks for joining me today, i'm carol costello. "@this hour" with berman and pereira ahead. for the nirs time we hear from michael brown's parents, since the justice department cleared darren wilson for killing their son. the justice departmenting with a scathing report of racism and prejudice inside the police department. an american ambassador viciously attacked, slashed in the face as he was giving a speech. new information on his condition and new details about the attacker now in custody. it is relentless, it is dangerous and it is coming for

you. a new huge winter storm targeting 90 million people, folks. this one is a mess. hello everyone. i'm john berman. kate is on assignment today. our breaking news. a decision has been reached on the sentence for jodi arias. this will be read in about 30 minutes. she was convicted in 2013 of killing her ex-boyfriend. she shot him in the head, stabbed him nearly 30 times, slashed his throat. there are no cameras in the courtroom for the decision on this part of the sentencing phase. she was convicted. the jury in the original trial deadlocked on the sentence, so they redid it, the sentencing phase. we understand they have reached a decision. we do not know if they are hung again, this jury. however, in arizona law, if a jury hangs a second time on sentencing on the death penalty,

that means life in prison. again, that decision will be read in 30 minutes. we will bring that to you as it happens. meanwhile, we're just minutes away now from a highly anticipated news conference from the family of michael brown. these will be their first comments since the justice department announced it did not have the evidence, did not have the basis to charge the officer who fatally shot their unarmed 18-year-old son. this is what the attorney general eric holder said explaining that decision. >> facts do not support the filing of criminal charges against officer darren wilson in this case. michael brown's death, though a tragedy, did not involve prosecutable conduct on the part of officer wilson. >> this is also the first time we will hear from michael brown's family since the justice department issued a scathing report about the ferguson police department, a department with a pattern of violating residents' constitutional rights, racist

jokes, a pattern of disproportionate treatment of african-americans, in some cases it seems just to raise money for the city from tickets. we'll have live coverage of this starting with our sara sidner in st. louis, justice reporter evan perez is in washington to talk about what attorney general eric holder said. also joined by senior white house correspondent jim acosta live at the white house because the president may have something to say on this as well. let's go to st. louis. sara, i want to start with you, what has the reaction been to this scathing report on the police department and the news that there will be no charges against officer wilson? >> reporter: the reaction has been fairly cam here. there's certainly disappointment about the fact that they are not going to be charging daryn wilson, officer wilson with any sort of civil rights violations. there were a few protesters out last night, about 15 or 20, a

couple people detained. it has been pretty calm. there's a sadness that has sort of hung over the city and those who have been protesting and some of the residents who have been upset. but they're also encouraged. we heard the same thing in a statement from the family of michael brown who talked about being saddened about the darren wilson issue, but encouraged from what they heard from the doj about how the department has been doing its business and taking advantage according to the doj of african-americans, ticketing them more often than anyone else, pulling them over more than anyone else. there are also the e-mails that everyone has now heard about, the racist e-mails sent by some memers of the police department. i want to let you listen to what the mayor says about those e-mails and the people who sent them. >> these actions taken by these individuals are in no way representative of the employees of the city of ferguson. today's report allows the city of ferguson to identify the problems, not only in our place

department but the entire st. louis region. we must do better, not only as a city, baugh state and a country. we must all work to address issues of racial disparity in all aspects of society. >> reporter: so basically what's happening to the three people who they said sent those racist e-mails, one of them was immediately terminated after the investigation. the other two were put on administrative leave. we now know that those other two were told by a source will not be staying at the police department. they will be get-go. >> interesting sound from the mayor. one person who did not show up at the event yesterday was the police chief who decided not to be part of that. perhaps that foretells what will happen to him in the upcoming days and weeks. i want to go to evan perez in washington. there were two things that happened here, the scathing, blistering report on the pattern of prejudice inside the police department and also the justice department essentially clearing

officer darren wilson of any federal charges, or the possibility of any federal charges in this case. evan, let's start there. what did eric holder have to say about officer wilson? >> reporter: john, he basically said the justin department couldn't find the evidence to be able to bring charges, the civil rights charge that the federal government would have been able to bring has a very high bar, as you know. the question is, the witnesses they were relying on were very unreliable. there are people who said certain things to tv cameras, to cnn, for instance. when they went to talk to the fbi, they said completely different things. that was an issue for the fbi. the question for bringing charges like this is always dependent upon the witnesses and whether some of the things that we heard about, for example, michael brown, people talked a lot about whether he had his hands up. that became a chant on the streets for the protesters. in the end the justice

department decided it wasn't even clear that he had his hands up, but he was definitely moving towards officer darren wilson when he was shot and killed, john. >> evan, hang on one second. we saw activity at the news conference. can you put that picture up? it looks like it was about to begin. now it looks like it is not about to begin. we'll try to go back there as soon as we see people start talking there. evan, let's get back to what we heard from the justice department. evan, the justice department release add scathing report about the ferguson police department, incredible details about a years' long pattern of prejudice, largely in some cases to raise money. what did they say? >> reporter: there were incredible statistics in this report, this 100-page report, including 85% of people subject to vehicle stops were african-american. 93% of all people arrested in ferguson between 2012 and 2014

were african-american. this is a city with a 67% population being african-american. according to the justice department, these statistics showed there was a disproportionate burden on african-americans in the way the ferguson police department carried out its work, a pattern of violating constitutional rights, illegal searches, detaining citizens, basically using tickets an fines to raise money for the city. attorney general eric holder was very critical of this and here is what he had to say about it. >> the city relies on the police force to serve essentially as a collection agency for the municipal court rather than as a law enforcement entity focused primarily on maintaining and promoting public safety. >> reporter: john, one of the things, the racist, mails that sara just referred to, e-mails

that were being exchanged by some senior members of the police department there, describing president obama as a chimpanzee. those things were under the watch of some of the very people now responsible for reforming the police department. that's the big question, is how do those people stay on the job? that's the question i think the family of michael brown is going to have. the mayor is going to have to answer that question. he didn't take questions at the press conference yesterday. i can tell you today there's a lot of pressure on that city to figure out what it's going to do about the leadership that's supposed to help fix the problem down there. >> the "what now" of this is the key. they have to move forward, what to do with the police department, whether to keep the police department. one option is to turn over the law enforcement responsibilities to a larger, perhaps a county police organization. >> reporter: that was the plan. there was a negotiation behind the scenes in which tom jackson, the chief of the ferguson police department had agreed to step

down, and there was a long-term plan for the st. louis county police department to take over the ferguson department. in the end he reneged on that deal, in part because we reported it and other media reported on it and he felt like he was being pushed out. now we're back to square one. he's still there and the problem is going to remain because people are very unhappy with this. you'll see protests on the streets and the city will have to figure out what to do. >> interesting, we're waiting right now to hear from the brown family. this will be the first time the family of michael brown has commented since this new report, this scathing new report on the ferguson police department. this will also be their first chance to talk about the fact that the federal government will not be pressing federal charges against officer darren wilson. i want to now get the white house reaction to this. jim acosta who is at the white house, president obama is,

pektpek expected to do a radio interview where he may weigh in on this new report and the new information about darren wilson. >> reporter: that's right. yesterday the white house press secretary josh ernest was asked about this report on ferguson. the report had just come out so ernest has not read it. he said essentially the white house message at this point is they are pointing to the president's 21st century policing task force, this whole episode in ferguson underlines the need for police departments across the country to improve their relations with minority communities. that is something that is a big priority of this white house. you mentioned the interviews that the president is going to be doing today. we understand it may be more than one interview with a whole slew of african-american radio stations around the country. he does this from time to time. my guess is obviously this question will come up and we'll hear what the president has to say about that. we should point out, though, that today's white house briefing has been canceled because of the weather here in

washington. keep in mind, john, what's coming up this weekend. this weekend is the 50th anniversary of the selma march, bloody sunday, the martha civil rights activists had across the edmond pettis bridge from selma to montgomery, alabama, which got violent because civil rights activists ran into police officers who beat them as they were trying to march across that bridge. not only is the president going to be going down there to give remarks at that bridge, the whole first family is going down. the first lady, sasha and malia obama will also be there as well as a whole slew of civil rights activists and leaders from across the country, congressman john lewis and so on. at that point, which will be a poignant moment for this president, we'll hear about the legacy of ferguson and what's coming up for this white house and this president in the days to come, how he plans to tackle this issue. >> it's interesting. of course, the selma events will be incredibly important, such an important part of american

history. the president has drawn a distinction, jim, he's gone out of his way to draw a distinction between the issues that were prevalent then and the issues that are prevalent now. he's gone out of his way to say that so much has changed, the situations are vastly different. again, though, still an important historical reminder. we'll wait to hear what the president has to say later today on these events. sara sidner, jim acosta, evan perez, please stand by. we're awaiting this news conference from the family of michael brown. this will be the first time we get a chance to hear from them since the release of the new justice department report on police practices inside ferguson, missouri. meanwhile, ahead "@this hour," dramatic new video released from the boston marathon bombing trial. what does that now mean from the case? plus this vicious knife attack in seoul. a man slashes the u.s. ambassador to south korea in the face.

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happening now, the u.s. ambassador to south korea is recovering in a hospital after a man slashed his face and hands just as he was about to make a speech in seoul. ambassador mark lippert, you can see him right there, so brutally injured there. he needed more than 80 stitches

on his face alone. the suspect, kim ki jong is now in cust different police say he was screaming the whole time. he wanted to stop the u.s. and north korea's joint military action. the same man received a suspended jail sentence for hurling a piece of concrete at the japanese ambassador back in 2010. meanwhile north korea is calling the attack, quote, just punishment for u.s. warmongers. bill richardson, the former u.s. ambassador of the united nation, former governor to new mexico. thanks so much for being was. we see these pictures of ambassador lippert, and they are alarming. how is it that a u.s. official, a prominent u.s. official overseas -- there seems to be no protection there. how can that happen? >> well, there's some reports that the american embassy did

not request protection. i doubt that. i think there's several issues here. one, we have to ensure that our diplomats, our military personnel are protected, especially in these increasing turbulent times. secondly, the host country is responsible for security of ambassadors across the board. what is a little bit alarming here is south korea is not just an ally, but they have an excellent police force. if anything, they're considered a bit too tough on demonstrators. third, this is a very tense period in u.s.-north korean relations, south korean relations because the u.s. and south korea are undertaking military exercises right now. >> ambassador, i should warn you right now we may have to jump out in a moment's notice. we're awaiting a news conference. in fact, we're going there now.

breaking news with the family of michael brown reacting to the report from the justice department on the ferguson police department. >> good morning everyone. i remember the family of michael brown in conjunction with attorney anthony gray here in st. louis. we're here today with the appearance of michael brown, senior and his mother. [ inaudible ]. we find it necessary in light of several things that happened over the last few days to respond to what's transpired with the department of justice, their decision not to prosecute officer darren wilson, but also their findings related to the ferguson police department. we'll respond to that and also talk about the next action we'll take as a legal team in this situation. with that said, attorney gray will now address you.

>> lost the audio -- >> obviously we disagree with those findings, while at the same time it appears as though a lot of effort and a lot of work was invested in both the federal investigation, statewide investigation. at the end of the day, we think those conclusions were in many ways not in line with our expectations and what we viewed as the evidence on august 9th of 2014. so in that regard, we disagree. we realize, also, that the burden of proof for the federal and the state investigations is far different than the burton of proof in a civil case that we anticipate bringing on behalf of the family in a wrongful death

case. we do want to announce today that we are officially in a process of formulating a civil case that we anticipate will be filed very shortly on behalf of the family. in our case we plan to show and outline pretty much the same evidence. however, you will get a more clearer, a more accurate picture of what took place that day. we feel and we've always felt from the very beginning that officer darren wilson did not have to shoot and kill mike brown, junior, in broad daylight in the manner that he did, that he had other options available to him and he chose deadly force as his option. we plan to demonstrate in a court of law to reasonable-minded people that the choice to use deadly force was unreasonable and unnecessary under those circumstances. so we ask that you stay tuned. once we have a complaint that's fully formulated, it will be

available to the public. you will have an opportunity to take a look at it. we haven't decided yet if we'll take questions regarding it. we may just allow the justice system to just work its own course without getting into a lot of commentary about it. that being said, i want to tell you up front that the family members, the mother and father who are present today, because their role will be changing as a result of us filing a lawsuit, they will become litigants, will then have to limit any comments or remarks that they make. so keep that in mind as we go along with this press conference. given that kind of backdrop, i want to turn it back over to daryl parks who will make further commentary. thank you. >> thank you very much. with that said, as he just stated, the mother and father probably will not be taking questions. we're now entering a different phase of this action. without question, the department

of justice made their findings known yesterday, probably the only encouraging part of it was the things that they have found within the city of ferguson. it's important that we remember that the things they found within the city of ferguson police department were the same culture that existed on august 9th as officer darren wilson met michael brown in that street. with that said, and hopefully, if nothing else, clearly lays out why this family had such distrust for law enforcement in this agency and you clearly see it now from the findings that the department of justice has made public. with that said, we'll take some questions. >> [ inaudible ]. >> that's something you'll see once we name the suit. obviously the city of ferguson. >> officer darren wilson? >> without question. he's the perpetrator. >> [ inaudible ]. -- in the doj report they're

saying is discredited -- >> let me say, i don't want to weigh the evidence in the public because i think that would be inappropriate. however, there's a difference between hands over your head and hands up. that's one clear distinction we've seen already as we have reviewed the report. >> [ inaudible ]. they've basically exonerated mr. wilson. [ inaudible ]. >> no. i think part of what they have done, they have accepted his self defense based upon the fact that they've weighed the facts. remember the standard we're faced with is a different standard. we don't have a reasonable doubt standard. it's going to be a preponderance of the evidence. i think attorney gray said so well earlier, we believe there were other alternatives available to him. there are facts that demonstrate he didn't have to kill michael brown. whoever sits on this case, will have to weigh those facts based on the preponderance of the

evidence, not beyond a reasonable doubt. one thing said yesterday is they could meet the federal requirement, a very heightened requirement under the fourth amendment. totally different from what we'll be faced. we get to set the stage and we plan to do just that. >> [ inaudible ] question. >> the issue is we have not accepted their decision. they have accepted the self-defense. we do not accept the self-defense. other questions? >> [ inaudible ]. were you surprised, stunned, upset? >> you couldn't be surprised because we all had been hearing the rumblings coming out. >> we'll step away from this breaking news to give you more breaking news, this time from laguardia airport here in new york city. we're just getting pictures in of a plane, an md-80 that

skidded off the runway there. you can see that still image there from the local news station, cbs 2 in new york. you can see the plane kidded off the runway. it seems to me that the rear landing gear is not deployed although it's far away and hard to see from that picture. an md-80 skidded off the runway at laguardia airport. we understand the passengers have been evacuated. no word yet on injuries. that's according to the fire department here in new york city. we do not have anymore information on this right now. but you can see that picture. we can put the picture back up again because i think it is very telling. you see that plane in the snow off the runway here in new york at laguardia airport. the conditions today, the flying conditions, b travel conditions are terrible. we are in the midst of a giant ice and snowstorm. more than 2,000 flights have been canceled today, that's across the east from texas all the way to massachusetts because the conditions are so bad.

now we see why many of these flights has been canceled. again, an airplane skidding off the runway, an md-80 at laguardia airport. as you look at the picture -- i can't tell if it's up right now. as you look at the picture, you can see the rear landing gear, the rear landing gear does not appear to be deployed, or else it broke off. the plane appears to be sitting on the runway. on the right of the screen you're looking at the weather map. the weather has been terrible arc cross a huge chunk of this country. a hundred million people affected. there's been snow and israelly all day here in new york, so many people have had their flights canceled. so there's the map on the right. on the left you see that md-80, the flight there skidding off the runway at laguardia. there are people on twitter who have been tweeting that they were on that flight, some people

suggested the flight crash landed. those are just from unverified tweets now from people on the plane. we do not have any details about exactly how the plane landed, why it landed as it did. what caused it to skid off the runway exactly. again, the fire department here in new york has no reports of injuries at this time to tell us. we hope that means all the passengers were able to evacuate this flight. at this point we don't even know the details of what flight it was going from where to where. hopefully we will get that information for you very, very shortly. again, this picture says it all. you can see the snow on the ground. you can see the icy conditions. an md-80, a plane there skidding off the runway at laguardia airport here in new york. again, so many flights canceled right there. you see some crews there, more still photos working on the runway there.

must be an awful, awful day to be outside there, made even worse for the people on that flight. i want to bring in chad myers now, our meteorologist. chad, we've been talking about the weather today. we don't know why this md-80 skidded off the runway at laguardia. we do know the weather today has been awful and so many flights, more than 2,000 canceled today. >> the reason why the rear gear appears to be down is because the nose, john is into the berm and into the fence, so pushing the nose up, making it appear like the rear of the plane is down. the rear gear, the main gear is deployed, has deployed. as we're starting to get colder and colder, we're worried about this for roadways, thinking nothing about the airports itself. it has been raining all night. it was wet, it was 34. then it got to 32 and started to snow. now it's down to 24 and still snowing. all that snow, all that water,

all that slush is freezing now on the roadways, on the bridges and certainly there on the tarmac. i've been looking at twitter and other pictures from all of our local affiliates. it appears that the nose did hit a dirt berm at the end of the runway, pushed itself up into the fence and that's why the rear gear looks like it's down. it's just that the tail of the plane is down because the nose of the plane is slightly up. >> chad, again, we do not know why this md-80 got into the condition it got into, although thank you for the information as you've been looking more at those pictures, it appears the nose of the plane is pushed up on a berm. we don't know why that flight did end up landing as it did. talk to me about the conditions today, the ice and the snow. what impact directly does that have on a flight that's trying to land? >> there are the breaks that are used with the wheels and the tires and certainly the brakes that a plane will use as it

deploys its reverse thrusters and the like. you have to use all of those things to get you slowed down, especially at laguardia which is not a very big field in general. as the plane is coming in, it clearly got onto the tarmac that was icing. starting to get much, much colder. temperatures dropping one or two degrees per hour and not getting any chance to get the snow to stop. in fact, this snow probably goes another four to six hours. we're piling up the snow, making more and more ice. as it gets colder and colder, what was liquid at 8:00 this morning because it wasn't frozen yet is now freezing to all the surfaces, including the cars and the planes. we know the planes aren't taking off or landing at this point that i can tell. all those planes are going to have to be deiced today with temperatures going down so low. >> chad, stand by. again, we're looking at this plane, an md-80 on the runway, skidded off the runway at laguardia. it is a delta flight. i'm told it is delta flight 1086. i did a quick search on the

internet, delta flight 1086 was scheduled from atlanta departing at 9:05 to land at laguardia at 11:02. a delta flight apparently from atlanta to laguardia, delta flight 1086 skidding off the runway apparently as it landed. there were some tweets suggesting it was crash landing. again, you can see the condition of the flight right there. it looks like it has pushed up, the nose has pushed up onto a berm at laguardia airport giving the appearance that the rear landing gear is down. but i don't actually, as i look closer at the picture, think that is the case anymore. we understand, we're told the passengers were evacuated from that flight. the fire department in new york city has no reports of injuries at this time but again, these pictures are just coming in over the last few minutes. this is a flight that was scheduled to land at laguardia, just at 11:02 from atlanta.

we showed you the weather map. we showed you the weather map before. the bad weather stretching from the south, from texas all the way up to massachusetts and new england, just brutal weather. thousands of flights have been canceled. our miguel marquez is at laguardia airport. you've been there all morning covering the weather and the flight cancellations and now this, this delta flight 1086 skidding off the runway at laguardia. do you have any information for us at this point. >> reporter: we have a little bit. we're hearing through folks on the ground that there may be a couple of injuries, not bad. this is a flight that was coming in over the water. laguardia, as you know, has runways that stretch out into the water. it landed on that end and ended up all the way on the far side of laguardia. we're at the american terminal. i walked all the way down the length of the terminal looking through the windows to see if we could see the plane. the snow is coming down so heavily that you can't see much of the runways all the way down to the end of the terminals.

it's all the way on the ground, not the oceanside or the bay side of laguardia, but on the ground side where this plane has gotten stuck in the snow. there is a wing broken and we understand through some folks on the ground there may be a few injuries, nothing serious, though, it sounds like, fortunately enough. we are staying on top of it. we have another crew that will see if they get a better eye on what is happening over there. there are some emergency vehicles there around the la guard yeah airport, not clear if they were connected to that plane. certainly everybody at the airport is on higher alert now that this has happened. about a third of the flights today canceled out of laguardia. this will certainly snarl things even more. >> miguel, again, the weather out there has been a mess. the conditions there have been terrible. is that still the case? >> reporter: it is bad, but not as bad as we have seen. i've seen a lot of planes that have been deiced. they have the snowplows on the

runways. people are able to get in and out of the airport. up to this point about a third of the thousand or so flights that take offer and land here have been canceled. most of them are flights coming into laguardia that have been canceled from the south, areas like texas and nashville and other places that aren't used to the snow, flights are staying on the ground there or not getting into there. here at laguardia, they have the airport up and running in relative good order, but this is obviously something completely out of the ordinary here. the plane apparently landing from the water end of laguardia and skidding off the runway on the ground end. as we understand it, minor injuries. john? >> miguel marquez at laguardia, please stand by. control room, if you can hear me, please keep these pictures up of delta flight 1086 that has skidded off the runway, a flight from atlanta here to new york, landed around 11:02, skidding off the runway there. the weather conditions have been

very, very bad all day. i'd like to welcome our viewers here in united states and around the world as we look at these pictures of delta flight 1086 from atlanta to new york as it skidded off the runway in new york city. the fire department in new york city tell us all the passengers have been cleared from the plane. we see video of the situation right after. this is a first picture we've seen of passengers leaving that aircraft. our miguel marquez in laguardia reporting that there do appear to be some minor injuries, a few minor injuries. we'll get more detailed on that. want to bring in our aviation analyst mary schiavo who is learning about this just as we are. we're looking at these pictures of this delta flight, this md-80 aircraft, with its nose necessary ed into a berm off the runway here at laguardia. we don't know what happened here. we don't know if this plane had problems in the air or if the problems were just once it was

on the ground because of these conditions. i don't know if you have a chance to look at these pictures right now. ice and snow on a runway, if you are landing in ice and snow, what effect does that have on an aircraft and what precautions are taken? >> it has a terrible effect on an aircraft. the plane itself can't get any braking action. out can't go out and put samt on the runway. there are a lot of things you do to roads that you continue do to a runway because planes can't have it. what they have to do, they scrape and have a machine almost like a street sweeper to try to remove as much as possible. the plane still has to get the braking action. part of that, of course, is the spoiler system on the wings. from the pictures it looks like an md-83. you have to rely and people notice them because they're the things that pop up on the wings. you have to rely on that in

addition to the braking and addition no the thrust reversers. the problem, if you apply all those and have a very slick surface, it's like in your car, the plane can literally veer and skid. that's why there's been so much emphasis on the accident in chicago midway about five years ago where the plane literally went off the runway and went right through the fence. there's been a tremendous effort to try to have safety zones at the end of runways. it appears this may have gone off to the side. this does not appear to be the end zone of that runway. it can have a sideways motion as well. the same thing happens in rain. it happened in little rock, 1999, american flight in jamaica. you can't get the braking action. it's unfortunate that it appears it should not have landed, and it's the joint responsibility

for the airport to advise of runway condition, and they probably did. it might be a situation where they just had to get this flight down. >> again, we don't know exactly what happened here. the problem whether the problem was in the air or happened only when that flight landed. this is the best picture we've had so far. you can see the passengers evacuating this delta flight 1086, originated in atlanta, landed here in new york city just a short time ago. it's an md-80 aircraft. you can also see clearly the nose of that plane pushed up over the berm at laguardia, through the fence there. i don't know exactly where that is at laguardia. so many people here in new york fly in and out of laguardia all the time. at laguardia, the flights don't go across country. laguardia has shorter runways than other airports in the new york area, jfk and newark. as of now, no cross country

flights. ironically they've been considering allowing those flights in the coming years, something they're starting to discuss right now. no idea what impact this will have. the runways at laguardia not as long as others. as mary schiavo pointed out, it's not clear whether this plane ran off the end of the runway or skidded off the side of the runway into that berm that you're looking at right there with the nose pushed up. must have been terrifying to be on boorpd that flight as it's skidding on the hundred way and pushing up into that berm that we're looking at right now. again, we understand the passengers have been evacuated. the fire department tells us, our miguel marquez says he's heard word of a few minor injuries. miguel, what's the latest? >> reporter: the snow is still coming down here very hard. that flight coming in off the oceanside. it's not clear to me either, i've walked down the length of this terminal trying to get eyes on it to figure out exactly what

happened to that plane. it is all the way down toward the end, past where we are at the american terminal, near the delta terminal at the end of laguardia. it came in from the oceanside or water side. it landed, it sounds to me like at some point in mid taxi it went off the runway. a wing, as we understand is broken. there are minor injuries from that flight. fortunately it sound like nobody is badly injured and certainly nobody killed. it has certainly caused a huge wrinkle here with people coming up to ask us what is going on. already a third of the flights were canceled here because of the weather, and this is certainly to snarl things even more. john? >> a third of the flights canceled at laguardia. ap wing has been damaged, also. unclear whether the wing was damaged once it was on the ground skidding or whether something perhaps happened in the air as well. delta flight 1086 from atlanta

to new york, its nose pushed up over a berm at laguardia airport, in the midst of very bad weather from texas all the way to new england. some 2,000-plus flights were already canceled today. 90 million people dealing with these weather conditions right now. now you can see wichlt i want to bring back our aviation analyst mary schiavo. mary, let's talk again about the just the very basic question. when you cancel flights because of snow and ice, you are doing it why? is it because of the conditions in the air or doing it because of the conditions on the ground, difficulty in taking off and landing at airports? >> it's both, but primarily on the ground. most accidents, most crashes happen on takeoff or landing or in the landing sequence or the climb out. they have to be very concerned what happens once they get down and actually touch down ton runway because that's where so many of the accidents and crashes happen right at the

airport. this berm, there's been so much discussion in the last 15, 20 years about airport construction. we still build new airports in the united states anymore, commercial ones, because they're so expensive. these kind of berms and we have zones that are hollow boxes, that's not a perfect description. if a plane goes off the runway, then it messes up the wheels but everybody lives. this berm actually was probably very much a lifesaver. there have been accidents where the plane has gone off the end of the runway and into the water at laguardia and people have died. they're very fortunate this all stayed on the ground and they had this berm. that chain link fence would not have stopped the plane. how the airport is constructed and to make it still very safe, the last airport we belt was

denver international. denver has runways constructed so you have high-speed exitways off the runway. you have taxiways, literally unlimited space, almost unlimited space at the end of the runways. that's been the criticism of laguardia, criticism of o'hare and older in-city airports. as you see, reagan national, you don't have the safety areas. so this delta plane is very fortunate, these people are very fortunate that the berm was there because what's on the other side of that could have been a street or some other obstruction. but the braking action has been and the lack of braking action has been the cause of many a crash. the plane is actually on the ground or on the runway and then crashes. it's really important being able to stop that plane. i can name several off the top

of my head, american airlines, jamaica 2009, i think 2009. if you can't stop, it's almost as bad as not being able to land. >> mary schiavo, stand by. let me bring people up to speed, our viewers in the united states and around the world. you're looking at pictures now of delta flight 1086 which skidded off the runway at laguardia airport. this is an md-80 aircraft. we're told passengers have been evacuated from flaen. the fire department tells us up on the screen there are no known injuries. our miguel marquez tells us he's getting word that there have been a few minor injuries from this. you see the nose of the plane pushed up over a berm at that airport right now. we're not exactly sure if that was at the end of the runway or if it skidded off the side of the runway there. we have some new information now about the status of operations at laguardia.

let's bring back miguel marquez live at the airport. what's the latest? >> reporter: a couple of different things to tell you. bad news at laguardia if you're flying out or coming in. planes inbound have been diverted. all planes in and out of here have been stopped. so nothing is moving out of laguardia at least for now. on all the screens here it says every single plane is either canceled or diverted at the moment into and out of laguardia. that may be just until 7:00 tonight, until they sort that out. we are getting initial reports, though, that all the individuals have been taken off that plane. we also understand there have been some minor injuries. whatever happened on that plane, they certainly took a heck of a jolt as it went up into the berm. there was initial reports about jet fuel now that has leaked onto the runway and the surrounding area. so that is something that they will have to clean up and figure out before they allow operations to resume here. while all this is happening, it

is continuing to snow here very heavily which is going to make life very difficult for individuals who are trying to clean up that mess. i can tell you that our steve mackalak, a photo journalist with cnn is at the scene now. you can see the plane surrounded with ambulances, lots of emergency help there, but as we understand it, everybody has been removed from the plane and we believe at this point only minor injuries. john? >> miguel marquez stand by. we have a new statement from the faa on what's happening here. the delta incident, 1086 flight from atlanta. this is the statement from the faa. delta air lines 1086, an md-88 aircraft slid off the side runway, runway 13 at laguardia airport after landing at about 11:10 a.m. today. the flight was arriving from hartsfield jackson international airport. we're told to check with delta for the exact number of persons. the faa says they will update us

on any information. two new definitive pieces of information, it's an md-88 aircraft and it slid off the side of the runway, slid off the side of runway 13 at laguardia airport there happening about 38 minutes ago at 11:10 a.m. eastern. mary schiavo, if you are still with us, it slid off the side of the runway. what might cause a plane to slide off the side of the runway? does that indicate it was coming in at the wrong angle? does that indicate it somehow lost control in its landing gear? >> it means they got no braking action. i thought that looked at the side of the runway when i mentioned that before. what that means, literally some of us have had this happen in our cars, those of us who spend some of our time up north. it's literally like in your car when you're driving and you hit a patch of ice and you lose the

traction and braking action and your car spins, the roar ear of car goes sideways. it's the same exact thing. remember, on the to help the traction on that runway. when it snows and it's icy since you cannot put salt on the runway, you have to rely on being able to get some sort of braking action. this big huge md-88, this huge aircraft literally was acting like a car spinning out on the road. and most likely no control and no braking action on that runway. so if they have a contract on that runway, not like this, out of control on the ice. >> mary stand by. you're looking at pictures of

delta flight 1086. it slid off the runway at la guardia airport. you can see the nose pushed up over the berm. we're told that the passengers have been evacuated. miguel marquez is hearing word of minor injuries at this point. miguel also reports incoming flights have been diverted. outgoing flights not going anywhere right now as that plane has skidded off the runway there. i want to bring back chad mey s meyers. the weather has been crazy. it was pouring rain, then it was freezing and snowing. we have an icy mess here. how do these wild temperature swings contribute to the problem we're having right now at la guardia. >> we used the term a couple

weeks ago flash freeze. that's almost what we had this time. it was 34 and raining in new york at 6:00 this morning. all of a sudden, right at about 6:45, it went below 32. now we're down to 27. the roads, the airport, the tarmac all wet. but now frozen. and mary, i would really like you to tell the viewers, because i don't think they understand, the crude nature of how an airport knows whether its runway is icy or not. tell them about the trucks that just run up and down and skid. >> well, that's exactly right. the way that the airport personnel and, it's not scientific, is they literally go out and drive up and down the runway. they walk out and look at it. there's no signs to test. they see if they can get traction themselves out on the runway. in some ways it's harder to clean up a runway and keep it

safe for traffic than interstate 95. we just don't have the same ability in the terms of sand and salt on it. you just can't do it. it would ruin the aircraft engines immediately. out there and walk and slip and fall, that's it. can't land. >> putting salt on the runway is corrosion issue, isn't it? >> it's not just a corrosion issue if they spread it like they do on the highways. you go out and can hear the salt hitting your engine and all of that. you know they load it up. anything like that, not only corrodes the plane, it would destroy the plane itself, the engines and electronics. the engines can't really ingest anything like that. >> stand by here for a moment.

an md-88 flight from atlanta to new york, skidded off runway 13 at la guardia airport. we had better pictures a moment ago. you could see the nose pushed into a berm there. there it is. those berms are in place for safety to keep these flights -- it depends on where they are, from either skidding off into the water. the water's right there. either skidding off into the water or streets in the crowded areas nearby there. so perhaps that berm did exactly what it was designed to do, to protect the people op board that flight. there were 125 passengers, five crew members on board that flight, and that they were evacuated safely, busted back to the terminal. you can see the people evacuating off the wing there from that aircraft on that flight that was from atlanta to new york.

the weather conditions here have been very tough. peter, some 2,000 flights have been canceled today and it will raise questions about whether this flight, this flight from atlanta here to new york where the weather conditions have terrible, whether it should have been in the air to begin with. peter? >> my guess is both the faa and the ntsb will investigate this incident, this accident and they'll make a decision on two things. one, whether the plane should have landed in the first place. secondly, whether the crew followed the procedures in landing and whether the airport was -- as mary indicated, the airport was up to date on the conditions of their runway. clear clearly, it was contaminated. clearly, it's a very tough weather day. the temperatures -- when it's 28 to 32 to 34 degrees, that is a very challenging range for

commercial airplanes. >> and peter, we were just talking about this is a second ago. how do they verify the conditions on the runway are safe for landing? >> well, it is -- it is -- if you go back -- an interesting accident to go back to is the southwest accident at midway airport. you will see in the investigation of that accident that it was really, as mary k e indicated, a not very scientific process. the airlines feel as though they're damned if they do, damned if they don't. if they prematurely cancel, but also an event like this happens and the question is, you want to err on the side of safety. there are advances that need to be made to determine whether a

runway is safe to use or not. >> you're right. it's a very difficult situation there. everyone wants the planes to be flying. you want to get where you're headed. when the weather is bad, caution of course is necessary. >> that's correct. >> some 2,000 flights have been canceled today all the way from texas to new england. chad described the weather conditions as flash freezing. whose responsibility is it, peter? the cockpit crew or ground control, the control tower? who makes the final decision on whether it's safe to land? >> it's the obligation of the airport to classify and determine whether their runway is safe to land on. and then it's the responsibility of flight crew to make the decision whether they want to land or whether they want to divert. in the end, it is the captain and the aircraft's -- you know, his decision. but it is the airport's responsibility to evaluate their

runways to determine whether they're safe to land and to broadcast that at the crew. there are various levels they can say. in this case, clearly the runway was contaminated and slushy and wet. so the question is is whether the flight crew got that information or not. >> peter goelz, stand by. i want to go back to la guardia airport. delta flight 1086, skidded off the runway, off runway 13 at la guardia into that determine right there. we're told all the passengers have evacuated. the ap reports 125 passengers, five crew evacuated from that airplane. let's check in with miguel marquez one more time with the latest information from that airport. miguel? >> reporter: the bad news here is because of this incident all flights into and out of la guardia have been canceled for now or diverted. it appears eep flights on their way into la guardia have been

diverted to other airports. on the good news side, despite how terrible the conditions are and despite how bad that might look, that everybody is off that plane. initial reports are there are only minor injuries. we also understand that there may be -- the plane has a wing broken and there may be a concern about fuel that has leaked onto the runway or the surrounding area that they will have to remediate. but it has been all hands on deck here at la guardia throughout the day. since this news happened and all these flights have been canceled, if you can look in this terminal alone, we are in the american airlines terminal, which is one down from where this incident happened. i walked the length of this terminal to look through all the windows around the corner to see if i could see anything. it is snowing so heavily out there, you cannot see anything from here.

it might be possible from the farther end of the airport. but right now, people are backing up here, flights are canceled. everybody now trying to figure out what to do next. >> all activity shut down until 7:00 p.m. tonight. thanks so much. delta flight 1086 skidding off the runway at la guardia right there. we understand all the passengers have been evacuated. only minor injuries we're hearing right now. much more information on "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starting right now. hello everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. our breaking news comes to us via the weather and an airport that would rather not be in the predicament it's in. a scene you rarely see. this plane within the last hour and a half slid off runway 13 at la guardia airport. and tho