Wal Mart to Join Gun Control Meeting; Ferry Crash Injures Fifty
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. We are watching two developing stories right now. Breaking news, first, Wal Mart has just decided to join in on those White House meetings with Joe Biden, White House meetings on gun control that they previously said they were too scheduled to be a part of. A change of tune there. And then also on your right-hand side of the screen, a ferry crash. It happened at a dock this morning in lower Manhattan and at least 50 people at this point are reported hurt. And we've got another deadline looming, as well, in our nation's capital. This one, though, having nothing to do with deficits or budgets or cliff. After Newtown, President Obama asked Vice President Biden to come up with concrete steps to curb gun violence and said, quote, "no later than January." So, right now in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is right next door to the White House, Joe Biden is sitting down with gun violence victims and gun safety groups and our Dan Lothian is watching all of this closely. This all seems to be unfolding fairly quickly, certainly by Washington standards, Dan, so do we know at this point where the Joe Biden group is heading in terms of policy or is it an open book?</s>DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, to some extent, it is an open book and you are correct in that this is moving very quickly, and the president had pointed out early on that when he formed this group and had the vice president lead it, that he wanted to get some policy proposals by the end of this month. So, that's the reason that you're seeing this move very quickly. But some of the things that the White House has been talking about are universal background checks. That's something that they believe that Congress could really push forward, reinstating the ban on assault weapons and then, finally, limiting high-capacity magazines. These are things, they say, that can start getting into place as they seek these other options and that's what these meetings are all about, sitting down with all of the stakeholders, with those who have been impacted by gun violence and those who own guns to come up with some ideas that can prevent further gun violence.</s>BANFIELD: Now, Dan, obviously a lot of the buzz wasn't so much about today's meeting, as important as it is with the gun violence victims and the gun safety groups, but instead with the NRA and then the overture to Wal Mart, which is the world's largest retailer and by many accounts one of the largest sellers of guns and ammunition, this is warp speed in terms of movement. The NRA said it was going to send someone to listen ...</s>LOTHIAN: Right. A rep.</s>BANFIELD: ... and Wal Mart said they would not because they were busy and they changed that. Characterize what's going on.</s>LOTHIAN: That's right. I mean, it's kind of interesting what happened with Wal Mart. I mean, essentially, they had pointed out that they had already had a meeting at the White House with the vice president and his group this week and I checked with the White House and they confirmed that, in fact, they had a phone meeting with them. So some sort of a phone conference call, but no face-to-face meeting. And what Walmart was explaining is that the point people that they have who would be attending a meeting like this were busy at a meeting in Arkansas and that's why they could not make it. But it was certainly a PR problem for them, a lot of raised eyebrows that they would not be sending one here. And then they did that reversal, saying that, you know, they said it wasn't a diss, in their words at the White House, wasn't a, quote, "slight," but that they had a conflict in the scheduling. Well, they reversed and are now sending someone to that meeting that will be taking place here at the White House.</s>BANFIELD: And then what about the president in all of this? It seemed by the very quickly made plans after the massacre in Newtown, the president had dispatched the vice president to collect this information, come up with proposals. But does the president have a kit of proposals on his own and might he tip his hand during the State of the Union?</s>LOTHIAN: Well, he just might. I mean, remember, look back at that press conference that the president had back in mid-December after the shootings and he said that he wanted those policy proposals, that he would bring forth those proposals during his State of the Union and so that is something that the president just might do. Jay Carney was asked about that yesterday during the briefing and he said that he did not want to get ahead of what the president might say during the State of the Union or during any other address that he might make. But this is certainly something that the president has pointed out that's very important. He wants to move on very quickly and he's trying to get as much input as possible. And then you have the NRA and other groups who are saying, wait a minute. Step back a bit. Take a look at the entire picture, not just on gun control, but take a look at mental illness, take a look at these violent video games as well. And you've heard them talk about getting armed guards at all of the schools, as well, to protect the children. So there is this conflict, those who are saying we need to have tougher gun laws and others who are saying, take a look at the more comprehensive view of this in order to find solutions.</s>BANFIELD: I'm glad you mentioned the armed guards protecting schools, et cetera. That was certainly something, Dan, that Sheriff Joe Arpaio mentioned down in Arizona, the Maricopa County sheriff, whom will be a guest in just moments. So, Dan Lothian at the White House ...</s>LOTHIAN: Great segue.</s>BANFIELD: Yeah, how about that? Right? Thank you very much. Keep your eye on developments. That is fascinating what's happening and how quickly it's happening, as well. But we also have other breaking news now, so I'm going to segue away for a moment to New York City with our live pictures. Check out the front of that ferry. That damage caused a whole lot more damage to people inside. About 50 people were hurt when that ferry crashed down near Wall Street. One person actually critically injured. Apparently, this was a very busy pier in lower Manhattan and our Alison Kosik rushed right to the scene. She's getting a handle on all of this. And, Alison, I know this started to unfold about 9:00 this morning. That's a peak commute time. So what's the very latest? What were you able to find?</s>ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Just to let everybody know who doesn't live in New York, there are lots of way people commute here into the city. You know, some people drive, some people take the train, and some people take the ferry. This is a regular commute for a lot of people, especially in New Jersey. This is called the C Street Ferry. It is out -- this particular boat is out of Highlands, New Jersey. It's a private ferry system and it says it provides high-speed service. It can go up to 44-miles-per-hour. So, this was the 8:00 a.m. out of Highlands, New Jersey, expected to arrive here around 8:45. Around that time, one passenger told me that is when she remembers flying through the air and waking up to a woman shaking her, hoping that she's OK. We did speak to many passengers, many people saying a very similar story, that this boat just suddenly just hit. Listen to some of what they had to say.</s>STEVE MANN, PASSENGER: It was a sudden crash. Everybody who was standing fell forward and people were in their seats got thrown forward.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, it was, you know, 60-to-0. So I don't know how fast we were going, but, you know, what happens when people come into the dock, usually the boat slows down a little bit, people get up to get off the boat, and that was what the problem was. When we hit the dock, everybody went flying. So that's why we had so many injuries. You know, people got thrown downstairs and that's where most people got hurt.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was actually sleeping. All of a sudden, we just hit, boom, and people were catapulting forward.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was standing up and I went backwards and hit chairs and then people landed on top of me. It was normal approach.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then what happened?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a sudden crash.</s>KOSIK: And you know something, Ashleigh, that a lot of commuters wind up doing and I see this when I ride the train and when people are on the ferry is, when you know you're getting close to your destination to get off and go ahead and get to work, a lot of people stand up. But in this case, one passenger told me a lot of people were standing on this staircase there -- this is a two-level ferry -- and when that boat hit, everybody went tumbling down. Now, the NTSB is sending a team to investigate. We hope to get more details. Ashleigh?</s>BANFIELD: And obviously, this is probably way too early, but is there talk down at that location about this being a mechanical error or human error at this point?</s>KOSIK: Of course, those are all the questions everybody's asking. You know, these passengers did tell us, though, the captain came out right away and tried to help. Certainly, the captain will be interviewed. We'll find out what he has to say.</s>BANFIELD: And then what about just the response? I was watching earlier. I have to admit, I was horrified when I saw helicopter pictures putting blankets over people because it appeared at one point as though there were fatalities. But these were people who were just being blanketed for warmth. We've got to be very cautious to let you know those pictures show people who are injured and not killed.</s>KOSIK: Right. Right. So far we have heard no one was killed in this accident. We are not hearing that as of yet. It is a chilly day here today in New York, so that could be the reason why you're seeing the blankets. You know, one passenger told me he saw one man having CPR performed on him with a head gash. So he may have been the worst case, but, you know, each person was different. One of the women I talked with, she walked off and was going to go see a doctor on her own, even though she was knocked unconscious for a bit.</s>BANFIELD: You can see there are so many first-responders who are on the scene and got there, obviously, very quickly down near the Wall Street location. Alison Kosik, keep us updated, if you will. Sure appreciate that. And we're going to give you the updates when Alison gets them and as we get them from the NTSB if they have them. And we're going to take a break. Be right back after this.