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Germanwings Jet Crashes in French Alps; Not Thaw in U.S.- Israeli Relations; Stocks Pull Back. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired March 25, 2015 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The cockpit voice recording black box has now been recovered, and investigators are trying to figure out what caused the crash of a Germanwings Airbus A-320 in the French Alps, with 150 people on board.

[04:30:00] Everyone on that flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf presumed dead including two babies.

The cause of the crash is a mystery this morning. Germanwings says the plane descended from its cruising a little altitude for eight minutes before radar contact was lost and the plane slammed into the mountain. Now, crews are struggling to recover bodies and wreckage from snow-covered, high mountain valley here where that plane went down.

I want to bring in now CNN's Erin McLaughlin. She is in the recovery staging area that's about six miles from the crash site.

Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.

Well, that all-important recovery operation has resumed this morning. This after it had been suspended in the overnight hours due to difficult conditions. Now, the airfield you see behind me has been a hive of activity for the past few hours. We've seen a number of helicopters land and then take off again.

Onboard those helicopters are police officials, mountaineering specialists as well as investigators, all heading to that crash site, a site that has been problematic for officials. It's in an extremely remote location, accessible mainly by air. The terrain there has been described by local officials as difficult. And the plane, upon impact, local officials say was pretty much obliterated with wreckage strewn across a wide area including human remains. Local officials say it could take them at least a week to search the area, let alone begin to recover bodies and piece together what exactly happened to that ill-fated flight.

Meanwhile, this morning in France, we heard from the interior minister say that the black box that was recovered yesterday was the flight cockpit recorder. That black box, he said, had been damaged in the crash, but they hope to have it fixed in the coming hours -- Christine. ROMANS: All right. Erin McLaughlin, thank you for that.

Passengers aboard Germanwings Flight 9525 came from all over Europe as well as a handful from South America, Asia and Australia. Nearly half of them, at least 67, were German.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, says the crash has plunged Germany, France and Spain into deep mourning. Today, she will travel to that crash site.

Sixteen students and two teachers on the flight were returning to the town of Haltern near Dusseldorf after a week in an exchange in Spain. And now, that town of Haltern is in mourning.

CNN's Rosie Tomkins joins us now from Dusseldorf with the very latest.

And, Rosie, people from all walks of life on that flight. This was a budget airline. So many of them in Europe over the past decade allowing people to take trips they might not otherwise have been able to take.

ROSIE TOMKINS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine. A very popular airline as well, especially for German holidaymakers going to Mediterranean cities and in this case tragically for this group of school students that you mentioned that were in Spain on this foreign language exchange experience, flying home to return to their families with their two teachers. All of them died in the crash with the two teachers -- just tragic news for this town Haltern, which is just 80 kilometers north of where I am now at the airport.

The mayor of the town appeared in public yesterday. He was visibly moved, very, very emotional, talking about the impact on the town, and shock felt all across the town.

Also other names emerging like these two opera singers on board also from the Dusseldorf region. One of them, Maria Radner, she was traveling with her husband and baby. So again, these names and faces starting to give focus to the personal tragedies in this terrible story.

But Dusseldorf airport where the flight was intended is where many of the families came yesterday to get news and to receive that terrible news that it was their family members on board.

There's a crisis center set up here to provide support to those traumatized by all of this. They've also been offered by the airline, if they want to, to fly to the site or near to the site of the crash just so that they can be near to their lost loved ones.

And meanwhile, Germanwings, the airline, has said that some of its crew have asked not to travel, receiving the news of the crash and, of course, of their colleagues lost in this terrible tragedy.

So, many details unfolding, 67 German nationals, a number that may change as more details emerge -- Christine. ROMANS: Some of those crew members of Germanwings don't want to fly

right now, as they mourn their colleagues. Thank you so much for that, Rosie.

Now, the king of Spain canceling a state visit to France to return home this morning. The flight originated in Barcelona, and a count of Spanish surnames suggest about 45 of those passengers were probably Spanish nationals. Still no official count from officials in Spain.

Mourning along with those families in Haltern, Germany, are the residents of the small Spanish town where those German exchange students attending the program.

[04:35:04] Hundreds gathering at a mass to remember their new friends.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is there with the latest.

Good morning, Karl.

And if I understand it correctly, some of these Spanish students had just been in Germany recently on their part of the exchange.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Christine. As you know, I mean, these kind of school exchange programs, they're very common in Europe. So, a child will go to the host country, will stay with the host family. They'll forge friendships, going to school and learning the language is only part of this overall cultural exchange.

And about three weeks ago a group of Spanish students were in Germany. So this was the return leg, really, when these 16 German students came to Llinars del Valles here just north of Barcelona. These were friendships that were being consolidated. These were friendships that were being forged not only in the classroom, perhaps on the soccer field, in the streets around this town, friends who were friends only just yesterday -- well, here in Spain, they have to now come to terms with the fact that they will not be seeing those friends next year.

It's something that school is taking very seriously to try and give support to the children, to the families as well. Yesterday afternoon, Red Cross members were here at the school trying to give some psychological support, trying to help the kids work through these issues. And later on today, there will also be a commemoration service so that they can pay tribute to their fallen friends.

But, of course, not just these in this town affected but also across Spain, across many other nationalities as well. And right now, Lufthansa has not given out a conclusive list of how many Spaniards were on board that flight. Initial suggestions suggest about 45.

But again, that is the number of Spanish surnames because we already know that there were Colombians, Mexicans, Argentineans, people from Latin America on board as well. We're hoping to get further detail from Lufthansa during the course of the day about the exact makeup of passengers on board that flight, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Karl Penhaul for us this morning in Spain, thanks for that, Karl.

Now, the weather in the French Alps expected to make the work of recovery crews even tougher this morning.

I want to bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for the latest on that.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Christine, yes, you know, this part of the world on Wednesday, the weather pattern as rough as it gets -- fog, freezing rain, snowfall. You take a look at the terrain, near vertical flow. This is about 60 to 70-degree slopes that officials out there have to deal with when it comes to literally having ice, perhaps snow on there, as we head into the afternoon hours of Wednesday.

But here's the track of the flight. Notice the thunderstorms as it approached the region where it made last point of contact. They were actually well to the south. So, we know weather probably not a factor as the plane went down. Impressive depiction from Barcelona, notice the vertical profile, the plane for 45 minutes make an incline there and gets up to cruising altitude of 38,000 feet within an eight-minute period. It comes down very quickly. Kind of a very steady decline in the altitude coming down over an eight-minute period and the crash point at 6,500 feet high.

What's interesting about this region of the Alps and the crash zone is that's precisely where the rain and snow line will be on Wednesday. So, anywhere north of this, a lot of debris strewn about, snow showers possible south of it where organizers are in place, 4,000 to 5,000 feet, that's where we have some rain in the forecast. So, all sorts of weather going to hamper the operations, the crash zone in this region, about 6,500 feet high for Wednesday's operations, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Sixty-five hundred feet high, tough going there. Thanks, Pedram.

Breaking news, a Lufthansa spokesperson says the airline will no longer use the flight number 9525, retiring the number. That's the number of the Germanwings flight that crashed yesterday, killing all 150 people on board.

So, a lot of discussion about low-cost and budget airlines and the explosion of these airlines, especially in Europe over the past few years. Does low cost -- does budget mean less safety?

I want to bring in CNN Money correspondent Alison Kosik.

Alison, budget airlines, they're just as safe as the bigger carriers.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: As far as the experts at CNN Money talked to, yes. These low-budget airlines are considered safe. Budget airlines do cut corners, though. But they cut corners on convenience. So, what that means is you're going to get less legroom, no beverage service. You're going to be charged for your bags.

But experts say they don't skip when it comes to safety. They do pay crews less. Yes, that's true, but that doesn't mean an unsafe pilot. It just most likely means a less experienced pilot.

ROMANS: This pilot was not low experience. He had ten years of experience. This particular pilot defies sort of that trend.

KOSIK: Right. It's not a rule. This is sort of generalizations that these experts were making, actually. And interestingly enough, these low-cost airlines wind up having newer fleets than other carriers.

ROMANS: Yes, in some cases, although this case, this plane was 24 years old.

KOSIK: Right.

ROMANS: And 33 euros I think is the starting fare. You can see why there are people from all walks of life. Some might not have been able to fly if it hadn't been for that.

[04:40:04] What do their -- what do their track records look like, the low cost carriers?

KOSIK: OK, for the European carriers, that we're talking about, the discount carriers, they've got strong safety record. They're really on par with the industry as a whole.

Germanwings specifically has a very good reputation. It was launched by Lufthansa in 2002 to compete with Ryanair and easyJet. And Lufthansa has one of the best safety records in the world. The plane that crashed yesterday, the Airbus A320, is also one of the safest in the world. There are more than 6,200 of those aircraft in service, at hundreds of airlines. As you said earlier, these airlines really give access to a lot of people to just be able to go places they wouldn't ordinarily be able to go.

ROMANS: Richard Quest was reporting yesterday that Lufthansa in particular has a maintenance division that is, you know, bar none, among the best in the world. And this particular budget airline is owned by Lufthansa, and for the past seven or eight years, has been completely sort of absorbed in its operation. So, we'll have to see exactly what was the cause of this crash.

Thank you so much, Alison. Thank you for that.

Tension rising between Israel and the White House. President Obama with new criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid allegations of espionage. The very latest next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: President Obama giving up all hope for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians while he's still in office. The president says because of conflicting comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is no longer realistic to expect a two-state solution in the next several years.

[04:45:04] And he had plenty to say about the eroding relationship between Israel and the United States. Here's CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine, no thaw in that chill in relations just yet. President Obama is still refusing to accept Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's explanations about his stance on Palestinian statehood, describing their relationship as businesslike. The president said there's nothing personal on their disagreement on two key issues: the Iran nuclear talks and prospects for a Palestinian state.

At a news conference with the new president of Afghanistan, Mr. President dismissed Netanyahu's latest position in favor of a two- state solution with the Palestinians, something the prime minister rejected just before his re-election.

Here's what the president had to say:

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's pointed out that he didn't say never, but that there would be a series of conditions in which a Palestinian state could potentially be created. But of course, the conditions were such that they would be impossible to meet any time soon.

ACOSTA: Making matters worse is that "Wall Street Journal" report quoting U.S. officials that they're spying on the Iranian nuclear talks and leaking details to Congress. When asked about that, the president tried to laugh it off saying he doesn't talk about intelligence matters with reporters, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill are throwing water on these allegations.

And the Israelis, they're not amused, issuing a statement saying these allegations are utterly false. The state of Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel's other allies -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Jim Acosta at the White House this morning, thanks for that, Jim.

The nuclear talks with Iran, they're going down to the wire. Secretary of State John Kerry heads back to Switzerland this afternoon. Five more days of negotiations ahead here. The deadline to reach a framework for an agreement, just seven days away. Both sides say substantial progress has been made, but significant gaps remain.

Turning to Iraq and the bloody battle for Tikrit. After standing on the sidelines for weeks, the United States now assisting the Iraqis, providing aerial intelligence in their fight to retake the city from ISIS. The request for help came from the Iraqi government. It could pave the way for U.S. airstrikes. About 20,000 Iranian-backed Shiites have joined forces with Iraq to push ISIS out of Saddam Hussein's birthplace, but heavy resistance in recent weeks has stalled the campaign.

A slowdown in the drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. President Obama announcing the current level of 9,800 troops will remain in Afghanistan through the end of the year instead of the reduction that had been promised, bringing that number down to 5,500 as planned. Afghanistan's president, Ashraf Ghani, requested an adjustment of this troop withdrawal timeline. He does not what the president to pull troops out quickly. He is wrapping up his first official to the U.S. He'll address a joint meeting of Congress today.

Prosecutors in the trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, they are expected to rest their case on Thursday. The jury will hear more testimony today, detailing the evidence recovered in Tsarnaev's dorm room. An FBI agent says it includes a box of BBs, a receipt for a Smith & Wesson replica BB gun and a white hat that prosecutors claim Tsarnaev was wearing the day of the Boston marathon, the bombing.

Former Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. will reportedly be released from federal prison Thursday. Officials say he'll spend the rest of his 30-month sentence at a halfway house in D.C. He pleaded guilty back in 2013 to using more than $750,000 in campaign money for luxury goods, vacation and clothes. His wife, Sandy, will begin serving a one-year prison term for her role after her husband is released. The judge staggered their sentences at the request of their children and the interest of their children.

Happening now, search crews trying to find the remains of those onboard Germanwings 9525. What could cause that plane to crash? We're examining what could have happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:52:48] ROMANS: This morning investigators confront a confounding mystery, what could have caused Germanwings Flight 9525 to descend from cruise altitude and fly straight into a mountain with no distress call and no reported weather issues? Could this have been a mechanical failure? Pilot error?

CNN's Tom Foreman runs down some of the possibilities in our virtual studio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This descent was somewhat rapid but not so fast that anybody in the cabin would necessarily have noticed it until they were actually able to see the mountains right outside the windows. And that sort of dispenses one of the theories here about what happened, that it was a catastrophic failure in the air, that the tail fell off or a wing tore off.

If that happened, the plane would have come down much more quickly in less controlled fashion. The debris would have been scattered over a much wider area on the ground.

So, if that's not what happened, what are some other possibilities? Well, every analyst we've talked to about this have said look at the

flight pattern of this plane. It is a direct descent that seems very controlled, 400 to 500 miles an hour the whole time, a straight line, no sign of anything unusual happening. That, they say, would be consistent with the crew trying to simply get to a lower altitude and deal with some sort of problem.

But we still don't know what that problem would have been. And frankly, if they had this kind of control, why wouldn't have they have veered away from the mountains and gone to some of the airports nearby that they might have been able to reach safely?

So, that brings up one other possibility here. What if they just didn't know that they were crashing? This happens.

Sometimes pilots have false readings from instrumentation. They don't know how fast their plane is traveling. They don't know where it is in relationship to the ground, or they simply become so distracted by some other issue that they just lose what's called situational awareness. And by the time, they would have realized they were in deep trouble, they had no time left to do anything about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Tom Foreman for us in the virtual studio, thank you for that.

Still missing in the fight for equality, female business leaders. Where's the progress? We get an early start on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:58:22] ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning.

I want to bring in CNN money correspondent Alison Kosik.

Alison, I feel like the market has been so blah this week. I know stocks fell yesterday, but what's going on this morning?

KOSIK: It is kind of blah. I mean, you look at what happened last week, the Fed really made a statement literally and kind of set the market off to a certain path, and now it's kind of caution ahead. We're looking at stock futures barely moving so far.

You look at how yesterday was. Stocks fell across the board. The Dow lost 104 points. The NASDAQ fell below 5,000. Lower volume, by the way, had a little to play in that trading activity as well.

We did see stocks fall despite positive data showing more momentum in the U.S. economy from climbing new home sales to rising inflation and manufacturing. And it's those stronger data points that could wind up catching investors' attention as to when the Fed may go ahead and raise rates.

ROMANS: That housing number, for number -- that housing number was amazing yesterday. Watch out for housing this spring.

KOSIK: And we have seen housing lose momentum so this is a hopeful sign.

ROMANS: Tell me about this alarming report about female business leaders. Maybe there are a few at the top. But there's not a big pipeline and there's not as many women as you'd think.

KOSIK: You know, it's a big bummer, isn't it? According to CNN Money analysts, there are only 24 female CEOs in the S&P 500. That comes out to less than 5 percent. And only 14 percent of the top five leaderships in the companies are held by women.

So, that means the pipeline for future leaders is very thin.

ROMANS: But the big news this morning is one of the most powerful women on Wall Street who's moving to Google.

KOSIK: Yes, I love this story because it's about Ruth Porat. She's made quite a name for herself at Morgan Stanley. She's leaving after spending three decades there.

She's going to be joining Google as its new chief financial officer, making her one of the most powerful women in tech.

[05:00:03] Porat gives up the title on Wall Street, though.

It's an industry that we haven't yet seen its first female CEO. I do like her mantra though. She hates that phrase, "work-life balance". She says she likes to find a satisfying mix between work and family.

ROMANS: Oh yes. There's no such thing as work-life balance. It's never, ever in balance. No one knows - everyone knows there's never a balance.

All right, thanks so much, Alison.

EARLY START continues right now.

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