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Two Americans Killed in Germanwings Plane Crash; Interview with State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki; Senator Ted Cruz May Join Obamacare Exchange. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We do have breaking news this morning about the plane crash in the French Alsp. Two Americans are now among the 150 passengers and crew killed in that doomed Germanwings flight that crashed midflight yesterday into a mountain side, 15 different countries involved.

[08:00:03] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, incredible. Search teams in helicopters are back in the air at this hour searching that crash site. One of the plane's black boxes has been found and investigators hope that that can help determine what brought this plane down. We start our coverage with CNN's Erin McLaughlin. She is close to the crash site in France. What have we learned this hour, Erin?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. That's right, just a short while ago the CEO of Germanwings held a press conference. In that press conference he confirmed that two American citizens were on board that doomed flight. We are still working to get more information about their identities. We now know that some 15 nationalities in total constituted the 150 people that were on board the plane, nationalities such as Australians, Colombians, Germans, Spanish, even Turkey.

And we do expect this hour the leaders of France, Germany, and Spain to arrive here in this area to pay their respects. They're expected to meet with emergency workers in a show of appreciation as well.

Meanwhile, the recovery effort this morning well underway. The field behind me, as you can see, a hive of activity. All morning helicopters have been landing and taking off for the crash site, helicopters full of rescue workers, forensic experts as well as mountaineering experts. We understand according to officials that some have managed to reach the crash site, which is located in an extremely remote area, very hard to reach, rough terrain. We understand from local officials that the crash site is grim and horrifying, the wreckage strewn across a whole wide area including human remains. And the priority of these officials right now is to begin the grizzly process of identifying and repatriating the victims as well as figuring out what caused this crash. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Erin, we can see what an active staging area that is where you are. Thanks for all the information.

So one by one, names and identities emerging of the victims of this crash, among them, 16 German high school students and two teachers returning from an exchange program near Barcelona. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is near the school in Germany where fellow students are trying to cope with the news. Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Alisyn. As we're getting the breakdown of the nationalities, it's beoming clearer what nationalities were actually on the plane. This is of course one of the towns that was most hard-hit by this disaster. As you said, 16 high school students from Haltern here in the northwest of Germany were on that plane, also two of their teachers as well. And just a couple of minutes ago I was able to speak to one young lady that was very close to a lot of students who were killed on the plane. I just want to listen in to what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILIPPA, STUDENT AT JOSEPH-KOENIG SCHOOL: I knew all of them. They were all in my grade and we were very close. We already planned things for the future, what we were going to do when they returned from their trip. So -- and it's very hard to believe that we cannot do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So, Alisyn, as you can see, these were young people who were making plans, who were very excited about their future. That's of course one of the reasons why this town, why this whole community is so devastated. I was actually able to speak to that young lady's mother. She said right now she's, of course, very much in a state of shock. She said she breaks down into tears every time she thinks about what happened. But she also says that at this point in time she sees it as her mission to try and speak to the parents of the children who perished and try to comfort them in these very difficult moments, guys.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Fred, I would imagine that grief and shock replicated in 15 nations around the globe, 15 country mourning victims who perished on that flight now including two that came from the U.S. and dozens of the victims believed to have come from Spain where that flight actually originated. Karl Penhaul, we find him outside Barcelona this morning with that part of the story. Karl?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Michaela. Yes, we've been in the Spanish town where those German exchange students had come. For the last week they've been forging friendships with young Spaniards here, Spaniards who had also spent time with German host families just about three weeks ago. But in addition, of course, to the Germans that have died, the other nationalities, don't forget the Spaniards, of course, according to the latest information from Germanwings, about 35 Spaniards on board.

But I think the fact we're now talking that at least 15 nationalities were among the victims of this flight, that really speaks to the cosmopolitan nature of Barcelona. It is a commercial hub, so we understand that some of the people on board that flight were Spanish businessmen heading to German trade fairs. [08:05:12] We also know that there were a couple of opera singers on

there, Germans. One was from Kazakhstan. They had been doing a season of opera at Barcelona Opera House. But it's a city that's also a tourist hub as well. A lot of people come here for vacations, northern European retirees coming down here for a bit of winter sun. But also the younger crowd that maybe coming in for a weekend break to enjoy the real sights, some of the architecture, some of the clubs, some of the cuisine of Barcelona as well. And that I think is why we're seeing 15 different nationalities represented here, different age groups as well really converting it into a tragedy that is transcending nations, that is transcending generations. Back to you, Chris.

CUOMO: Karl, tremendous diversity that all wound up sharing this same fate.

And now we hear news that Americans involved as well. Let's bring in Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman.

JEN PSAKI, SPOKESWOMAN, STATE DEPARTMENT: Good morning, Chris.

CUOMO: Hey, Jen, let's talk about people before we talk about politics this morning. The news of two Americans on board flight 9525, are you aware of this before the press conference? Have you been able to reach out to those families?

PSAKI: Well, Chris, here at the State Department we're very careful about what we confirm out of sensitivity to the families and obviously their privacy. And clearly our hearts go out to the families of the victims, whether they're American or whether they're from any country. But certainly as soon as we heard the news of the crash, we go through a process that we've unfortunately had to go through recently to look at the manifest, track what the background is, and of course go through the family notification process. But that is still ongoing on an official basis.

CUOMO: Were you able to find out before this press conference? Were you able to get ahead of the situation for the family's sake?

PSAKI: Well, Chris, we have a process that we go through internally here, and I'm just being very careful out of respect for the family about where we are in that process.

CUOMO: OK.

PSAKI: But we certainly start working on it as soon as we hear tragic news as we did yesterday morning.

CUOMO: All right, and obviously I'm asking out of respect as well because as we have learned in incidents like these in the past, the families will need your help.

PSAKI: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Very specifically to deal with something that happened all too far away but is also close to home. That's why I'm asking. PSAKI: You're absolutely right. And in situations like this or any

tragic situation around the world, that's what the State Department is here for. So we will certainly be in touch with any families of any victims of American citizens.

CUOMO: All right, so then we shift to the other news of the day, the Israeli spy situation. I want to ask you about another question similar in form. When did you know that Israel was spying on the Iran talks?

PSAKI: Well, Chris, I don't confirm the policies of the United States as it relates to intelligence, and I certainly don't confirm the policies of other countries. This is a case where we've been briefing the Israelis consistently throughout the process. We've been doing that on a regular basis after pretty much every round of negotiations. That has continued. We've also been briefing congress.

And really the heart of the story that came out yesterday was the notion that Congress would need information from a foreign government. That's just not the case. We've provided more briefings to Congress on this issue, more detailed briefings than perhaps any other issue we've worked on in at least my time here.

CUOMO: Well, they felt closed out, right? That's the perception we hear. And while I understand your point in wanting to say we haven't been closed off, do you believe that Iran was spying on the -- that Israel was spying on the Iran talks?

PSAKI: Again, Chris, I'm not going to speak to the policies of another country. Our focus right now is on the final weeks, the final days even of these negotiations. If we can reach a deal that cuts off the four pathways that prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, we'll continue to consult the Israelis. We've talked a little bit in the past before about our concerns about private information becoming public because it puts the talks at risk. That's something we've taken into account in how we've been briefing various parties.

CUOMO: And yet there is something that can't just be dismissed of the pro forma of process and the urgency of the talks. The secretary himself has been outspoken about his frustration of the role of Israel being disruptive here. And the question I have is are you more upset about the means, you know, the spying, or is it that it was used to go to Congress and frustrate the efforts? What's the big concern?

PSAKI: Well, Chris, there's a great deal of information we've been providing to Israel about the negotiations, and we've continued to update them on the status after each round of negotiations. The same with Congress. I think our issue here is we have some disagreements about how we should get to the point what the process should be for preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. We believe the best way is to do it through negotiations, through cutting off the four pathways, through finding a way through our P5 plus 1 partners to get to a point to make this a comprehensive, long-term agreement.

[08:10:11] Israel has some disagreements with us. But ultimately our question is, well, what's the alternative, because going back to the status quo before the joint plan of action is certainly not appealing. It would mean that they would be moving forward on taking steps to developing and acquiring a nuclear weapon.

CUOMO: Right.

PSAKI: And that certainly is not what anybody wants.

CUOMO: The simple situation is where you set the bar, I think, Jen. For them they say you're going to cut a deal with Iran that will allow them to get a nuclear weapon, it's just a question of when. And that is unacceptable from the Israeli perspective because they have an existential threat on their hands.

PSAKI: Chris, any deal will be judged by the content and there will be a full fulsome debate about that publicly and we're looking forward to that. Hopefully that is something that will be engaged in if there is a deal. The fact is, though, without these negotiations Iran was moving towards a nuclear weapon. Their breakout time was just a few months. We're working towards a breakout time of a year. We're working towards cutting off their four pathways, towards increased transparency and verification. We're not seeing alternatives offered by the opponents here. And what we're trying to bring a long term agreement that will bring greater security not just to the United States but to Israel and to the entire global community.

CUOMO: But it is still not a situation of if but only when. Isn't that fair criticism?

PSAKI: Well, no, it's not, because the fact is a breakout time is certainly different from when they would have a bomb. And what we were doing is we would be extending the time to give us and the international community time to track. Also by being able to have verification measures, increased transparency measures, we'd know exactly what they're doing. And that's not something we knew, had real insight into, before the joint plan of action.

CUOMO: May know based on what they allow in terms of inspections and how open they are with that. That's an unknown. And just one point of testing here -- breakout time. Is that just a fancy phrase for when deal ends?

PSAKI: Not when the deal ends, Chris. It's when they have the materials necessary. But, again, that doesn't mean that they would be at a point where they would be able to use a weapon. So there's a difference here, and what we're doing here is extending the period of time giving us more time, giving the international community more time to track and watch what they're doing. And up to this point we've had a lot shorter time. Most outside analysts will tell you that that is plenty of time for the international community to have.

CUOMO: And we do understand on the subject of time you only have about a week to get a framework --

PSAKI: We do.

CUOMO: -- in place. And the administration has been very clear that any deal is iffy at this point. We will stand by and continue to follow it. Jen Psaki, thank you very much.

PSAKI: It's a key week. Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right, Chris, interesting turn of events here. A staunch opponent of Obamacare now signing up for the very law he's working to repeal. GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz calling the move anything but ironic, saying he's simply following the law. CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash sat down one on one with the senator to hear what he had to say. I'm so curious, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michaela, he has been able to be politically pure, ideologically pure on this issue because for years he and his family have gotten their health insurance through his wife's job, which was Goldman Sachs. I say was because she took a leave of absence on Monday. So when we sat down I wanted to know a simple question. How now are he and his family getting their health care? This was his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: So she's taking an unpaid leave of absence from her job. And so we're transitioning. We'll be getting new health insurance. And we'll presumably do it through my job in the Senate. So we'll be on the federal exchange like millions of others on the federal exchange.

BASH: So you will be getting Obamacare effectively?

CRUZ: It is one of the good things about Obamacare is that the statute provided that members of Congress would be on the exchanges without subsidies just like millions of Americans so there wouldn't being a double standard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So there you see that he is saying that he is in all likelihood going to take Obamacare. Afterwards I should say that his campaign aide said, well, he's not fully decided. He might actually go ahead and do something else. He does have other options, options like COBRA. When people leave their jobs, like his wife Heidi has done temporarily, you can extend your private health insurance. He could go outside the exchange system and get it privately, although, again, his campaign argues that that is incredibly expensive and they argue that the individual market is just not the same because of Obamacare.

But the bottom line is when you look at the optics of this, any Republican will admit it's not so great for him. And that's why I think, guys, that he is kind of trying to figure out how to miss this and parse this.

[08:15:06] CUOMO: How to get as far away from what he said to you as possible. I hope your face heels from the jaw drop answer.

BASH: I was a little bit surprised. CUOMO: I'm sure you were.

CAMEROTA: Great interview, Dana. Thanks so much for sharing it.

Well, another rough day before Congress for Secret Service Director Joe Clancy. Lawmakers got testy claiming that he's keeping the public in the dark about the latest scandal. Surveillance video of the troubling incident was finally provided but not by the Secret Service.

CNN investigative correspondent Chris Frates has more.

What do we know, Chris?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn. For the first time we're seeing what was kept behind closed doors, video showing the incident has the Secret Service on the ropes again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRATES (voice-over): The first images from a Washington police video show how two Secret Service agents rolled through an active bomb investigation at the White House gates. Watch as the car slowly drives in and bumps a barricade at the scene.

It's video the Secret Service did not want to share.

SEN. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Why would you not turn over all video footage to this committee?

FRATES: And on Tuesday, lawmakers grilled Director Joe Clancy on why he would not turn over his agency's video to Congress.

GOWDY: Will you make a copy of it available so we can retain custody as opposed to simply showing it to us?

JOE CLANCY, SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: I will not release a copy of this video at this point.

FRATES: Lawmakers criticize the new director for not knowing about the incident until five days after it happened and then only after hearing about an anonymous e-mail circulating around the agency.

The top Democrat on the committee read the e-mail aloud. It said the agents drove through crime scene tape after returning from a retirement party.

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: Duty officers said they were both extremely intoxicated. UD officers were going to arrest both of them but the UD watch commander said not to.

But you know what really bothers me is it appears we have an agency at war against itself.

FRATES: Clancy promised lawmakers he'll take action.

CLANCY: I am resolved to holding people accountable for their actions, but I want to make clear I do not have the ability to simply terminate employees based solely on allegations of misconduct.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRATES: And frustrated lawmakers plan to hold Clancy accountable. Their next step, bring in the agents involved for closed door interviews and ask them what happened that night at the White House.

CUOMO: All right. Chris, thank you very much for the coverage. Appreciate it.

We have breaking news out of Yemen. "Reuters" reporting unidentified war planes are firing missiles in the district where the president's compound is located in the city of Aiden this morning. Forces loyal to the president have been holding off an advance by Houthi fighters, Shiites. It is unclear who is carrying out these latest missile strikes.

All of this is going on and so is Saudi Arabia's actions of beefing up its military presence on the border. One U.S. official tells "Reuters" the size of the Saudi buildup is significant. More proof of how dangerous the situation may become for the U.S.

CAMEROTA: And this frightening story out of California. A Bay Area woman allegedly kidnapped for ransom. Denise Huskin's boyfriend, identified as Aaron Quinn, told authorities she was taken against her will from his Vallejo house Monday morning. Huskin's car was found hours later in an undisclosed location. Authorities searching an island waterfront after spotting a possible object. Quinn has not been named a suspect.

PEREIRA: This story is amazing. I thought I had seen everything in my life. A pair of circus elephants to the rescue. This is Natchitoches Parish in Louisiana.

These big guys kept the 18-wheeler they were in from turning over on a busy highway. It happened after the truck they were riding in pulled off the road and got stuck in the mud. So, the elephants got out and helped prop it up. Crews eventually helped pull the truck out and the elephants were free to prepare for their upcoming show.

CAMEROTA: They're busy.

PEREIRA: That happened.

CAMEROTA: I guess so.

All right. Back to the top story, and that is the recovery efforts underway at this hour and the big question remains, what brought down flight 9525 in the French Alps. Our aviation experts bring you all of the latest data, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:56] CAMEROTA: We have breaking news right now. We have learned that two Americans were among the 150 victims on Flight 9525. Investigators are looking for any clues as to what caused the Germanwings plane to crash.

Let's turn to David Soucie, our CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector, and Richard Quest, CNN aviation correspondent and host of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS."

Nice to see both of you.

So, two Americans were onboard. Richard, is it unusual for it to take 24 hours for that to be released?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Not unusual. I mean, you've got to remember what Lufthansa, Germanwings, one and the same, what they're doing is they want to be absolutely accurate. This is a flight that was going from Barcelona, major tourist areas, to Dusseldorf. You're going to have loads of nationalities onboard.

CAMEROTA: In fact, there were 15 we now know.

QUEST: Right. They want to make absolutely certain that they get it right, that they know exactly nationalities, families are informed.

It's not -- this isn't just bureaucracy, this is ensuring you give the right people the right information.

CAMEROTA: We don't yet know the ages of these victims or where they lived, if they lived in the States. So, hopefully, we'll be getting that information, soon.

David, you've been looking at this for the past 24 hours. What's your latest thinking as to what went wrong?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: You know, it's still perplexing to me. There's no answers. We have the cockpit voice recorder now. Hopefully, that will give us some reasons why.

The flight data recorder tells us what, not why. So, that's why, we're looking at CVR for that. Right now, at this point I'm thinking that something happened on board the aircraft that incapacitated the pilots, either them or their ability to communicate at that point and then it continued down in an automated fashion.

CAMEROTA: That's the only thing that makes sense, is that they were incapacitated, because otherwise, for eight minutes why wouldn't they communicate with the ground?

QUEST: Absolutely. You can throw in what I always call the nefarious option.

CAMEROTA: Should we throw in the nefarious option?

QUEST: I think on this occasion you have to leave everything on the table, because if you -- I think it's very risky.

I'm normally the first person sitting at this table saying to you all, no, no, get rid of the hijacking theory, terrorism, get rid of it all. But, no. [08:25:00] I think on this occasion, you have to say simply because

what took place is so out of the ordinary. A plane gets to its cruising altitude, stays there for three minutes and starts an inexorable descent and flies into the ground. These things do not happen in the world of aviation normally.

SOUCIE: I'm ruling out the nefarious, and the reason why is there are so many ways for them to communicate, the pilots to communicate the fact that there is. Those are things we can't say on air. But those are things they can do and none of those things were done. There are four different ways in which we could know if this happened. None of those happened that we know of yet.

CAMEROTA: David, you say one critical factor to look at is that this flight maintained a 26 degree flight path. Why is that significant? What does it mean?

SOUCIE: It didn't try to change path. When they found out something happened, typically what happens at that point is you make a decision. Is there a place to land? You have alternative airports, places to go. There were airports within 32 miles of this aircraft when it first started to descend, but yet it flew for 132 miles.

So, why did they not choose that? That's why it's significant. They didn't change the course at all.

QUEST: And also related to that, the control surfaces. Did something go wrong with the elevators, anything like that? Well, if it doesn't happen, the plane would have drifted. It could have gone off course. There could have been -- this thing maintained its course. It was under -- I say under control, but it appears to have been.

SOUCIE: And typically when that happens, if you lose engine power you don't want to turn because you lose a lot of energy. You want to keep going straight, keep finding what's ahead of you to land. That could have explained it.

However, when engines go out it has a smart trans ponder that codes 7700. That -- 7700. And that comes back to the air traffic controller. That didn't happen either.

CAMEROTA: Here is -- there was some confusion about the time line of events. And that confusion persists today. There are two different versions of what happened.

According to the French national police, at 10:35, the controllers in the tower sent out an emergency warning and they believe that the plane crashed about 10:37. Yet the airline, Germanwings, says at 10:45, so later, they believe that's when the plane was at its cruising altitude. Then, it descended for eight minutes. They believe that they lost contact with the plane at 10:53. In other words, a 16-minute discrepancy.

QUEST: Fog of the crisis. Absolutely nothing more than somebody putting out a statement from Germanwings that didn't have all the data that was necessary at that particular moment. I think so. SOUCIE: Well, that's part of that. But part of being prepared for an

accident involves this preparedness and communications between them. This is indicative of someone who's not prepared for a crisis. This needs to be done at the international level, at the international civil aviation organization. Not just at the local authorities level.

QUEST: No, I'm going to take issue with you on that.

SOUCIE: Imagine that.

CAMEROTA: Quick point.

SOUCIE: Well, quick point. I mean, the airline has to be ready for this. This is an airline issue. Somebody put out some information that was erroneous. This thing happened at 10:30. The plane went down over a nine, nine and a half minute period to 10:40.

CAMEROTA: OK. Richard Quest, David Soucie, thanks so much for your expertise. Always good to check in with you.

So, for more information on the crash and for ways to help those impacted by air disasters everywhere, you can go to CNN.com/impact.

Chris?

CUOMO: The long, strange saga of Amanda Knox may be over as soon as today. The Italian Supreme Court has her fate in its hands. Will Italy ask for her back if her conviction is confirmed? What would the U.S. do? We'll explain the possibilities ahead.

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