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Weather Hampering Germanwings Recovery Efforts; End For Amanda Knox Case?; Ted Cruz To Purchase Obamacare Insurance; Singapore Opposition Leader On Lee Kuan Yew's Legacy; 10,000 U.S. Troops To Stay In Afghanistan Through 2015. Aired 8:00-9:00A ET

Aired March 25, 2015 - 8:00   ET

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


[08:00:10] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream.

Now search teams that work to recover wreckage and victims of Germanwings 9525 as investigators try to find out what caused it to crash

in the French Alps.

Meanwhile, those who were lost from more than a dozen countries are being mourned. We're learning more about the 150 lives cut short.

And Amanda Knox braces for a ruling on her murder conviction in Italy.

Now the recovery effort for Germanwings flight 9525 is being hampered by bad weather and difficult conditions.

Now the plane crashed over the French Alps on Tuesday on its way from Barcelona, Spain to Dusseldorf, Germany. 150 people were onboard,

including two Americans and three British nationals.

But Germany and Spain were hit hardest: 72 Germans and 35 Spaniards were on board. Investigators, they now have the cockpit voice recorded,

but they are still searching for the second black box. The leaders of France, Germany and Spain are expected to arrive at the crash site area in

about one hour from now.

Now for a look at what may have gone wrong with the plane. CNN's aviation analyst Mary Schiavo joins us now, our aviation correspondent

Richard Quest as well. First, let's go to Mary in New York. And right now what do investigators need to hone in on to attempt to find out what went

wrong with the plane?

MARY SCHIAVO CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're going to need their flight data recorders. The black boxes are going to hold the clues that

they need. And they have a voice recorder. It is damage but data on that black box will show them what was happening with the engines, the planes,

the control surfaces. And why, most importantly, there was no communication with air traffic control when they started that descent and

continued on down.

LU STOUT: Now let's go to Richard Quest who joins us from New York. Richard, as has been reported again and again there was no distress call.

I mean, give us the cockpit perspective here. Why would a pilot not alert someone if there was an emergency?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Because they are either -- well, I mean -- one, that you have -- at one extreme that they're

incapacitated, that they're not conscious, that they're not able to make any calls. Now that of course is one of the options on the table if you

like.

But then you have the possibility that the pilots are so engrossed in solving whatever problem that they simply don't have to -- either they

don't have time, it's so urgent, there's so much of a crisis they're literally dealing with it, or they've become engrossed in dealing with an

issue and they fail to recognize what's happening, the situational awareness problem.

So, there are a variety of scenarios where the pilots don't make a mayday, some are extreme -- they're unconscious -- others are -- they

simply are not aware, and finally of course that the crisis is so bad, a fire, a disaster is so intense that they simply don't have time.

LU STOUT: Now from Richard in New York, let's go back to Mari Schiavo who joins us from London. And Mary, let's talk about the crash site

itself. The body of the plane completely obliterated, that's the word that's being used. It was such a high speed impact. What does that

indicate to you?

SCHIAVO: Well, and it was apparently a straight on flight. Eyewitnesses on the ground said that they saw the plane go over. It was

flying very low. Apparently wings fairly level. So it was traveling at a high rate of speed.

The data shows anywhere from 400 plus miles an hour -- if it was truly descending and it had not throttled back it would have been over 500, 600

miles an hour.

And what happens when the plane strikes the surface, a rock like that is not only do you have the impact from the forward motion of the plane,

but physics tell you then you get what they call the blowback motion, you get the reverse effect from the pieces of the plane then coming back on

itself. And it really does look like this kind of a wreckage field.

I've seen other crash sites and worked other accidents where this is what happens. It doesn't necessarily mean that the plane exploded other

than exploding on itself as it impacted the mountain.

LU STOUT: Got it. Got it. And one final question for our Richard Quest in New York. Richard, one of the black boxes has been recovered.

It's damaged, but it has been retrieved. What will it unlock?

QUEST: If it's a cockpit voice recorder as we believe it is, the damage, first of all, depends whether it's the outer shell, which is

designed to withstand ferocious forces, but even so if it's -- it's what's the solid state, it's what the electronics inside, can they manage to

access the data on it?

What it will show is -- I mean, it's a key that will unlock the mystery to this. It will tell us what the pilots were saying -- first of

all, is there any voice on it? Had they become unconscious? Were they aware? And if they were aware and they are conscious and they are dealing

with a problem, then the cockpit voice recorders from the various microphones that are located, dotted around the cockpit, that will tell us

what was happening and what the pilots were dealing with during that crisis.

[08:05:50] LU STOUT: 150 people are dead, cause unknown, so many questions. Thank you to Richard Quest and our CNN aviation analyst Mary

Schiavo for providing some insight for us. A big thank you to you both.

Now obviously there is immense grief in Spain where the flight originated. And people observed a moment of silence, but that the airport

in Barcelona and outside the Spanish parliament in Madrid.

A short time ago, the CEO of Germanwings gave us an update on what we know about the victims and where they're from.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS WINKLEMANN, CEO, GERMANWINGS (through translator): The number of the German victims is 72, Spain 35 victims. We have one victim from

Great Britain, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Denmark, Belgium and Israel and two victims from Australia, Argentina, Iran, Venezuela and

USA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now two communities, one in Spain, the other in Germany, share a common sense of deep loss, a town near Barcelona had just said

goodbye to 16 German exchange students and two of their teachers who were on the plane.

Now let's take a closer look now at the weather conditions and its impact on the recovery effort. Meteorologist Chad Myers has more on that -

- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNNMETEOROLOGIST: It's going to be a better day today than it was yesterday. Now things are now getting -- the sun is going to

set. But as we wake up tomorrow, this storm that's been pushing snow back into the Alps will have gone away. And so our ceilings will get higher.

And we're talking about the ceilings, the low ceilings, because our crash site is at 6,000 feet, or about 2,000 meters high. And if you have

clouds there, the helicopters can't fly into the crash site to allow the rescuers and the helpers to get off the helicopters. They have to walk in.

So we really do need this better weather. And it is coming. In fact, temperatures today will be around 10. Now the morning lows are going to be

around 0.

One other issue is going to be the wind, Kristie, we're going to see winds at about 30 kilometers per hour. And in canyons like we're seeing

where the wreckage is, those winds can even be gustier than that. And helicopters don't like flying in very tight canyons when the winds can be

gusting around those canyons and buffeting that helicopter one way or the other. So it's all a matter of when does the weather finally get better.

By Thursday, we're 13. And by Friday the sun is back out. We're back up to 14.

This will obviously the best day and the chance of rain will be zero. And that's when they will do most of the recovery as we work our way into

the end part of the week -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: You know, so right now difficult conditions at the crash site, but better weather is indeed on the way.

Chad Myers there, thank you.

Now you're watching News Stream and still to come on the program, a visit from Afghanistan's new president prompts a change in U.S. plans.

We'll explain why thousands of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be staying there longer than expected.

Plus, thousands of mourners in Singapore are lining up around the clock to pay tribute to the city-state's founding father. But the former

prime minister was not without his critics. We talk to one of them later in the hour.

And we are waiting for a ruling from Italy's highest court in the Amanda Knox case. Will it decide to uphold her murder conviction? And

will she face extradition to Italy? A live report from Rome is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:11:11] LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now the latest on the Germanwings plane that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday. Recovery crews, they are looking for clues at the crash

site. And meanwhile, families and friends of the victims, they are still waiting for answers.

Now let's go to Haltern (ph), Germany now, the town that's mourning the loss of students who were on board the flight. And CNN's Fred Pleitgen

is there and joins us now.

And Fred, you've been talking to students who knew the young people who were on board this flight. What can you tell us?

FRED PLEIGTEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely, Kristie. And this of course is pretty much the hardest hit single town by

this disaster. As you said, there were several high school students who were killed when the Germanwings flight went down, 16 of them in total.

They were on an exchange in Spain on the Spanish language exchange. Two of their leaders --- two of their teachers, I'm sorry, were killed in the

incident as well.

And earlier today, I was able to speak two a young lady. Her name is Philippa, who was very close to many of those who were killed on board the

flight. Let's have a listen in to what she had to say.

(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, Kristie, as you can see these were young people who were very excited about their future, their near-term future, their longer-

term future. Obviously, that's one of the reasons why this whole town is so much in shock right now after this horrible incident.

It's interesting, because I was also able to speak to that young lady's mother as well. And she said that she's obviously very emotionally

touched also, that this whole community is one that's very much in shock. But she also says that at this point in time she sort of sees it as her

mission to try and comfort the parents of the children who were killed on board that flight.

So certainly this is something that on the one hand has shaken this community very, very badly, but has also in many ways caused it to band

together more than ever before, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, shock and grief in the wake of this terrible crash. And sad to see such young people dealing with such tremendous loss.

Fred Pleitgen reporting live from Haltern (ph) in Germany. Many thanks indeed for that.

Now in a few hours, the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will address the U.S. congress. Now he met Tuesday with President Barack Obama at the White

House. And afterward, Mr. Obama said that he will maintain the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan at current levels until the end of the year.

Now right now, nearly 10,000 U.S. forces are there, about half of them had been scheduled to leave this year.

Now for more, and also new developments on the ground in Afghanistan, CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh who joins me now

live from Kabul where an explosion has just been heard. Nick, what can you tell us about that?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have to say at this early stage, Kristie, very little indeed.

We were standing actually just where I am now about five or 10 minutes ago and the large blast reverberated around the city here. Hard to tell

the direction it comes from. There are so many hills and tall buildings around here, but it seemed to emanate from over there.

If I pause, you could perhaps hear the sirens that have been across the city streets in the past few minutes.

In that direction, there are some government ministries. We don't know, as I say, necessarily if this was a purposeful explosion, still the

details unclear. Of course, this is a highly volatile city at the best of times. But a stark reminder, certainly, of security issues here in the

capital.

We are hours away from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani giving an address to congress where, of course, security will be at the heart of the message

he gives to a U.S. selection of representatives who often at times wary of the contribution the U.S. has made towards Afghanistan. And hot on the

back, too, of a pretty substantial announcement from the White House.

Now, of course, number-wise, an extra 4,300 troops, mostly trainers here from the Americans perhaps staying another 12 months or so isn't a

huge deal, given the 100,000 who have been here merely years ago. But it marks about half being held back longer. It's perhaps the White House

trying to be clear that given the continuing security issues this country faces, they're not withdrawing resources at a faster rate, in fact delaying

that withdrawal, that's perhaps to allow their legacy not to be one of cutting and running here in Afghanistan in a time of trouble. But, two,

Barack Obama very clear he wants to retain the message that all troops be back in the U.S. embassy by the end of 2016. He'll be the man who ends

this war in Afghanistan like he was keen to in Iraq as well given American domestic opinion, Kristie.

[08:15:47] LU STOUT: Now an explosion you just heard in Kabul underscores, as you put it, the need for more security there in

Afghanistan. That must be a factor behind the U.S. decision to have U.S. troops stay in Afghanistan. Is that American troops presence and the

extension of that presence something that the people of Afghanistan want?

WALSH: It is hard to tell, frankly. And I'm sure if you go to the provincial areas you will find hostility towards foreign intervention. You

may also find hostility towards the insurgency as well.

This has been a decades long war for many Afghans. Many Afghans here extremely young population haven't seen peace, frankly, in their lifetimes.

And when you put it down in black-and-white, foreigners versus insurgency, that doesn't really often capture the myriad of different

tribal groups, militant forces out there and their often shifting loyalties.

This country a patchwork of messy animosity at times. And I think many perhaps feel, perhaps a pause for breath now for a first time in over

a decade there is not a substantial foreign force here. In fact, that has instead lead to some people wishing the foreigners would stay longer, that

perhaps the foreigners would allow there to be more training, more resources for the Afghan security forces, but also the money which the

foreign forces brought here that bolstered up, in fact some say was the majority of the Afghan economy for so many years. That's now missing. And

there's a clear, I think, a vacuum of financial resources in this capital, certainly.

So, a very precarious time for this country.

When you hear a blast like that, it simply reminds you of the problems President Ghani faces. He doesn't have a minister of defense at this

stage, so many cabinet posts, so many key regional posts empty in this country, because they've been fighting in his own government his own

officials. He shares his presidency, ostensibly, with the man he fought the election again Abdullah Abdullah who took the role of CEO of

Afghanistan in a government of national unity brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

We are in a very precarious place here in Afghanistan.

And then you throw in one more factor, the fact that ISIS are trying to get their tentacles into society here, it seems. Military capability

slight, but ambition perhaps higher. And when you hear a blast like the one we heard about 15 minutes ago now right here in the center of Kabul it

couldn't be clearer the challenges this country faces ahead and quite what the potential vacuum left after the White House decides to withdraw more

forces could mean for this already fractured beleaguered country -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: Fresh violence, instability, potential greater insecurity. Nick Paton Walsh reporting on the many challenges ahead for Afghanistan

under its president Ashraf Ghani. Many thanks indeed for that, Nick.

Now thousands are paying their last respects to Singapore's founding father. And when we come back, we'll hear what an opposition leader has to

say about his legacy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:13] LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now thousands in Singapore are lining up for hours to pay their last respects to Lee Kuan Yew.

Now the body of the nation's founding father is now lying in state at the Parliament House. And because of the overwhelming turnout, the

government is allowing around the clock access for mourners until the state funeral on Sunday.

Now while Lee was credited with turning a fledgling nation into an economic powerhouse, some have accused him of sacrificing social progress

and human rights along the way. Now earlier I spoke with Singaporean opposition figure Kenneth Jeyaretnam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KENNETH JEYARETNAM, SINGAPOREAN OPPOSITION LEADER: There's this image of Singapore a shining, modern state. And I was pointing out, but in fact

we are backward, or not very innovative in many areas and at the same time, a suppression of civil liberties and freedoms of people that the west take

for granted. And people here, the common misconception is that people here have surrendered their liberty willingly entering into a pact in return for

prosperity. And, you know, that's completely incorrect.

LU STOUT: William Gibson's critical article on Singapore got Wired magazine banned in in Singapore for a period of time. Why did Singapore

under Lee Kuan Yew find it necessary to muzzle the press, especially critical western media.

JEYARETNAM: I think it stemmed from a desire for complete control. You know, he was determined to keep control of Singapore and feared that a

free press might lead to democracy and a change of government.

LU STOUT: Now as an opposition politician, what personal sacrifices have you had to make to campaign for democracy in Singapore.

JEYARETNAM: Well, I haven't been sued for defamation like my father was and bankrupted, but I used to be in the financial sector. And I have

gone without an income now for six years in order to be a democracy advocate and try and work towards change in Singapore.

My family have received death threats from parties unknown saying that if I didn't stop, they would basically terrible things would happen to them

and -- including rape and mutilation of my son and my wife.

And despite reporting to this to the police repeatedly for over two years, nothing seems to -- they seem unable to catch the culprits.

[08:25:10] LU STOUT: And Singapore after Lee Kuan Yew, is the future uncertain?

JEYARETNAM: I think the current prime minister will -- he's already shown that he wants to try and live up to his father's legacy as a strong

man. Longer-term, I think people will feel liberated and feel that they are freer to speak up.

I mean, really, it's a paper tiger. If enough people challenge the regime, or challenge the restrictions on their freedoms, there's really --

you know, I think that authoritarian society will crumble.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was the opposition politician Kenneth Jeyaretnam.

Now experts say that Lee's death may usher in a more consensus-based politics in Singapore.

Now to the United States. The newly announced U.S. presidential candidate who led a crusade against Obamacare will now be signing up for

it. Republican senator Ted Cruz says he will sign up for health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act even though he's promised to

repeal it.

He spoke with our Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You and your family have been getting your health insurance through your wife's job, her company, has been

Goldman Sachs. She has now left that to help you with your campaign. So where are you getting your health insurance now?

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: But senator, for right now the irony is just kind of unbelievable that you have made your name fighting against Obamacare and

you now are going to sign up to get your insurance through that very process Obamacare.

CRUZ: Listen, it was the case before Obamacare that federal employees could get health insurance through their jobs. That's not a new

development. So, yes, I'll get my insurance through my job like millions of other Americans. That's not a shocking.

BASH: Will you take a subsidy from your job, which is the federal government?

CRUZ: We will follow the text of the law. I strongly oppose the exemption that President Obama illegally put in place for members of

congress because Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats didn't want to be under the same rules as the American people.

BASH: That means you are going to take a government subsidy?

CRUZ: I believe we should follow the text of the law.

BASH: The law that you want to repeal.

CRUZ: Yes. No, I believe we should follow the text of every law, even laws I disagree with.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Touche, Dana Bash there.

Now a spokesman for Ted Cruz says that the senator will not take the government contribution to purchase the coverage.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come, leaders from France, Germany and Spain are heading to Germanwings crash area as bad

weather hampers the recovery effort.

And Germanwings releases a list of the countries those on board flight 9525. More on the crash victims and how those nations are mourning next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:54] LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now the recovery effort is underway in the French Alps for Germanwings flight 9525 that crashed on Tuesday. Luftansa, the airlines parent

company, says it will retire that flight number. 150 people were on board the plane. Investigators now have the cockpit voice recorder and are

searching for the second black box.

The airline Germanwings has released a nationality list of those who are onboard the flight. It went down again over the French Alps with 150

people on board. And a short time ago, an official at the school in Germany that lost 16 exchange students and two teachers said what happened

seems inconceivable.

In the coming hours, Italy's supreme court will decide whether to uphold the murder conviction of American Amanda Knox and former boyfriend

Raffaele Sollecito in the 2007 killing of the British student Meredith Kercher. If the court backs the guilty verdict the case would be closed

for good and Knox could face extradition to serve her prison sentence in Italy.

Now a large explosion has rocked central Kabul. Now we don't know at this point what caused that blast, but it comes as Afghanistan's President

Ashraf Ghani prepares to address the U.S. congress a few hours from now. Now he met on Tuesday with President Barack Obama at the White House. And

afterward, Mr. Obama said he would slow the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, keeping nearly 10,000 troops there through 2015,

almost double what was planned.

The German Chancellor, the French President and the Spanish prime minister are to arrive at the crash site area shortly. Now CNN's Erin

McLaughlin is there. She joins us now. And Erin, world leaders, they are due to arrive shortly at the crash site there in the French Alps. This is

happening as we learn more about who was on board the flight. What's the latest?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

That's right, the Germanwings CEO a short while ago gave a press conference. In that press conference, he confirmed that there were two

American citizens on board that doomed flight, bringing the total number of nationalities of 150 passengers to 15.

Meanwhile, recovery efforts are continuing here in France. You see the field behind me really has been a hive of activity all morning,

helicopters flying in and flying out carrying forensic experts as well as investigators.

We understand from local officials that they have managed to reach the crash site that is both extremely remote and extremely grim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN: This morning, thousands of feet up in the French Alps, recovery of the obliterated Germanwings flight 9525 continues. The crash

site a picture of horror, says German foreign minister, wreckage from the plane strewn across nearly 10 acres of rocky terrain. All 150 souls on

board, including 16 schoolchildren and two babies, presumed lost.

A storm front pushing rain and possibly snow into the higher elevations today may hinder recovery efforts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That mountain weather often creates clouds. It's a very challenging situation for the rescuers.

MCLAUGHLIN: Around 10:00 a.m. local time Tuesday, the Airbus 320 was on the ground in Barcelons, its takeoff delayed by nearly 30 minutes. The

company says it was air traffic control issues not the plane itself that delayed departure.

Once in the air around 10:45 a.m. headed towards Dusseldorf, Germany, the plane reached a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet.

Then, suddenly, flight 9525 descended rapidly for eight minutes, the pilots making no distress signal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a controlled descent. It doesn't appear that it was a loss of control in flight. We don't know if there was

problems with their equipment, with their radios.

MCLAUGHLIN: At 6,000 feet, the Germanwings flight loses contact with French radar crashing into the side of this mountain. The flight's cockpit

voice recorder has been recovered, but is damaged according to the French interior ministry who are now reconstructing the elements.

"It's devastating," says the CEO of Germanwings's parent company. "There are very small pieces of debris, which lets you deduce the energy

with which the plane hit the ground."

Now some Germanwings crew are reluctant to fly, horrified after this mysterious crash, the airline forced to cancel a small number of flights.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:35:40] MCLAUGHLIN: And we are still awaiting the arrival of the leaders of Germany, France and Spain. They were expected here some time

this hour. And they are also expected to meet with emergency workers as a show of support as well as a sign of respect for the 150 victims that were

on board that plane -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Erin McLaughlin reporting near the crash site. Many thanks indeed for that.

Now we've told you how two communities in different parts of Europe share a common sense of loss in the wake of this terrible tragedy, a town

near Barcelona, had just hosted 16 German exchange students and two of their teachers who were on flight 9525.

Now CNN's Karl Penhaul is in that Spanish town. He joins us now. And Karl, tell us how this town is mourning the students and the teachers lost

in this crash.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, just imagine this was one of those cultural and language exchange programs that

are so common here in Europe. And it was the second leg of that exchange program that German students had been here for the last week and three

weeks ago Spanish students had been at their hometown in Halton (ph) in Germany.

Imagine at the ages 15, 16 years old, that's when you really forge friendships that last a lifetime, friendships that you can forge rapidly.

And the program for these German students, while they were (inaudible) while they spend a little time in the time in the classroom and they spend

a lot of time traveling around the area getting to know the sites, traveling down to Barcelona, looking at the beautiful beaches in this area,

and also staying with Spanish host families even before they'd arrived here, even before the Spanish and the German students knew one another

directly. They would contact one -- via social media, talk to one another via WhatsApp as well to get to know one another, and then in person got to

know one another as well.

Well, of course those friendships now cut short. And there was commemoration here at this school in the course of the day. It was a

simple and very private event, but it was one in which the students, the parents who had acted as host families and some of the teachers just wanted

to get together and remember a little bit about the victims of that tragedy -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: This is a community in grief and in mourning. Karl Penhaul reporting live for us. Many thanks indeed for that, Karl.

Now you can learn more about the 150 people who were on the plane. They were students. They were teachers, entertainers and architects. You

can also keep track of the latest developments in the investigation. It's all here at CNN.com.

Now seven years after the American Amanda Knox and her Italian boyfriend were charged with murder, the supreme court could finally close

the book on the case. We have a live report from Rome coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:07] LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream.

And we've been bringing you the latest on the crash of Germanwings flight 9525.

But now after a legal saga lasting more than seven years there could finally be a definitive end in the Amanda Knox murder case.

Now Italy's supreme court is expected to rule soon on whether to uphold a murder conviction against Knox in the death of her British

roommate back in 2007.

Now Knox's former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito will also learn his fate.

Joining us is Barbie Nadeau is outside the court. She joins us now live from Rome. And Barbie, could this be the final word on this very

lengthy legal case?

BARBIE NADEAU, JOURNALIST: Yes, it's been almost eight years of agony of Meredith Kercher. To finally have some closure in their daughter and

sister's murder case, we're expecting the court to rule today whether or not to uphold the verdict of both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito or

they could just uphold one of them and send another -- send the other back for a third appellate trial.

The verdict won't come any time soon, though. They're still presenting the case. A prosecutor is now speaking to the five panel judge

-- five judge panel. And they'll just have to start their deliberations.

The defense lawyers each get about 20 minutes to speak and then they'll go into the chambers to determine what to do with this case. It's

been going on in and out of the courts. Of course, they were convicted in 2009, acquitted in 2011. That acquittal was thrown out by the high court

here in Rome in 2013. It was -- a new appeal was brought out and they were reconvicted of the murder. They stand convicted of the murder right now.

And that's what this high court is determining whether or not they will uphold that conviction.

LU STOUT: We're waiting for the ruling. It could go either way. Barbie Nadeau reporting. Many thanks indeed for that.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere, World Sport with Amanda Davies is next.

END