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NEW DAY SUNDAY

Latest on Saudi Air Strikes on Yemen; African-Americans Running for City Council in Ferguson, Missouri; Germanwings Crash Investigators Leave Crash Site. Aired 6:30-7:00a ET.

Aired April 5, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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


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[06:32:48]

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We got some breaking news coming into CNN. We are learning that one of the four gunmen in the terrorist massacre at a university in northeastern Kenya was the son of a Kenyan government official.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Kenya's interior ministry says the shooter has been identified as Abdurahim Abdullahi (ph). The bodies of the gunmen were paraded through the streets this weekend. 147 people, and we have said that number a few days now, and it's still startling.

PAUL: Really is.

BLACKWELL: 147 people were killed when al Shabab militants attacked Garissa University College on Monday. We will have more in a live report at the top of the hour.

The Red Cross now moving on to Yemen is reporting the city streets there are, quote, strewn with dead bodies.

PAUL: The humanitarian organization is now calling for an immediate 24-hour cease-fire, saying people injured in air strikes and ground battles need treatment within hours, not days. The fighting has taken more than 500 lives the last two weeks.

BLACKWELL: The effect of the chaos has even reached the United States with this week's death of a U.S. citizen killed in the conflict. We'll have more on that in a moment.

PAUL: First, CNN international correspondent Nic Robertson has the latest on the new Saudi air strikes targeting the battle-torn nation.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are close to the Yemen border here, and you can hear Saudi aircraft flying over occasionally. Those strikes have continued in Yemen, targeting Houthi strongholds, that is what Saudi officials say they are doing. The most intense fighting seems to be around the town of Aden. By most accounts, the Houthi there are losing ground. Saudi special forces, noncombat special forces in there, helping to bring in communications equipment and weapons and trying to organize the sort of southern separatists there to counter the Houthis' efforts to gain control of that town.

But this is what's causing a great deal of concern for the International Committee for the Red Cross. They are calling for a pause, a humanitarian pause, if only, they say, so that the people of Aden, who are really experiencing perhaps the worst of the fight, can get out of their homes for a while, get some food, get some water. But the Red Cross are also saying they have got a plane on standby with 48 tons of medical equipment ready to fly in. They say that could help between 2,000 to 3,000 people with medical supplies for a number of days. They say they are concerned about the lack of medical supplies and equipment that are getting to the various hospitals in the country.

[06:35:06]

They say civilians are suffering. So far, the U.N. says more than 500 people have been killed, more than 1700 injured.

So this is really adding to the humanitarian concern and costs of what is happening inside Yemen at the moment, and, of course, on top of that, a senior al Qaeda leader broken from jail appears to turn up, if you will, inside a presidential palace in the town where he was sprung from jail. Halad Al-Batafi (ph) there. Someone who was put in jail about four or five years ago by the Yemeni government because of his leadership role in al Qaeda now out on the streets. The concern is al Qaeda will take advantage of the deteriorating security situation to extend their control inside Yemen, to reconstruct training camps that the government had already demolished and destroyed and taken down, so the real concern is now that in this chaos, people are suffering, humanitarian pause required, and al Qaeda taking advantage as well. Nic Robertson, CNN, Jazan (ph), Saudi Arabia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And one of the 500 plus people killed in Yemen was a U.S. citizen Jamal al-Labbani (ph). His cousin told CNN affiliate KPIX that al-Labbani left for Yemen two months ago to see his 2-and-a-half- year-old daughter and wife who is pregnant. He wanted to bring them back home to California. He was killed by a rebel mortar attack on Tuesday after leaving a mosque. His nephew also died in that attack.

BLACKWELL: We got CNN military analyst, Major General James "Spider" Marks to talk about this. Major General, in the context of the death of Jamal al-Labbani, we've got the U.S. embassy that has been evacuated that special forces have been pulled out, but there are some Americans who are still there. How does the U.S., if it chooses to, pull those Americans out, extract them with being dragged into the chaos there in Yemen?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Victor, these are American citizens who can make a choice. Clearly, the State Department has indicated that Yemen has travel advisories, it's unsafe, the embassy is no longer functioning, the U.S. representation in Yemen is elsewhere now, which means we still have a relationship with the country, albeit the country is now in what I would describe as a formal chaos and it needs to be reclaimed and reestablished.

Sadly, what happens is U.S. citizens that are in Yemen that haven't abided by those proclamations and those declarations to get out on their own are now at a degree of risk as you can see. The U.S. clearly wants to protect its citizens wherever they are in the world, but the citizens have to step up and take some responsibility for themselves. This is the sad factor we are looking at right now in Yemen.

BLACKWELL: You and other military analysts we have had on the program have said consistently there is no military solution to this problem in Yemen, that there has to be a political solution. But there was, according to a diplomat, this draft resolution submitted yesterday by Russia during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council that, according to the diplomat, did not call for an end to the fighting, nor did it call for political talks. So how far are we now reasonably and realistically from starting those political conversations to end this?

MARKS: Probably at point zero. The fact that Russia is now involved clearly out of their scope of influence, and to be engaged in any kind of a conversation that does not have a start point that says let's establish some degree of security and a cease-fire. Some semblance of a reduction in the hostility so that we can have some parties come together.

Now the key point, at that starting position, is who are the key parties? Clearly, those have to be identified, and there are so many claimants in terms of what is taking place in Yemen. Saudi Arabia and Egypt and some of its partners in the region have stepped up and said, enough, we can't have this type of incredible chaos. They haven't put troops across the border, don't know that's going to take place. They certainly have the capability. The Saudi national guard is incredibly capable. But what you have is this immense collapse right there. And when you look at the geography, Yemen is across the Babil Mendeb (ph) straits, where a whole host of the world's shipping oil lanes are right there, and the United States still has a presence in the Horn of Africa right there.

So if you have this terrorist organization that now completely creates chaos in Yemen and you have the beginning of the retraining of more forms of terrorist organizations, camps that can be created in Yemen, this is no longer an internal Yemeni problem. This is not the civil war that is taking place over the course of many decades. This is a war by proxy and a war where the United States and regional partners clearly have got to step up. There is no military solution exclusively, but it starts with some form of a cease-fire and a military effort to halt what is taking place right now.

[06:40:07]

BLACKWELL: Yes. Maybe the humanitarian call for a cease-fire from the Red Cross can begin that. We saw --

MARKS: You know -- BLACKWELL: We saw that call in Gaza, we saw that call in the Crimea

region. Even when feuding factions can't stop, it can at some point stop for humanitarian reasons. Major General, than you so much, we want talk to you next hour about what is going on in Iraq, so stay with us.

MARKS: Thanks, Victor.

PAUL: Just last week, a road to the Germanwings crash site was built so investigators could get into the treacherous Alps, but now investigators have already packed up and left the site. What is next for the investigation?

Plus, turning anger into action. The residents of Ferguson, Missouri, have a chance to change the face of their city council, but major challenges still lie ahead.

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BLACKWELL: This is a chance to turn anger and frustration and disapproval into change. For the first time since the death of Michael Brown galvanized the city and the country nearly eight months ago, residents of Ferguson, Missouri, will head to the polls to elect new members of the city council.

PAUL: But one of the biggest challenges may be getting voters to cast their ballots. Kyung Lah has the story.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The calls to change Ferguson have begun at the grassroots level all the way to the Department of Justice, and those changes have been slowly coming. This Tuesday another real change in changing Ferguson, this time at its local government.

WESLEY BELL, CANDIDATE FOR CITY COUNCIL: My name is Wesley Bell. I'm running for city council.

LAH: Candidate Wesley Bell is part of a sea change in Ferguson, the first large group of African-Americans running for city government.

[06:45:04]

A council that has traditionally been white, just like the police department, while the city is mostly black. This election, three of the council's six seats are vacant, and, for the first time in its history, Ferguson could see half its city government represented by African-Americans.

BELL: You got to fold up or show up, and if you're going to be a part of the solution, you got to put your foot out there and do it. Right now we are in ward three in Ferguson. This is the ward where the tragedy occurred.

LAH: The tragedy less than a mile away where Ferguson police officer shot Michael Brown. BELL: If you're not in office, you're you're limited in what you can

do and I just felt helpless.

LAH: So did Adrienne Hawkins.

ADRIENNE HAWKINS, CANDIDATE FOR CITY COUNCIL: I watched the buildings burn from my house.

LAH: Hawkins has no political past, but her resume is thick with a life lived in Ferguson and as a single working mother to 20-year-old twins.

HAWKINS: The thought of my child not returning home because he is black and walking down the street was something that I couldn't even fathom. As I listen to the sounds of war and I was, like, somebody has to do something.

LAH: Months after violent protests, the scars still litter West Florison (ph) Avenue. This simple city council election, the next step in the long road to Ferguson's recovery. This time from the inside out, candidate Bob Hudgins, who protested on the city streets now wants to represent them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the guy.

LAH: Part of his message, he's not what he looks like. Once married to a black woman, father to a biracial child. So you're out here courting the black vote?

BOB HUDGINS, FERGUSON CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE: Yes, I am, as hard as I can. That's most of the voters.

LAH: Has change arrived for the average person in Ferguson? The last city election saw less than 13 percent turnout.

Did you vote in the last city election?

DOMINIC TOBIAS, VOTER: The last city election? No, I didn't vote in the last city election, but this time I will.

LAH: Perhaps a sign for things to come in Ferguson's future. No matter who wins, the demographics will absolutely change. One of the seats being vacated only has African-American candidates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Of course, we will continue to follow that story throughout the coming week.

Another story we will be following closely, the investigation into the Germanwings crash. It's been about two weeks since that plane crashed in the Alps, but investigators have now left that crash site. What is next in the investigation? We will go live to Germany next.

Also coming up at the top of the hour on this Easter Sunday, the pope sends a strong message to the world. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): Peace above all for beloved Syria and Iraq. That the roar of arms may cease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:51:26]

BLACKWELL: The investigation into the crash of Germanwings flight 9525 is now moving forward. French police say they have gathered all of the main evidence from the crash site in the Alps and all of the investigators have left. And now a private security firm is standing guard. Initial tests on the flight data recorder revealed troubled copilot Andreas Lubitz purposefully sped up the plane's descent into the mountains on March 24, and as we know, killed all 150 people on board. Will Ripley is in Dusseldorf. Good morning.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor, and there is just out, brand new this morning, a scathing new report from the European Union. A EU commission tells CNN that they warned Germany's air safety oversight office almost four years ago that chronic understaffing could lead to problems with getting all members of flight crews for airlines in this country, those flight crews medically checked out. Now, it's not clear if this is a factor in this case, because as CNN reported last week, Andreas Lubitz did receive and pass his medical exam last summer, and that medical exam included a short psychological questionnaire.

Nonetheless, every aspect of this investigation and what led up to it is being scrutinized right now, including government oversight of pilots, and checking them out and making sure they are okay to go into the cockpit.

On Tuesday, a task force will begin work here in Germany, and that task force's job will be to pick apart every aspect of this investigation, from the crash itself to Andreas Lubitz and how he was checked out in the years and months and weeks before this crash that allowed him to get in the cockpit and fly that plane with 149 innocent people into the side of a mountain in the French Alps. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Will Ripley for us in Dusseldorf. Will, thanks so much.

PAUL: Let's bring in CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo. She works for a law firm that represents victims and families after airplane disasters. Good morning, Mary.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: What do you think? How unusual is it that investigators have left the scene and it's barely two weeks after the crash?

SCHIAVO: Well, it's unusual in that ordinarily, they are looking for the cause of the crash, and many times in these accident investigates or in this case intentional crash investigations, you have to get so much more of the aircraft because you have to piece it together. It's pretty typical when you're looking for the cause to do an accident or plane crash reconstruction, and for that you literally pick up every piece that you possibly can. But here, since they know the cause and it's probably a good thing I think they are getting on with the investigation and they are going to issue the recommendations, because it's those recommendations that the European aviation safety agency, the oversight body for Europe's aviation, can make recommendations and get nations to comply. And, apparently, Germany, as the piece before from the reporter before showed, Germany had not been in compliance for sometime. So getting those recommendations out and getting these safety loopholes closed is really important so it doesn't happen again.

PAUL: So we are now learning that European Union officials formally told Berlin to fix longstanding problems with airline oversight, including understaffing. Do you think this could have helped to prevent a deliberate crash?

SCHIAVO: The EASA, the European Aviation Safety Agency, the oversight body, kind of like our Federal Aviation Administration, their rules on psychiatric and psychological disorders require the airline to monitor, even if the pilot said that he was okay or she was okay.

[06:55:06]

They have to monitor and continuously check if there has ever been such an episode. I think that had they followed the rules and had they enforced them -- and, you know, frankly there needed to be better oversight also from the EASA that, indeed, this very well might have been prevented.

PAUL: And as this investigation continues, obviously, devastating for the families. More than 2,000 DNA samples were collected from the crash site. How long does it typically take to match all of those?

SCHIAVO: Well, what they usually do is they match all of the specimens. They say they had about 2,000. They isolated -- they know what 150 DNA pieces or profiles they are looking for. Now they have to match up those samples.

So when they return the human remains to the families, they only have to do it once, because in previous crashes that I've worked on, in many cases, families get one, two, three, multiple times they have to receive remains of their loved ones, and that is very, very devastating on the family, so it's best to finish it and identify all of the remains and then return them respectfully to the families in groups. And at that crash site, of course, that will remain for the families forever, a site of remembrance.

PAUL: Aviation analyst Mary Schiavo, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: We got breaking developments coming out of Kenya. Officials have I.D.'d one of the gunmen in the deadly terror attack in that university on Thursday. We will tell you about the government connection here. And this is all happening as survivors tearfully reunite with their families on this Easter weekend, others mourning some of the dead. We will take you live to Kenya for the new developments at the top of the hour.

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