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Debris of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Found?; Families Demand Help Center and Hotline Reopen; Trump Tops New Poll; Malaysia: Debris "Very Likely" from Boeing 777. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 30, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:11] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We begin with what would be the first major break in one of the biggest aviation mysteries in history. Any minute now we could find out if this piece of debris found on a French island near Madagascar in the Indian Ocean is wreckage from that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. That plane which was bound for Beijing vanished without a trace last March with 239 people on board.

This is where the Boeing 777 disappeared. For months authorities have been scouring a search zone off the coast of Australia. But here's where the debris was found. That's more than 2,000 miles away from the primary search area. Malaysia's prime minister, though, says it's still very likely this debris is from the same model as Flight 370. And police are urging island locals to scour the shoreline for more debris.

We're covering all angles of the story with our team of expert but let's begin with Robyn Kriel on Reunion Island where that object was found.

Tell us more.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, police helicopters have been flying up and down the shoreline. And locals, as you said, have been encouraged by police to search for more debris possibly belonging to Boeing 777, possibly the missing MH-370, missing for 500 days, 239 family -- 239 people on board, which means 239 families waiting in very, very tough circumstances over the last few months.

And indeed they may have to wait just a little bit longer because at the moment no one is going on record to confirm or off record to confirm that this is -- that this is the downed plane. We have been here on Reunion Island talking to locals. Here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRIEL (voice-over): A possibly crucial clue and major lead in the 17- month-old mystery of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-370.

WARREN TRUSS, AUSTRALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: This is obviously a very significant development. It's the first real evidence that there's a possibility that a part of the aircraft may have been found.

KRIEL: A piece of debris possibly part of a wing of what appears to be a Boeing 777, the same model as the missing commercial airliner, discovered washed up on a western Indian Ocean beach on the island of Reunion near Madagascar. French and Malaysian authorities dispatching teams to Reunion Island to investigate the debris which washed up more than 2300 miles away from the current search zone off the Australia coast in the southern Indian Ocean.

A group of people happening upon the wreckage during a beach cleanup. This man telling a reporter he saw a wing as he walked closer to the debris. The debris bearing the marking BB670, which could help in the identification process.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: If it is indeed part of 777 then we're pretty clear that it would be then also part of MH-370.

KRIEL: Flight MH-370 vanished without a trace in March of last year with 239 souls on board shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing. The Malaysian government ultimately declaring the missing plane an accident. Everyone on board presumed dead.

Now after almost 500 days of empty leads, this may be the first piece of physical evidence, bringing authorities one step closer to unlocking the mystery of the ill-fated flight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KRIEL: Prime minister of Malaysia, as you said, Carol, has stated that it is very likely that this piece of the debris belongs to the Boeing 777. He's asked for the world to pray for the families, the 239 families who have possibly lost their loved ones.

Carol, also, we understand that the prime minister stated that this piece of debris will be flown to Toulouse, in France to be investigated further by French authorities. Now the French authorities will not -- will not confirm that that is the case.

COSTELLO: All right. Robyn Kriel, reporting live from Reunion Island.

And while the world waits to find out whether that debris is from Flight 370, families of the victims remain skeptical. A group of Chinese families released this statement, quote, "We do not want to hear guarantees of 99 percent likelihood from certain authorities. We need confirmation of 100 percent certainty."

Those families are now demanding officials reopen the Family Information Center and hotline that has since been shut down.

Let's bring in CNN's Will Ripley. He's live this morning in Beijing with more.

Hi, Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. As hard as it may be for some folks to believe, 500 days on, there are still a number of people, perhaps the majority of the relatives of the -- certainly the more than 150 Chinese who were on Flight 370 here, they still are holding onto hope that their loved ones are alive. This has been an agonizing almost 17 months for them.

[09:05:04] And as you mentioned the information center, that was shut down more than a year ago. The help hotline, that's been shut down. And so for one wife of one of the passengers who we spoke to, she said her heart is tortured right now. This has brought her back to early March of last year. But there's no support network, there are no psychologists. They're not with the other family members. They're having to cope with this on their own.

And they're also having to deal with the fact that they still, because they don't have any what they believe tangible evidence, they still think there is hope that their loved ones are alive.

Listen to Sarah Bajc whose partner Philip Wood was on the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH BAJC, PARTNER WAS ON FLIGHT 370: If ultimately this is a piece of the wing, then that little thread of hope that I've been holding on to will have to break. And reality will have to take over. But yes, up until now, I and most of the family members have continued to believe that until we have a body, we can't give up hoping that they'll still come back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Some of these families so shaken up that it's difficult for them to speak about it. Even now, even after more than a year has passed.

Chiquita Gonzalez, the wife of the flight supervisor Patrick Gomez, said, quote, "I'm torn. If it's confirmed to have come from 370, there will be some closure for us, but I am also hoping it's not the plane, that Patrick is still alive."

Carol, clearly these families need support. Support and information that they feel they are not getting through official channels right now.

COSTELLO: What about the investigation itself? Has there been any progress at all?

RIPLEY: Yes. We remember the criminal investigation was launched shortly after Flight 370 disappeared. And the investigators went and they checked the background of all 239 people. There was and still has a lot of speculation about the pilot, about the co-pilot. And yet in everything that they studied, and the evidence that they analyzed, they haven't found any indication of a motive for why somebody would intentionally do something to harm this plane.

So the reality is, until the flight data recorders, those black boxes are found, even if this wing is from Flight 370, families still won't know what happened because searches still don't know where the plane is. And because that wing could have washed so far away from the crash site, they could still be years or even longer away from getting answers. It is truly an agonizing situation, Carol.

COSTELLO: Boy, you're not kidding.

Will Ripley reporting live from Beijing this morning. Thank you.

So let's talk a little bit more about the investigation. Malaysia's prime minister said in a statement that the plane debris will soon be on its way to Toulouse, France, where it will be met by teams of both French and Malaysian investigators.

So let's talk about this. And also, this piece of debris that could be from the plane, I'm joined by CNN aviation analyst and PBS science correspondent Miles O'Brien and CNN aviation correspondent Mary Schiavo. She's also -- Mary is also the former inspector general for the Department of Transportation.

Welcome to you, both.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Thank you.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

Mary, this piece of the plane appears to be a flaperon that appears to be missing its trailing edge. Can you get into that for me? What exactly is a flaperon? Where is it on the plane? What does it do?

SCHIAVO: Well, in some ways you can think of a flap or a flaperon, slight different variation as an extension of the wing. And you use them really for that purpose. You make the wing's shape change just a little bit on landing and takeoff in a different parts of the flight because you want to give the plane more lift. And a flap does that. And the flaperon also helps turn the plane like an aileron. So it has two functions. And -- but, you know, basically it's a rudimentary part of the plane that it helps with the lift and landing. And you have to set it at certain setting, and then it can help you change the direction.

COSTELLO: And if you're a passenger on board the plane and you're sitting over the wing you can actually see that piece of the plane move, right?

SCHIAVO: Absolutely. It would be the part of the plane on the wing, right, next to the fuselage, and if you're sitting at the window you could look out and you could see it move up and down.

COSTELLO: So, Miles, this is not a heavy part of the plane. I mean, it's not heavy, right? It's light. Are you surprised that this is what washed up?

O'BRIEN: No, I'm not surprised based on, you know, whether it's light or not. Certainly it's got enough air inside of it and it's all a matter of displacement. I mean, after all an aircraft carrier will float. So -- but it is a light piece. Everything on an airplane is designed to be as light as possible. What's interesting about this is why this piece? You know, Mary hit on the two key functions. It either causes the plane to turn and bank or it's designed to slow it down. To put it into configuration for landing.

If it was deployed for landing on impact to the water it would break off as we've seen. So either the plane was turning somehow or it was configured for slow flight which would imply a human being was doing that and configuring the plane to ditch. So it's an interesting thing to think about, maybe they'll be able to determine some things by looking at how the metal failed.

COSTELLO: Yes. And I want to get more into that and put it in blunter terms. Some analysts say that, you know, because there were no signs of life jackets or luggage and this particular piece of a plane showed up, that proves the plane was deliberately flown into the ocean to minimize the breakup of the plane.

Mary, do you agree?

SCHIAVO: No. Because this plane is different from older kinds of planes. When the 777 was designed, it was designed to be entirely new. In fact, computers designed it. And many things on this plane are not like any other planes. And one thing that this plane could do and the newer Airbus model do, too, the Dreamliner, this 787 does it, and that is, that this plane was designed to try to save itself. So even if there -- if everyone on board was incapacitated, the plane would try at various distance or components were spooling down or lost the plane would fight to stay straight and level, would fight to maintain its fliability.

And if it was losing air speed, to put its nose down. But the plane would try to save itself. So while, you know, the easiest explanation would be to say yes, somebody put the flaps down. I mean, the flap around down. Not necessarily so on these advanced fly-by-wire planes.

COSTELLO: OK. I want to talk about the barnacles, Miles, because of these little crustaceans that attach themselves to this plane part. And the barnacles are only on the edges. Why is that?

O'BRIEN: Well, I'm not a barnacle expert.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Carol, but it seems to me, just as a layperson who's spent a little bit of time around boats, that the amount of crustaceans on this particular surface pretty much match the amount of time in the water and the amount it would be moving. The key with these crustaceans is if it's sitting still. And presumably it's been moving probably about four miles a day on average. And so I'm just doing, you know, lay person's wild guess, it seems like that's what you would expect to see after about 15 months.

COSTELLO: Yes. And just a final question about the barnacles because for some reason this part of the story fascinates me, Mary. There are different kinds of barnacles, different kinds of these little crustaceans. And that could be a vital clue for investigators, right?

SCHIAVO: There are over a thousand species of barnacles. And then some of them rely on currents. Some of them like these that are called gooseneck barnacles, they actually have the ability to sort of collect things from the water that gives them nutrients. So that's going to be a huge item for people to look at. The Australians already said that they are the ones tasked with looking at that.

No one will even be looking at sands particles in there but unfortunately since it's traveled a long distance we won't know where precisely in its journey the barnacles attached.

COSTELLO: All right. Mary Schiavo, Miles O'Brien, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

We want to get your questions about this latest development and search so tweet us your questions using the #mh370qs. That's #mh370qs.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump might be topping a new poll but he's not exactly winning over one group of very important voters.

What would that mean for the Donald? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:26] COSTELLO: Donald Trump's "I am who I am" strategy continues to work like a charm. A new Quinnipiac poll is out and guessed it. Trump is sitting pretty atop the vast Republican field. There he is. He's at 20 percent. He's followed not by Jeb Bush but by Scott Walker at 13 percent.

But, Trump just might have a woman problem, 37 percent of Republican women say they would never vote for Mr. Trump. Perhaps his tone is not resonating with them.

Listen to how Trump fought back against a lawyer who says Mr. Trump called her disgusting for needing to use a breast pump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: She's a vicious, horrible person.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People are looking at that and they're thinking OK, if he blows up at a lawyer in a deposition --

TRUMP: I didn't blow up.

BASH: -- negotiating, what would he do if Vladimir Putin challenged you?

TRUMP: Excuse me. Oh, believe me, he'd be -- I do very well with him. I get along with people.

I didn't blow up at a deposition. I don't blow up. I'm a person that knows exactly --

BASH: So she's wrong. That didn't happen?

TRUMP: Of course, she made it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So, now, let's do something noble, and focus on substance. The debate is a few days away. Dana Bash did a fantastic job pushing Trump on how he would fix health care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Health care, in this book, you at the time said you were very conservative on most issues but liberal on health care.

You advocated a single-payer system, sort of Canadian-style universe health care.

What's your position now on health care?

TRUMP: Well, at the time -- and I will say this -- at the time, we were having not the kind of difficulty that we're having now with Obamacare. Obamacare is number one and maybe least importantly is costing the country a fortune.

It's also a very bad form of -- it's very bad. People are losing their plans. They're losing their doctors.

Doctors -- you know, one of the biggest problems that nobody talks about, doctors are all leaving. They're leaving the profession.

BASH: Do you think the answer still is a single-payer system?

TRUMP: No, I think the answer is going to be we have to knock down the borders and let people compete, and then we do. Now, we're may be different than other people. I want to take care of everybody. You know, you have a group of people who aren't able to take care of themselves.

BASH: How do you do that?

TRUMP: You can't imagine -- we're going to have to work out some kind of a deal with hospitals where they can get some help, when they are sick, when they have no money and they're sick.

And you know what? If a Republican, or if a conservative, and I'm a very conservative person, but if a conservative doesn't like the fact that I have to want to take care of somebody that if they're really sick and they have no money, I want to help the person --

BASH: How do you do that, though?

TRUMP: We're going to have to work out some kind of a very smart deal with hospitals around the country.

BASH: So, you're in the Oval Office.

[09:20:00] You're saying Obamacare --

TRUMP: It's got to go.

BASH: It's got to go.

TRUMP: Repeal and replace with something terrific.

BASH: And the terrific is --

TRUMP: The terrific will be plans. It can be done by private companies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So, let's talk about this. I want to bring in Dana Bash and CNN Politics senior digital correspondent Chris Moody.

Good morning to you both.

So, Dana, as I was listening to Trump explain how he would change health care, I guess the bottom line for me is he just said, I'd come up with some terrific plan, but he doesn't know what the terrific plan is at the moment.

BASH: But it would be terrific, absolutely terrific. And heard there, I said, well, what is that terrific plan.

Yes. It seems as though this is kind of policy on the fly. It's evolving. Just kind of trying to translate what I think he was trying to say is that he now supports Republican concept of making it easier to buy insurance across state borders, which have been a long time idea among Republicans.

But the fact that he's gone now, he's there now and he started off, as I mentioned, 15 years ago, when he was considering a run for the reform party presidential ticket, talking about a singer payer universal health care system is just a complete 180. It's kind of remarkable.

COSTELLO: So, Chris, what I wonder, the debate is only a few days away now, right? Shouldn't he have a solid plan so he could present it on that stage as the leading Republican candidate?

CHRIS MOODY, CNN POLITICS SENIOR DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's good for Trump here is there's going to be 10 people on that stage and it only allows people to have an opportunity to talk in sound bites. And that's something he's exceptional at doing. It's kind of hard to flesh out a detailed policy plan when you have to share the stage with so many people.

Now, you had mentioned a couple of things about the poll and how it shows and the short term that it looks pretty good for Donald Trump. He's definitely going to be on that stage. But as you mentioned with women he's not very popular. Also, 30 percent of Republicans said they wouldn't vote for him.

And if Donald Trump got the general nomination, that poll also shows he would lose to Hillary Clinton, he would lose to Joe Biden, he would even lose to Bernie Sanders.

So, I think Republicans are looking at that and a little bit worried and if this thing keeps going, it could spell real trouble for the GOP.

COSTELLO: I was actually most intrigued by that number, that 37 percent of Republican women would never vote for Donald Trump. He's got to be concerned about that, Dana.

BASH: He absolutely is. There's no question. I mean, he should be -- 37 percent of Republican women and when you look at the broader electorate if he were to get the Republican nomination and presumably he would be running against a female Democratic candidate, it's just unbelievably bad. I believe it's something like two-thirds of women say not a chance.

And, you know, when he has the kind of conversation he had with me yesterday about a women wanting to allegedly pump because she was breast-feeding, it doesn't necessarily help him. Now, in his defense, he argues that it's a he said/she said thing, that she wanted to do something that was completely inappropriate. She says, no, no, I wanted a break and he was --

COSTELLO: It's hard to believe she would actually want to do that in front of a group of men.

BASH: Listen, as a -- I have --

COSTELLO: Pumped, I mean, actually pumped.

BASH: Anybody who that is done that -- and I have -- it is not something you want to do in front of anybody, for sure. Believe me.

But I think the broader point is that he -- look, he appeals to men. He appeals at this point to a very specific sector of men in the Republican electorate, those who have traditionally helped Republicans get elected. But as we saw back in 2012, you can't rely on those kind of voters anymore. You have to broaden out your base.

COSTELLO: That's right. Thank you so much, Dana Bash, Chris Moody. I appreciate it.

BASH: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: what happened to Flight 370? Our expert panel is answering your questions, plus a live report on the investigation from Kuala Lumpur, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:05] COSTELLO: A major lead in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, as we wait to hear whether or not a piece of plane debris belongs to that missing jet, a police helicopter is flying above the shoreline of Reunion Island. Well, officials are encouraging locals to scour the beaches for more debris.

In the meantime, the plane debris that reignited the search will soon be on its way to a France investigative site in the south of France. There, it will be meet by teams from both France and Malaysia. France, of course, owns the island where the debris was found. And Malaysia is where MH370 departed from.

Let's head to Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur now where CNN international correspondent Kristie Lu Stout is following the investigation.

Is there any update at all, Kristie?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is. And we've been getting updates all day from the Malaysian prime minister office. And even though that they are looking into the matter, in fact they're on route there to Toulouse to investigate what was discovered, they're also exercising caution, saying it's too early to speculate at this point.

This is what we know. As you put it, Carol, this is a major development, this is a breakthrough in the search for MH370. On Wednesday, we know that a piece of debris was found on Reunion Island. It seemed to be consistent with the Boeing 777. MH370 was Malaysian authorities are on route to Toulouse, where the debris is, according to them located now. French authorities are looking at the debris and studying at the moment.

A second team from Malaysia will be sent to Reunion Island tomorrow. If this is confirmed, Carol, this will be the first time physical evidence of this plane has been uncovered since it went missing in March of 2014. Even if it's verified, though, there are still a number of questions that need to be asked, what happened to the plane and the whereabouts of all the 239 passengers on board. And that is providing little piece of mind to all the families and relatives of the missing passengers.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Kristie Lu Stout, reporting live from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this morning.