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Search for EgyptAir 804 Continues; Egyptian Aviation Minister Says Possibly Terrorism; US Presidential Candidates Talk about Flight 804. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 20, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- to Kuwait.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): She was a newlywed who got married six or seven months ago. I asked God for the flight to be hijacked or something like that instead of what we've been told. We have hope.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: You have been watching CNN's breaking news coverage. I'm John Vause.

ISHA SESAY, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW CO-HOST: And I'm Isha Sesay. Our special coverage continues with Natalie Allen and George Howell.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Thanks to you both. Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. We are live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: And I'm George Howell.

We continue to follow the breaking news of the disappearance of EgyptAir flight 804.

ALLEN: It is 9 a.m. in Paris and Cairo and 10 a.m. in Greece. Searchers in the Mediterranean are in their second day of hunting for any sign of the EgyptAir jet missing now for more than 30 hours.

A short time ago, Greece announced it was pulling back its ships from the search area but it is offering air support in the search. Crews thought they found wreckage on Thursday, but it turns out it was not debris from the plane.

HOWELL: Air traffic control lost contact with this Airbus A320 early Thursday morning as it left Greek airspace on its way to Cairo. The puzzling part of all of this is for aviation experts ease that the plane was cruising at 37,000 feet, a very safe part of the flight before it then dropped from radar.

ALLEN: The Greek defense minister says the jet swerved out of control before plunging to 10,000 feet. We're still waiting to learn more about the 66 people on board as families, of course, cling to hope for their loved ones. HOWELL: There's so many questions this hour. Fifteen of the people on

board were French citizens, and given that the plane took off from Paris, France is also part of this investigation.

ALLEN: Within the past hour the country's foreign minister said there is no indication as to what led to the flight's disappearance. He also said security is tight at Charles de Gaulle airport, especially so after the Paris attacks in January and November of last year.

CNN is covering this from all angles. Our team of correspondents, producers, and experts around the world are all part of our programming. We're live in France, Greece, and Egypt this hour.

HOWELL: That includes the anchor of Connect the World, our Becky Anderson who is live at Cairo's International Airport, and Max Foster live in Paris at Charles de Gaulle airport where we begin with you, Max, this hour.

So, there are two working theories. One, terrorism or mechanical failure. The first suspected more by Egyptian officials than the latter. The French foreign minister though, says to the contrary, though, there is absolutely no indication of causes at this point. So, what more are you hearing in Paris?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's just inevitably people are asking questions about whether or not the plane was sabotaged in some way here as it sat at Charles de Gaulle airport. Because there's a security clearance as it came in.

So, everyone is assuming it was clear when it came in but maybe it was compromised somehow by ground staff, air crews or passengers. They are at least looking at those lines of investigation.

But the point the French foreign minister is making is that terrorism isn't the only line of investigation. This is what he said in the last couple of hours to France too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN-MARC AYRAULT, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER (TRANSLATED): I think we must be careful at this stage. Twice I spoke to my counterpart Mr. Shukri yesterday; he did not say that means that we have to speak in complete transparency to react. There's a total cooperation between Egypt and France.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: So, George, the point he was really making is that security is so tight here, couldn't be any tighter. It's been ramped up every time there's been a Paris attack, we have of them in the last couple of years.

But also the Brussels attacks this year and looking ahead to 2016, George, Euro 2016, the football championships, so it's been ramped up again. So, people find it extraordinary of all airports, a device could get on a plane here. HOWELL: Max, if the Egyptians are on to something, if terrorism is,

indeed a factor here, you bring this up, but that issue of security at the airport. Walk us through what an investigation would look like looking into the pilot, looking into the crew members, and looking into the people who had access, who had access to that plane.

FOSTER: Well, it's really looking at that human link, isn't it? Because that's where the weaknesses often are. If you finding that weak link, you need to look at the humans involved. So, it does very much depends on looking at the background checks of any people involved who could have had vaguely had any contact with that aircraft.

[03:05:01] I'm joined by Thierry Arnaud, he is from our affiliate of BFN here in France. Thierry, just explain to me what you're hearing from what the authorities in terms of the line of investigation that is terror-related as opposed to mechanical or any other reasons that could have caused this aircraft to come down.

THIERRY ARNAUD, BFN TV CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, you will have noticed and it is very striking how careful French authorities have been so far in their choice of words, whether it would be the foreign minister, we have him a few minutes ago, or the French President, Francois Hollande yesterday.

They are indeed not ruling anything out. But they are being very careful with what they say. And the French President, indeed, has made it clear that he would not speak again until he had very solid information as to whether this is, indeed, a terrorist attack or not.

And clearly if it was, it would be devastating. As you have pointed out, as far as the investigation is concerned, it will look at anything and everything that will have to do with this plane.

What happened from the moment it got to Paris? Who had access to it? And of course, you have said and this is quite right that after the terror attacks in France in January and November of this past year, also after the bombing of a terminal at Brussels airport back in March, security measures at the French airports have been considerably tightened.

And it would be devastating to find out that even after all those precautions, it could still be possible to bring a bomb on board an airport in one of the Paris airports.

FOSTER: In terms of that investigation and whether or not a device could have got on the aircraft, obviously the authorities have to act very quickly if they suspect there is something like that may have happened.

Because if there are suspects out there, they need to be chasing them as we speak and trying to locate them before they go too far. So, why aren't we hearing more about the police operations in relation to that line of investigation?

ARNAUD: Because they're being very cautious as to what they are going to do and they don't want to make what they're doing public. It is a very critical time, as you know, Max, for many reasons here in France.

It is still the absolute conviction of French authorities that France is still the number one target of the Islamic state and, indeed the head of French intelligence has repeated that just a couple of days ago.

Furthermore, as you alluded to, there is this big European soccer championship that is actually starting in France. Three weeks ago from today. So that's very close. And what that means is that one million foreign visitors are going to come to France on this occasion. Including many of those of course through the airports.

There will be games in many stadiums in 10 different French cities, there will be so-called fan zones, a big fan zone in Egypt, those 10 cities in which thousands of people will be gathering in front of large screens with foods and entertainment and all of that.

All of those things are major security concerns. And they're working very hard to make sure that if it is a terrorist attack, first, they can establish that it is so they can catch these guys as quickly as possible.

And also, they can learn from that and take any additional precautions they can take before this big public event takes place. They are very, very concerned about that.

FOSTER: OK. Thierry Arnaud from BFM. Thank you very much, indeed. I appreciate your time. So, George and Natalie, it's very sad that the French have become pretty experts at handling terror investigations. So, as we heard there, they're looking at those lines of investigation but not revealing anything just yet on that.

HOWELL: Not ruling anything out, but at the same time, as your guest alluded to, if they are looking into security and looking into the possibility of terrorism, perhaps they're doing it quietly and in the background.

Max Foster, thank you so much. We'll stay in touch with you.

ALLEN: Let's cross over to Cairo now. And CNN's Becky Anderson is covering the story from there for us. I guess it's just after 9 o'clock there, Becky, few hours of daylight, the search has been going on now. Who all is involved in the search now? And is there any word of any breakthrough whatsoever?

BECKY ANDERSON, CONNECT THE WORLD ANCHOR: A couple of significant developments, I think. Let's just consider that in a statement by the Egyptian President Sisi yesterday, he demanded that the search be intensified. And that all assets be thrown at it including on Egypt's part, the Civil Aviation Authority and the Air Force and the Navy.

[03:10:02] This has been very much sort of full international effort, the Greeks being involved, the Brits, the French, in fact a number of French officials have arrived here early this morning to take part in the investigation. The Cypriots and the Italians also involved. But a significant

development earlier on this morning. The Greek authorities have said that they pulled the frigate from the area from where the search is going on, their frigate.

They say that as far as the coast guard is concerned they aren't any longer involved. They say the search area, which is 230 kilometers southeast of Crete, is too far, they say, for the coast guard to act. They do, though, say that they have a C-130 involved and they have other aircraft stationed in Crete that could be involved in this search and rescue effort.

And let's remember, this is still a still a search and rescue effort for the relatives of those 66 people on board flight 804, that is important. Many of them were gathered here yesterday, very difficult for these relatives, there was much confusion, and many more questions than answers yesterday.

And those continue o course since this flight disappeared en route from Charles de Gaulle to Cairo on Thursday with these 66 people on board. Now we do know that the Egyptians have been prepared, and quite quickly, has to be said to suggest that this is terrorism rather than a technical fault.

To that end, you will get experts suggesting that in an effort to avoid being accused of a lack of transparency, that was levied on the Egyptians when the Metrojet went down from Sharm el-sheikh back in November, much talk that there was very little information given out. And in the end it was only some six months later that the Egyptian authorities admitted to what they knew.

There seems to have been an effort to a certain extent to almost get ahead of the information that's been coming out in this. And that has caused some discrepancies, not least when the EgyptAir vice chair said yesterday that debris had been found.

That was information from the Greeks. It appears to have been errant and he had to come back out and say that he was standing down on that. He stood corrected, he said.

Well, H.A. Hellyer, who was a regular guest on this show, an expert from the Atlantic Council Committee Division joining us now. And, H.A., what do you make of the way that the Egyptian authorities have dealt with what has been now the last 28 hours or so?

H.A. HELLYER, ATLANTIC COUNCIL SENIOR FELLOW: I think they've been quick at least in terms of EgyptAir itself and the aviation authority that try to update people inside Egypt and outside of Egypt. I think there's less pressure on the Egyptians this time around as compared to the Russian catastrophe because obviously the plane came from another country coming into Egypt that came another country.

So, the pressure on Egypt's security apparatus and also proving that they have done everything they need to do is far less.

Having said that, they have good relations with the countries involved, with Greece and with France. And it's also of great concern that anything could get on to an EgyptAir flight like that.

It means that if it were a terrorist attack, as of yet there's no confirmation of that, but if that were to be the case, then it really means that Egypt continues to be a target, which I think authorities in Cairo were aware of already. But it's an uncomfortable reminder that even an airport as secure as Charles de Gaulle isn't safe.

ANDERSON: Yes. And, H.A., you've suggested that relations with those other countries that will be involved in this investigation are good on the part of the Egyptians. And that will be important going to because this will be a very difficult investigation against the back drop, a very difficult time for Egypt.

And perhaps some will suggest that this sort of hard man attitude that the president here has taken against terrorism in enhancing security will be vindicated to a certain extent by an event like this.

But let's talk about that investigation and how it might go from here on in as we continue to hear that this is still an official search and rescue operation.

Because this flight came down within what is effectively known as the Field of Information Regional, the FIR, the Egyptian part of the airspace as it were.

This is, as the Greeks point out this morning, an investigation to be led by the Egyptians, and the lead being taken we understand here by the military.

[03:15:03] Meantime, H.A., we do know -- and I think this is significant but correct me if I'm wrong -- that the chief prosecutor in Egypt has referred the case or investigation to the state security prosecutor. That suggests, doesn't it, that they are intent at this point in taking a route, it seems, that this is a criminal investigation which again eludes to their thoughts that this is likely to be terror-related.

HELLYER: That could very well be the case, but at this stage of any sort of investigation, it's entirely natural, I think, that the prosecutor refers the case in that fashion. It may simply reveal their recognition of it being a possibility.

Now, having said that, they have eluded over the last 24 hours that a likely -- more likely than other options, they've been cagey with language, of course, but a likely cause of the crash is going to be a terrorist attack.

They have been cagey with language. There haven't been any confirmed report of claims of responsibility and hasn't been a ruling out of technical faults or flaws. So, I think they will continue to be cagey in that regard and also the relationship with France makes that even more delicate, I think.

ANDERSON: All right. H.A. Hellyer in Cairo for you today, joining me. It has been said later on, 5 p.m. Egypt Time for Connect the World a full hour of course from here later on in the day. George, you know, lest we forget, there were 66 people on this flight

when it disappeared off the radar. The majority of those French and Egyptian nationals. Many of the relatives of whom have gathered or gathered here yesterday relatively early.

And EgyptAir, we are outside of the airport here, EgyptAir said it was effectively a crisis unit for them. There were medics and doctors here to help, sort of an infrastructure set up for those relatives, clearly very, very difficult.

The reports that we had about sort of the, you know, the atmosphere inside was that it was relatively calm and controlled. But frustration really teeming over every time there was information released. Over the past 24 hours, for that to be only rode back on, I guess, these discrepancies. So far as debris and things are concerned.

Only to a certain extent, George, help the relatives believe that there may just be a ray of hope. Because as we've been reporting this is still unofficial search and rescue operation going on. Back to you.

HOWELL: You know, at this point, so early in the investigation, and these families wanting any information that they can get because there are just so many unanswered questions at this point.

Becky, thank you for being with us. And stand by. We'll be back with you.

ALLEN: Yes, it reminds of MH370...

(CROSSTALK)

HOWELL: It really does.

ALLEN: And if you're thinking about that the answers do not come fast and furious when a plane goes missing.

HOWELL: Yes. You just have to -- your heart goes out to these families.

ALLEN: Yes. There are man's land right now of grief.

HOWELL: Yes.

ALLEN: All right. Well, airport security is in focus yet again after the loss of the EgyptAir flight.

Coming up here, why concerns have been raised at both Egyptian and French airports.

[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT REPORTER: Hi, there. I'm Patrick Snell with your World Sport update.

Starting off with news in Switzerland. Former world number tennis star, Roger Federer will not be competing at this years' French Open in Paris bringing to an end his streak of 65 straight Grand Slam appearances dating back to the year 2000.

And on a Facebook posting, the Fed saying he's not 100 percent fit. Adding, he's taken the decision to, quote, "Ensure he can play the remainder of the season and to help extend the rest of his career."

The 34-year-old recently withdrew from Madrid Masters due to back injury and the Miami Open in Florida. Before that citing a stomach virus early this year. The 17-time major champ also underwent knee surgery.

Elsewhere, the world-famous Scottish golf course Muirfield has lost the right to host the prestigious British Open Championship. This, after voting against allowing female members.

Muirfield, which is a privately event links course, has hosted the event a total of 16 times. The governing body, the RNA saying quite simply it won't stage the Open at a course that doesn't admit women as members.

And we can tell you that five-time major winner Phil Mickelson is to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission the $931,000 profit he allegedly made on a stock transaction.

The three-time Masters Champion from California who was named as the relief defendant is not accused of any illegal act.

Thanks for joining us. That's a look at your sports headlines. I'm Patrick Snell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: A massive search is underway this hour in the Mediterranean Sea for missing EgyptAir flight 804. Greece just announced that it is pulling its ships from the search area, but will still offer air support.

The plane disappeared from radar on Thursday as it flew from Paris to Cairo. Sixty six people were on board that flight. Egypt's aviation minister says it might have been terrorism, but the French foreign minister down laid that theory saying all possibilities should be considered.

ALLEN: U.S. Officials tell CNN their initial theory is that a bomb took down the flight, but they have no smoking gun.

HOWELL: That's right. CNN's Tom Foreman has more on why analysts are looking at that theory and what else could be responsible.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here's has we know about this plane. We know that it took off from Paris. It should have been a four-hour flight over here to Egypt and for at least two and a half hours everything seems to have been perfectly normal before investigators say there was some sort of wild gyration or dramatic event and the plane disappeared shortly after it entered Egyptian airspace.

So what could make a big plane like this simply disappear from the sky like that? Well, there are several candidates we look at in every case like this. The first one is the weather. Can the weather bring down a big plane? Absolutely. It's happened before. Is it likely in this case? No, because there were no major weather events in the area at the time.

So, let's push that a little bit to the back. What about structural damage? There have been instances of wings cracking and tails falling off and engines failing, but this plane had just been maintenance. There was no sign of any problem. We heard no reports in the early part of the flight of the crew saying they had any kind of problem whatsoever.

Could it happen? I guess, yes. But there's no may-day call. It doesn't look so positive that that would be a likely candidate. That's why they're looking so hard at the idea of a deliberate act. The idea that maybe someone on the ground got to this plane and did something to it. Or maybe somebody on board the plane could have been involved.

Remember, it wasn't full, but there were two people up here in the cabin. And there are five people back here servicing the passengers. There were three security people. We marked them in red here, and then of course there are the passengers themselves.

That's a lot of people on board this plane. Any one of whom might have done something. Even inadvertently if they were handed a package, for example. This is why they're looking so much at the idea of a deliberate act because the other possibilities while they must be investigated, right now just don't seem to be offering many clues.

[03:25:07] HOWELL: Tom Foreman laying it out there for us.

And for more context, let's bring in Sajjan Gohel, live in London this hour. He is a terrorism expert and the international security director of the Asia-Pacific Foundation. Sajjan, it's always good to have you with us.

So, the thing we keep hearing from aviation experts is that at 37,000 feet you just don't see a plane fall out of the sky for no reason. So, either mechanical they say or terrorism. Egypt believes that it may be terrorism as do some U.S. officials. So, looking at that theory, talk to us about where this investigation goes if indeed terrorism is at fault here.

SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DIRECTOR: Well, George, we have to stress that if this is terrorism of course there are other potentials. But certainly there is a lot of concern that it could be a terrorist attack.

We know that terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda as well as their affiliate have an obsession in targeting the aviation industry. It's only been seven months since a Metrojet plane or Russian airliner was bombed over the Sinai leaving Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

We know also that groups like Al Qaeda in Arabian peninsula last year in the Al Qaeda inspire magazine boasted that they've created an explosive device that can bypass airport detection. So, there are all these different factors that are involved. And

what's really worrying everybody is that, if this is terrorism then you're potentially looking at collusion at an airport in the west, in a European country in Paris itself.

The Charles de Gaulle airport, this is not somewhere in the developing world where security is lax, minimal or nonexistent. So if it's terrorism, it raises a lot of worrying questions and it could have huge implications of how we travel in the future.

HOWELL: Sajjan, I want to delve deeper in that. You talk about the situation there at Charles de Gaulle airport, so, you know, if that is indeed the case, if security is an issue, talk to us about the different layers that investigators will have to look into, from the captain, from the crew members, to the people who might have had access to that plane on the ground.

GOHEL: Well, memories are still fresh following not just the Paris attacks last year but more recently the Brussels attacks. And we know that the plotters behind both incidents were interconnected. We know that the ISIS network in France is very strong.

There has been concern over the last few months that even though the Paris Brussels cells were dismantled, there are individuals that ideologically sympathetic towards ISIS. And we also know that there are individuals inside the country that the French authorities are still monitoring.

And there is concern that there could be potential collusion airside. Last year, the French authorities withdrew the security credentials of people working outside in Paris airports.

There's another element, George, that we need to pay attention to, as well and has the historical significance. This week marks the 100th year anniversary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement where Britain and France dismantle -- agreed to dismantle the Ottoman caliphate, which has been cited as a historical agreements by Al Qaeda and ISIS.

And I know for a fact that British authorities for the few months were very concerned of an act of terrorism potentially taking place this week. And I think that is also why a lot of people are concerned that this could be terrorism.

HOWELL: And, Sajjan, just important to stress and point out to viewers, French officials making the case that they haven't ruled anything out at this point. But Egyptian officials and some U.S. officials believe that terrorism may have been involved. Certainly an angle we'll continue to look into.

Sajjan Gohel, thank you for your insight.

Again, officials have not again ruled out a terror attack in the disappearance of this plane. We will have a look at past terror attacks on planes as Newsroom continues.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We continue to follow breaking news on CNN. The search for missing EgyptAir flight 860.

I'm George Howell at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

ALLEN: And we're coming to you live here at -- it's 3.32 a.m. Eastern Time. It's about 9.30 in the morning in Egypt. Let's get you caught up on the breaking news.

Crews desperately searching the Mediterranean for flight 804. The airline says debris found earlier did not come from the Airbus A320.

HOWELL: At this point a terror attack has not been ruled out, but so far officials say they have not found any of the 56 passengers on terror watch lists.

ALLEN: Egypt was criticized last year for lax security at its Sharm el-Sheikh airport after the downing of a Russian Metrojet flight over the Sinai Peninsula. ISIS claimed responsibility there.

And in Paris, last year, dozens of workers at Charles de Gaulle airport were under investigation for links to extremism. CNN learn some even had access to the tarmac and aircraft.

Let's bring back CNN's Becky Anderson at the in Cairo International Airport and Max Foster at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

And, Max, let's start with you. And to that point that I just spoke about, there being some perhaps people working at the Charles de Gaulle airport who could have been suspicious, whatever came of that investigation? Do we know?

FOSTER: Yes, as after the Paris attacks of November and 70 people had their air-side clearance passes taken away. There weren't air-side anymore that's after searches of lockers, also background checks into various people working here at the airport.

That really shows the level of security that you're dealing with here. And there's been commentators on the local media saying what's most frightening about this is the very idea that this airport, the very top levels of security, can be compromised or, you know, this talk of it -- talk of it at least.

Because, you know, if this is, you know, one of the most secure western airports in the world, really, then other airports could be compromised as well. But we have to emphasize of course we don't know that this is terror-related. We don't know whether a device was indeed put on a plane here at Charles de Gaulle as it sits on the tarmac.

[03:35:02] The plane had traveled to other countries, Tunisia, Eritrea as well, before they come here. But we understand there is a security sweep of the aircraft as it sat on the tarmac. All the passengers came off, a new set of passengers went on. So, a very much the focus of who made any sort of contact with this

aircraft here, ground crew, air crew, passengers, they're all are having their backgrounds checked out. Intelligence is being shared with U.S. and Egypt as well.

So, it is a line of investigation. It's not the only line of investigation. But certainly everyone here is talking about whether or not the plane was sabotaged while it was here at Charles de Gaulle.

ALLEN: So, we know there were security officers on this plane. I'm curious, do we know how long the plane was on the ground there in Paris? I know we're looking at all kinds of possibilities, not just terrorism, but do we know if Egyptian airplanes have secure cockpits like we saw U.S. airplanes after 9/11?

FOSTER: Well, the regulations suggest that they should be. But there's been a lot of talk about the fact that they have, you know, since 9/11, there has been some slacking on those rules. But we can't talk about specific cases in relation to EgyptAir. We haven't have confirmed.

But lots of questions being asked around all this. In terms of, you know, where the investigation is, the terror related parts of the investigation here in France, we're just not getting any information. And we wouldn't expect to anyway because they're very secretive in those early stages of the investigation anyway as they follow up any leads.

So really just waiting on announcements from the prosecutor's office, the government and those sorts of official's bodies right now, Natalie.

ALLEN: Well, we certainly understand why they're taking their time until they absolutely are certain of some facts of this airplane and the flight.

Thank you so much, Max Foster for us.

HOWELL: Let's go live now to Cairo's international airport where our Becky Anderson is live. Becky, good to have you. Egypt is obviously taking the lead in this investigation. What can you tell us at this point about the search for this plane?

ANDERSON: That's right. They are taking the lead. The Egyptian military taking a lead. Supported by -- I have to say -- a number of other countries, not least the Greeks, the French, the British, and help from Cyprus and from Italy, the countries, of course who would be very much in a position to help out in this part of the world.

We have, though, had a significant development this morning so far as the search and rescue is concerned. And it is still, George, officially a search and rescue, which must certainly make the relatives of those 66 people on board feel that there is a glimmer of hope still.

The Greek authorities have said in the past couple of hours that they have pulled the frigate that was involved in this search away from the area. And they say their coast guard is no longer involved.

The Greek coast guard, because this is too far. It reaches too far away from their sort of -- their rim area. This is 230 odds kilometers away from Crete. The Greeks do say that there is an aircraft the C-130 involved from the Greeks and they have other aircraft in Crete ready to help out.

But as you rightly point out this is an Egyptian-led effort. This is within what's known as the Egyptian FIR, which is the Field of Information Region, which effectively means this flight was in over Egyptian airspace when it disappeared off the radar at between 2.29 and 2.37 a.m. local time yesterday morning.

A lot of discrepancy though, on the details. As you're well aware, a much confusion still. More questions than answers really about EgyptAir flight 804 that disappeared en route from Paris to Cairo on Thursday.

What we do know that the president here, President Sisi has demanded an intensification of the search and rescue. He has put assets from the civil aviation, from the navy and from the air force on that, looking for anything that they can find out which would help so far as clues are concerned as to what happened when this plane disappeared. George?

HOWELL: And still very early, but Egyptian officials saying that terrorism may be to blame in this, but again we're hearing from the French foreign minister that they are not ruling anything out at this point.

Becky Anderson, live for us at Cairo. Becky, thank you for your reporting. We'll stay in touch.

ALLEN: Our breaking news coverage of the search for EgyptAir flight 804 continues from Paris and Cairo after this short break. You're watching CNN. We're live in Atlanta.

[03:40:01] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: The disappearance of EgyptAir 804 remains a mystery as the secondary of searching is underway. Crews are combing the Mediterranean where it is presumed to have crashed.

A short time ago, Greece announced it was pulling its ships back from the search area, but it is still offering air support in the search.

HOWELL: France's foreign minister says that all possibilities for the flight's disappearance are being examined including the possibility of terrorism.

ALLEN: Planes, of course, have long been the target of terror organizations. We can only speculate right now about the fate of EgyptAir flight 804.

HOWELL: But terrorists they have gotten creative in the past trying to bring down aircraft. CNN's Randi Kaye has this report for us.

RANDI KAYE, CNN'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: December 22, 2001, just three months after the 9/11 attacks. American Airlines flight 63 with 197 passengers and crew suddenly in trouble. Passenger Richard Reid was attempting to detonate a plastic explosive called PETN. He'd concealed inside his shoes.

Passengers pounced and the flight, headed from Paris to Miami, was safely escorted by fighter jets to Boston's Logan airport. Reid is a British citizen who converted to Islam. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Richard Reid is an Al Qaeda-trained Islamic extremist while on a martyr mission engaged in acts of international terrorism that were motivated by his hate of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Nearly five years later, in August of 2006, 24 men were arrested by British authorities charged with plotting to blow up as many as 10 flights over the Atlantic simultaneously. Their weapon of choice, explosive liquids smuggled aboard in soda bottles.

[03:45:12] After that, liquids were limited to no more than 3 ounces onboard the aircraft. By then, passengers were facing tighter security from the 9/11 attacks. Shoes have to be removed, laptops taken out and box cutters and lighters were forbidden, but the terrorists were getting more creative.

Christmas Day 2009, another failed attempt using the deadly explosive PETN. Northwest Airlines flight 253 was on its way from Amsterdam to Detroit when a passenger tried to set off explosives sewn into his underwear.

The so-called underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was sentenced to life in prison. It turns out, he had been in contact with Anwar al- Awlaki, a senior Al Qaeda recruiter, later killed in a U.S. drone strike.

A year later in 2010, a suspect tries again to use PETN as a bomb on two cargo planes bound for Chicago. The devices were disguised as ink cartridges, discovered after a tip. This is a recreation of what could have happened.

The prime suspect was a Saudi bomb maker named Ibrahim Hassan Tali al- Asir believed to be a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Sidney Alford is a bomb expert.

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SIDNEY ALFORD, BOMB EXPERT: There's no doubt about this. This is an ingenious way of doing it. If that had been part of an airport's fuselage, and heaven help the airplane.

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KAYE: Whoever built that bomb likely thought it would pass through an x-ray machine with the PETN disguised as printer toner powder.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

ALLEN: The U.S. presidential candidates are arguing over the disappearance of the flight. We'll tell you what they're saying after this.

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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Residents of New York City have been enjoying some early summer heat. Temperatures in the middle 20s to end off the work week.

You want to take advantage of this warmth because temperatures will start to be on the slide through the course of the weekend and chances of rainfall.

Here's a look at your Friday forecast throughout the United States. Temperatures along the West Coast, upper teens from San Francisco to Los Angeles. There is a storm system bringing precipitation across the Pacific Northwest into Seattle. Denver warms up to 26. Showers and thunderstorms in and around the greater Atlanta region.

You can see some of that active weather throughout this region. Showers and storms, some of which could contain hail and gusty winds. There's a storm system even some mountain snows for the Sierra Nevada region into central northern California.

Look at these rainfall totals across the deep southeast. We could accumulate over 100 millimeters of rain through the course of the day on Saturday. Temperatures through the course of the weekend, you can see that dip for your daytime highs in New York City, D.C., Charlotte a cool day today.

Even Atlanta at 19 below average but will rebound to the upper 20s by Saturday afternoon. Central America, 33 for Belize City. Havana at 34. Kingston 33 degrees.

Into South America we go where we expect sunshine from Rio into La Paz, but thunderstorms for northern Brazil. Otherwise quiet for the southern portions.

[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOWELL: Welcome back. Our top story. A massive search that is underway in the Mediterranean Sea for missing EgyptAir flight 804.

ALLEN: The airline says debris found earlier did not come from the plane. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the flight Thursday as it flew from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board.

HOWELL: Egypt's civil aviation minister says it is possible a terror attack might have brought that plane down.

U.S. officials also tell CNN a bomb may be responsible for what happened.

ALLEN: We'll have more on the EgyptAir flight in a moment. Right now we're going to turn to the big political news of the day. CNN's exclusive interview with candidate Hillary Clinton.

HOWELL: The democratic presidential frontrunner weighed in on this airline disaster, on terrorism, and her increasing focus on republican rival Donald Trump.

CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, has this report for us.

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HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It does appear it was an act of terrorism.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton says the loss of EgyptAir flight 804 is a stark reminder of global threats and dire consequences on this presidential campaign.

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CLINTON: Once again shines a bright light on the threat that we face from organized terror groups. And I think it reinforces the need for American leadership for the kind of smart steady leadership that only America can provide.

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ZELENY: Sitting down today with CNN's Chris Cuomo, Clinton saying in no uncertain terms she believes Donald Trump is not fit for the job.

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CHRIS CUOMO, NEW DAY SHOW CO-HOST: Do you think that Donald Trump is qualified to be president?

CLINTON: No, I do not.

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ZELENY: Her strongest words yet against Trump saying explicitly for the first time he's unqualified.

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CLINTON: I know how hard this job is. And I know we need steadiness as well as strength and smarts in it. And I have concluded he is not qualified to be president of the United States.

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ZELENY: Hours earlier, well before intelligence officials weighed in, Trump also said that the EgyptAir flight was a terrorist attack. Writing on Twitter, "when will we get tough, smart and vigilant, great hate and sickness." But Clinton says Trump's sharp rhetoric is making America's fight against terror even harder.

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CLINTON: When you run for president of the United States, the entire world is listening and watching. So when you say we're going to bar all Muslims, you are sending a message to the Muslim world and you're also sending a message to the terrorists.

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ZELENY: Visiting her hometown of Park Ridge, Illinois today, Clinton made clear she has one rival in the presidential race, not two. She said her competition with Bernie Sanders is over.

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CLINTON: I will be the nominee for my party, Chris. That is -- that is already done in effect. There is no way that I won't be. Senator Sanders and I are following the same rules. And I'm three million votes ahead of him and I have an insurmountable lead in pledge delegates.

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ZELENY: She says she is confident the party will unite, despite Sanders's pledge to fight all the way to the democratic convention in July.

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CLINTON: I am absolutely committed to doing my part. More than my part. But Senator Sanders has to do his part. That's why the lesson of 2008 which was a hard fought primary as you remember is so pertinent here. Because I did my part, but so did Senator Obama.

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ZELENY: Sanders supporters have made their view of Clinton clear. In rhetoric far hotter than eight years ago. After the final primary contests end in June, Clinton says she believes Trump will help bring democrats together.

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CLINTON: The threat that Donald Trump poses is so dramatic to our country, to our democracy and our economy that I certainly expect Senator Sanders to do what he said he would.

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ZELENY: Until then, Clinton says she is focusing exclusively on Trump but insist she won't respond to everything he throws her way.

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CLINTON: You pick a fight with a, you know, a bully, you know, you're going to be pulled down to their level.

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HOWELL: And Trump stayed true to his custom of firing back quickly at an adversary.

ALLEN: Speaking in New Jersey, the presumptive republican nominee said Clinton isn't fit to occupy the Oval Office.

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[03:55:06] DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bernie Sanders said that Hillary really isn't essentially not fit to be president. She's not qualified to be president. You know why? He said because she suffers from bad judgment.

But if you think about it, and if you look at it, he said unqualified and he said that she suffers from bad judgment. And she does.

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HOWELL: Donald Trump there on the campaign trail. Well, of course we continue to follow this story, the incredibly tough time for the families of those on board the EgyptAir flight 804. We will hear from them when we return.

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HOWELL: Welcome back.

One can only imagine how difficult, you know, it must be for these families at this point.

ALLEN: Yes.

HOWELL: You know, just waiting for any answers that they can -- they can get on this flight 804. As crews search for this plane, though, some family members of the missing they are gathering in Cairo, hoping to get answers about their loved ones.

ALLEN: For some, the lack of information and mixed messages about the flight status has been difficult to process.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (TRANSLATED): Greece says something and here they say something else. You don't know what's the truth. You still have hope in God. We pray to God that he won't bring us bad news. We also don't understand. We want to understand. Their words should have credibility, so people are not all over the place. We are confused. We don't know the truth. Some tell us it fell in the

sea. Some say it is in the air. Some say it didn't fall. Some say the black box is communicating signals.

[04:00:05] But where is the truth? It's with God. We don't anything.

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ALLEN: You've been watching CNN live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. Our breaking --