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New Day

Malaysia Airlines; Ukraine Crisis; High-Tech Search for Flight 370; Interview with Representative Peter King; New Jersey Teen Back Home with Parents

Aired March 13, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And good luck with the new show. You're great on it.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you. Thank you.

CUOMO: It's great to have you.

Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris, thank you so much.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, we're watching these three major stories unfolding this morning. The growing crisis in Ukraine, accusations of CIA spying by a top U.S. senator, and the disappearance of that plane, that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. We are digging deeper with our upcoming guest, New York Congressman Peter King. And, how are they searching for it, you ask? We will show you. Some pretty incredible, high-tech equipment being used right now to find this thing. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

We want to talk some more now about the desperate search for any trace of that missing Malaysian airlines flight. It's been six days now and searchers did find no debris in the ocean after the Chinese government flagged satellite photos from Sunday that appeared to show what could be airplane debris in the water. Meanwhile, Malaysian officials now dispute reports that the engines sent signals hours after the plane went off radar.

So, with the latest on the search and the situation in the Ukraine and other topics that are going on like the CIA battle with the Senate, let's bring in Congressman Peter King. He's a Republican from New York and a member of the Homeland Security Committee.

Congressman, a pleasure. Thank you for joining us.

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, so let's talk about the timing of the release from the Chinese with these satellite photos of what might have been in the water. Does it bother you that with so many Chinese on board and so much capability that these satellite photos came out so late?

KING: Chris, all I can think about that is that the Chinese may not want us to know how sophisticated this system is and they may have actually dumbed down some of those photos before they put them to out. No, but I would think that, you know, certainly human life, that they should have put them out right away and put other factors aside.

I mean, as I guess almost half the plane was Chinese citizens. And you would think that in a time like this, an international crisis, the Chinese would have come forward. But maybe they thought that the images they would show would, you know, show a level of sophistication beyond what we think they have.

CUOMO: And yet, if they're so sophisticated, it turns out that these pictures had nothing to do with that flight.

KING: Yes.

CUOMO: So, really, let's just dismiss them from the conversation. But it raises another point about people with a lot of capabilities helping out here. The U.S. You have on your lapel a 9/11 pin and certainly we will never forget and it made us very mindful of surveillance. And we're talking about it all the time about whether or not privacy is being compromised. What is the U.S. doing to help with this search, and should it be doing more?

KING: Basically we're doing everything we're asked to do. I know the NTSB is involved. The FAA is involved. Our intelligence agencies are certainly working around the clock on this trying to find any type of terror connection or terror nexus that can be found. And basically we are willing to do whatever we're asked to do. And because there's American citizens involved, we do have a responsibility here.

CUOMO: The stolen passports. Find out that they were used with great efficiency here by at least two members on board of that. Doing a little digging, I'm told that, hey, Malaysia's not the only one. Stolen passports are used. We see it here in the U.S. Is this a little bit of a vulnerability that's been revealed by this story? Where are we on this issue?

KING: Well, it's a real vulnerability in other parts of the world. We try to absolutely minimize it here in the United States. It would be very difficult for stolen passports to be used here in the U.S. Everything is checked against Interpol and we have terror watch lists and various screening systems. So we've done everything we can.

The British are very good at it. The Israelis are very good at it. But you have other parts of the country - other parts of the world where they don't check against Interpol at all. I think they said about a billion people flew last year without having their passports checked.

Now, other parts of the world are far less interested in security than we are. Now, the saving grace for us on that is, at least those flights cannot come into the United States. If you, for instance, get on a plane in Malaysia, there is no direct flight to the United States. So before you come in to the United States, you would have to go through a whole screening process and your passport would be checked.

CUOMO: Right. All right, so let me get your take on a couple of hot- button issues here. Ukraine. A lot of talk about how one of the things the U.S. should be doing is to allow itself to start sending natural gas and be a supplier to the rest of the world, reduce the dependency on Russia. Well, we both know that's a short-term fix. It's not going to affect the situation in Ukraine. But what do you think about that notion? Are we just seeing some evidence of motivating Republican agenda, or do you think that's a real way to weaken Vladimir Putin?

KING: I think it is a real way. I think it's something we have to do. And, you're right, it's not going to have the immediate short-term impact. But I think in our dealings with Russia, we have to have a long-term view.

And as we go forward, even if this issue somehow with Ukraine is resolved, the fact is we're going to have a tense relationship with Russia over the next five to 10 years at least. I think it's important that we provide another outlet for countries, such as England and Germany and other European countries that they can get natural gas and not be totally reliant on Russia, but be able to obtain that from us. And we have - we have vast, vast supplies of natural gas.

CUOMO: It seems that criticism of the president in the Ukraine situation is quieted a little bit from your brothers and sisters in the Republican Party. Is that intentional, trying to be less divisive, show a more unified front to the world?

KING: Well, I think, you know, there was grounds for some questioning at the beginning. The fact is, we are where we are. We're in a national crisis. And I'm from the school that, when you're in a national crisis, you stand with the commander in chief. And I believe that certainly everything the president has done over the last week has been very strong, has been very assertive and he deserves the support of all Americans.

I think meeting with the Ukrainian prime minister yesterday was certainly an act of strength. The fact that he is trying to marshal support to sanctions against Russia is -- it's a time like this when we should stand with the president. And hopefully this crisis will be resolved and at that time we can do a, you know, post analysis as to what should have been done better. But right now it's important we stand with him.

CUOMO: Last thing. The CIA, the allegations from Senator Feinstein are strong. She's got to be respected from where she's coming from. She certainly had some issues with the agency in the past. But do you think that if there is anything to these allegations, it is time for you all down there, and the rest of us, to take a very hard look at whether we know enough about what our spy agencies are doing?

KING: You know, I'm on the House Intelligence Committee. We have not had that at issue. This is Senator Feinstein. But you do see other people on the committee, such as Senator Saxby Chambliss, he said he's not willing to join in right now. That he thinks there are other facts.

This seems to be one of those issues where John Brennan feels clearly that Senate investigators had access to documents and removed documents they should not have. Senator Feinstein feels that interfere with her legitimate investigation. There are people in the CIA who believe there's a lot of expose (ph) facto moralizing being done as to what happened after 9/11.

But I just hope it's resolved. And I'm not trying to duck the question. But it's important that we have a relationship between the oversight committees and the CIA. There's so many important issues here in the world.

And I have a lot of respect for Senator Feinstein, John Brennan. I have found him to be straightforward in my dealings with him. So let's get to the bottom of what happened here, but let's try not to get involved in a total fight between the CIA and the House and Senate. This is too many - this is a very, very dangerous world and we have to work together.

CUOMO: It's true, you did kind of duck the question a little bit, congressman, but you're going to - you're going to get away with it this time because I'm out of time. But it is a complicated relationship, but it's one where we have to have complete confidence as American citizens that our spy agencies are working for us in the best possible way. But thank you for joining us.

KING: Well, we are also -

CUOMO: Go ahead.

KING: We also have to be sure the secrets aren't disclosed that could pose danger to the country.

CUOMO: True.

KING: That is the tension we have there.

CUOMO: True. It is a new world. There's no question about that.

KING: Right.

CUOMO: It's a balance. Congressman, thank you for joining us this morning (ph).

KING: Thank you, Chris. Thank you.

CUOMO: Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Coming up next here on NEW DAY, we will look at some of the cutting edge tools being used in the search for that missing Malaysian airliner, Flight 370.

Also ahead this morning, a New Jersey teenager, remember this story, she made national headlines because she sued her parents for financial support. Well, you may not believe what she has done now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Despite this enormous - I mean it's getting bigger and bigger, this search and rescue operation, the fate of Malaysia Air Flight 370 is still a mystery. Now at least 12 countries are involved, you have dozens of ships, aircraft, and just about every kind of cutting edge technology out there. CNN's Rene Marsh is following this angle of the story for us in Washington.

Rene, good morning.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVT. REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brooke.

You know, this morning, Malaysian authorities say they've handed over radar data and other information to the NTSB and the FAA. And the agencies have seen the data and based on that they agree it was reasonable to search - for this search to be extended to the west of the Malaysian peninsula. But the main focus is still in the South China Sea.

Now, as the search continues for this sixth day, this morning we take a closer look at exactly how they are doing it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: From the sea, air, land and even space, search teams are using everything at their disposal to find Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Despite this enormous -- I mean it's getting bigger and bigger -- this search and rescue operation, the fate of Malaysia Air Flight 370 is still a mystery. Now at least 12 countries are involved, you have dozens of ships, aircraft and just about every kind of cutting edge technology out there.

CNN's Rene Marsh is following this angle of the story for us in Washington. Rene -- good morning.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brooke.

You know, this morning, Malaysian authorities say they've handed over radar data and other information to the NTSB and the FAA. The agencies have seen the data and based on that they agree it was reasonable to search -- for this search to be extended to the west of the Malaysian Peninsula but the main focus is still in the South China Sea.

As the search continues for this sixth day, this morning we take a closer look at exactly how they are doing it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH (voice over): From the sea, air, land and even space, search teams are using everything at their disposal to find Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. The first question figuring out where radar last picked up the plane.

TOM HAUETER, FORMER DIRECTOR, NTSB OFFICE OF AVIATION SAFETY: It's a big task because you have multiple radar sites and possibly from multiple different countries. So they're not all in the same format.

MARSH: Some of the top radar experts in the world are helping analyze every possible blip but searching can also be low tech like looking out a window for debris.

JOHN HANSMAN, PROFESSOR OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS: Most of the search is being done either by air, airplanes flying over because they can cover the largest area.

MARSH: The U.S. military is even searching in the dark.

WILLIAM MARKS, USS BLUE RIDGE: We're looking at tonight actually flying a night mission which can use its radar, infrared and even night vision goggles there.

MARSH: And high above, it gets even more high tech. Devices that look for nuclear explosions and missile launches were checked to see if the plane blew up. And satellites were focused on the area. NASA says it's using weather satellites to look for wreckage along with a camera on the International Space Station. Besides these photos released from the Chinese government, the Pentagon is checking its satellites.

But below the waves, the plane itself could be calling if anyone is close enough and listening.

HANSMAN: There is the acoustic pinger which is on the flight data recorder. But that requires that you have basically a microphone that will work in the water. Most ships don't have the right equipment so you have to get ships to the area that have the right equipment to start looking for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: And the longer it takes for them to find the plane, the harder the search becomes. Currents and winds play into this in a big, big way. So if the plane is in the water, currents are moving it x many miles per hour, multiply that by 24 hours and multiply that again by six days and you have a search area that's expanding hundreds of miles every day that goes by -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Rene Marsh, thank you very much.

Coming up on NEW DAY, parents, you have teenagers? Heard this story? This teenager, she actually sued her mom and dad for tuition money after she moved out. The news is she's moved back in. But get this -- just because she's back home doesn't mean her legal fight is over. We'll tell you her story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back.

We've been following this story on NEW DAY and we have an update now on the New Jersey teen we told you about last week. Rachel Canning sued her parents for tuition after she moved out. Now she's back at home. That's good, right? Wrong. New court filings and shocking new allegations.

CNN's Jean Casarez has been following this for us. What's the latest?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: She may be back home and the attorneys for her parents say this should always have been in a counselor's office and not a courtroom. Not so fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ (voice over): It is homecoming for the New Jersey high school student suing her parents to pay her school bills and college tuition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She returned last night. Everything went great.

CASAREZ: But it may be too soon to call this homecoming happy. While an attorney for Shawn and Elizabeth Canning held a press conference announcing their daughter Rachel's reunion with her parents, the 18- year-old's attorneys were filing additional legal motions for emergency monetary support claiming documented abuse by her parents. The emergency papers also state Rachel's change of heart was not her own free will but due to the extreme pressure of her parents and the media. The judge denied the request for emergency money.

Rachel is still suing her parents for financial support, college tuition and legal fees. Saying in documents she was forced to move in with a friend's family because it got so bad at home. Rachel's parents say she wouldn't follow the rules, spending nights out drinking with a boyfriend they disapproved of. Finally, her parents issued an ultimatum. Follow the rules or leave. She left.

JUDGE PETER BOGLAND, NEW JERSEY JUDICIAL COURT: She's always going to be your daughter no matter what happens. And they're always going to be your parents.

CASAREZ: Last week as Rachel sat opposite her emotional parents in a courtroom, the first time she had seen them in four months, her father tried to talk to her as the judge tried to foster reconciliation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me give you a chance.

CASAREZ: And at least one half of the feuding family seems to believe that has been achieved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone should be happy today. This is a happy situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And with a very serious allegations of parental abuse made by Rachel's attorneys in the most recent legal filings, we asked for a response from her parents' attorney. We were told they have no comment as to the merits of the case. Simply saying that Rachel is happy and she's at home.

BALDWIN: Wasn't part of this initiated because of some boyfriend the parents didn't like who was keeping her out at all hours of the night, she was out drinking --

CASAREZ: I think there were many things. That was probably the most serious because they believed he was a bad influence.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CASAREZ: They didn't want her to date him. But she sent -- she had a phone message to her mother last July where she said she wanted to defecate on her face and she hated her. So this --

CUOMO: That made the judge crazy, by the way.

CASAREZ: He couldn't -- he was very, very upset. And the response to that was where did she learn that language? And the language was worse than what I just told you. Her side said she learned it from her parents.

CUOMO: She's a little old to be judging her parents for the language she uses. Look -- what's clear? She's being manipulated -- we're not sure by who. And this is a really ugly situation. It plays out in a lot of families but never this way.

CASAREZ: And the reality is the lawsuit still stands.

CUOMO: Yes.

BALDWIN: OK.

Coming up here, a suburban farm just outside of Chicago is in trouble. Dozens of animals are potentially at risk and 100 volunteers are standing up to help out. It's "The Good Stuff". It's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: It's "The Good Stuff". Not just because once again I'm seated with not one, not two but three perfect people.

BALDWIN: Lucky.

CUOMO: But in honor of our series "CHICAGOLAND" we want to bring you "The Good Stuff" from the Windy City -- all right. so just outside Chicago in Hampshire, Illinois there's a farm. There was no good going on at the farm. Authorities discovered awful conditions, several dead animals. The ones left behind, sick and starving. And there were all kinds of them. Take a look and a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Horses, llamas, goats, alpacas, bunnies, chickens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: And it got worse. Unfortunately, animal control is only set up for small animals. So farmers and volunteers heard about the situation and they wound up coming to the rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We put this out last night at 9:00 and next thing you know, we had -- I had 98 missed phone calls on my office line. I was getting phone calls all evening on my cell.

AL LENKAITIS: We brought the truck and trail, I brought one employee with so we can help move animals and see where it's need. That's just kind of normal in the farm community. Everybody likes to get out and help if there's an issue and take care of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: I love this. I love it. I love it.

CUOMO: This was not about gain for them. It was about sharing the responsibility. The animals are going to be nursed back to health, put up for adoption. The owner of the farm charged with animal cruelty. That's the obvious part. What's not obvious in this -- people stepping up at their own detriment, doing the right thing.

PEREIRA: Community.

CUOMO: Good stuff.

BALDWIN: Quick reminder for you tonight. Make sure you watch the latest episode of our new original series called "CHICAGOLAND" at 10:00 eastern, 9:00 central here on CNN.

Hey, we'll be back tomorrow -- TGIF, almost. In the meantime, let's go to our colleague Carol Costello with "NEWSROOM". Carol -- good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's Friday eve. Have a great morning. Thanks so much.

"NEWSROOM" starts now.