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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

How Long Will Extensive Search Effort for Flight 370 Be Maintained?; Satellites May Take Over When Sea Effort Exhausted; Flight Attendant's Husband Looks for Answers for Their Children; Families Seek Compensation; Safety Odds

Aired March 31, 2014 - 12:30   ET

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

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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The search is ramping up for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. I did say ramping up not scaling back, all of this as chances of finding the black boxes dwindle. But we do have days left, so 10 planes and 11 ships are scouring the southern Indian ocean for debris.

Hopes are dashed as Malaysian officials confirm that the most promising lead, however, four orange objects that were found over the weekend, sadly they were nothing more than just fishing equipment, this as the Malaysian authorities are calling on the United States to deploy even more military assets to this search zone.

Right now, Australia's high-tech Ocean Shield vessel is steaming towards this search area, and on board with the United States Navy is the black box detector, the Tow Pinger Locater 25. The search crews have less than a week before the batteries on those pingers likely run out, and then that amazing piece of equipment, the Tow Pinger Locater, becomes somewhat useless. The search for this flight, Flight 370, is a daunting task that is taking a massive international effort.

I want to draw your attention to an incredible graphic, and before your eyes cross, this is just a stellar amount of information that is using information "The Washington Post" was able to compile, and it shows just how many international resources have been hurled at this missing airliner and the effort to find.

Five countries have employed satellites. Singapore is the one country that has employed a submarine. It's right in the middle of your screen. It's the red and white flag, effectively just to the left of center. That's the one sub.

Way over on the right-hand side of your screen, that column is chock- full. That's Malaysia, and it has perhaps given the biggest contribution, understandably, with 18 planes and 27 ships, while the Americans have employed three planes, two ships, two helicopters and a satellite.

But it is pretty remarkable when you see the entire combined effort, globally, and why so many people think this is so important. But how long can that tour de force continue?

Our Paula Newton joins me live now from Perth, Australia, which is the center of the search effort, to update us about the international effort.

I think that's the question, Paula. You're there. You've got the mood. You're at the epicenter of where it's all emanating from. How long can we expect this much effort by this many countries?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Settle in, Ashleigh. Months and months and months, the Australians tell us they're just getting started.

They appointed a coordination commander today. He's the former head of the defense forces here. You're talking about someone who is incredibly experienced. And the prime minister himself here, Tony Abbott, said, look, we're just getting started. We're throwing everything we have at this.

And even though they know that the first few days were basically wasted, they weren't looking in the right place, they feel like now they are just covering so much more of that ocean, Ashleigh. You have to think that now, when they spot something, usually they're spotting visually with their eyes through those airplanes.

And then sometimes within just a few hours, sometimes less than an hour, they can actually call out to a ship that will go and spot it and check it out and see if it has anything to do with Flight 370. Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: So, Paula, look, a lot of the gear -- we talked about this earlier in the program. A lot of the gear is "Cadillac" variety. It is the best that the world has to offer.

But some of it is entirely dependent on the pinging from the black boxes, and by our estimates, we're only about five days or so until those end. Does that mean there'll be a scale back of some of that incredible gear?

NEWTON: Yeah, and the tow pinger won't even get there for another two or three days. The answer is no, and the reason, Ashleigh, is that the manufacturer says it's guaranteed to last 30 days. They have been known to really last weeks longer.

It really depends what the point of impact was, what happened to the airplane, what kind of condition those flight recorders were in.

And remember also on that ship, the Ocean Shield is that thing called the Blue Fin 21. That's essentially an underwater vehicle that will comb the ocean bed, and, Ashleigh, that's how they found one of the recorders from Flight 447 nearly two years after that plane crashed in the Atlantic.

BANFIELD: I think what you're saying is very heartening for the families who are hearing some of the optimism wane with each report that the debris simply is ocean trash. Paula Newton, great job for us in Perth, Australia, thank you for that.

Inevitably, though, there will be a time when some of those ships and some of those planes are going to call it quits in the southern Indian Ocean.

The last option in the search for Flight 370 then might come from space, the eyes from the satellites, and joining me to talk about what happens when the search crews go home and effectively the effort comes from the sky is Keith Masback.

He is the CEO of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, and that's an organization dedicated to supporting and improving the skills that satellite imaging requires.

Keith, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today. How good are those eyes in the skies right now, because right now is the time that we need them to be good?

KEITH MASBACK, CEO, U.S. GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE FOUNDATION: Well, thanks for having me, Ashleigh. Look, we've got an incredible amount of remote-sensing assets in space, over 100 satellites owned by many nations who have put things on orbit.

We have seen contributions from the Chinese, from the Thais, from the Japanese, from U.S. company DigitalGlobe, which is actually the world leader in terms of commercial imaging.

And then we've got the, quote/unquote, "spy satellites" where they're undoubtedly supplying information into the search that they may not want to reveal, because they want to protect the sources and methods. But there's an incredible amount of capability on orbit.

BANFIELD: And I've been reading this report that the Chinese want to launch dozens and dozens more satellites up into space, so that this kind of thing is just not going to be part of our vernacular in the future. But all of these wonderful, optimistic plans for the future won't be in time to help this effort, will they, or won't they?

MASBACK: I saw that report, as well, Ashleigh. It was by some Chinese academics, actually, who talked about a 50 satellite constellation. It would certainly take them some time to build those satellites and to launch them, and it's a costly endeavor.

There are a number of commercial capabilities on orbit now. We have come to know this idea, this company named Inmarsat, so well over the past few weeks, as we have talked about the pings. There's a company called Iridium here in the United States, which has just embarked on launching a 66-bird constellation of communications satellites to update the constellation they have now.

So there are a number of ways to track via communication satellites, and then the remote-sensing satellites are a wholly different sort of capability. BANFIELD: If there is one thing I can say about this wall-to-wall news coverage of this, I have certainly learned a lot about our remarkable capabilities, and also where we're lacking. So it's great to talk to you, and I hope we have another chance to speak when we are getting better and launching more intelligence into the skies.

Keith Masback, thank you.

MASBACK: Thank you, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: The husband of a flight attendant who was on board Flight MH-370 says he doesn't think that he can keep a promise that he made to their children to bring her back home safely.

With so many unanswered questions for families, now lawyers are trying to help them get some answers or something more.

Details, just ahead.

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BANFIELD: We've heard the voices of anger from the families of Flight 370, and today perhaps just as strong a message, voices of quiet prayer and reflection. Dozens of Chinese family members visited a Buddhist temple in Kuala Lumpur. That's in Malaysia. They were chanting and lighting candles and meditating as they wait 24 days in a row.

They're trying to get word of their loved ones' fate. They're not getting it. And it's that wait that's especially difficult for the children who just want to know where's dad, where's mom?

Paula Hancocks spoke with the husband of one of the flight attendants.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Foong Wai Yueng's 10-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son keep asking where she is. Eighteen years as a Malaysia airlines flight attendant, she was working aboard MH- 370.

LEE KHIM FATT, HUSBAND OF 370 FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Mommy is going to be taking a bit longer to come home this time, and I even promised them I'm going to bring her home. But I have no idea where she is now, and now I'm not sure whether I can bring her home. You see?

HANCOCKS: Lee Khim Fatt asks me what he should tell his daughter. He speaks in the present tense.

FATT: Of course, I am still hoping for god's miracles. But just like -- what we want is the reality, the true story.

HANCOCKS: Showing me mobile photos of his wife, he tells me he's angry at the way he is being treated. His wife was part of the cabin crew, but Lee feels the airline tells the media more than it tells him. He says he gets most of his information from televised press conferences, part of the reason he's hired a lawyer.

MANUEL VON RIBBECK, RIBBECK LAW: It is not their fault that this happened to the plane, so, therefore, they have to be compensated for their damages.

HANCOCKS: Lee and Foong were together for 20 years. He says they were happy. Now she is lost. Lee says he has lost all direction.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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BANFIELD: So what do you tell a little boy or a little girl? Apparently, if you're a state-run newspaper in China, you say whatever you want to quite bluntly.

In a hard-hitting editorial, this was what was said in the "China Daily" newspaper. Quote, "All the related parties can do is to continue to search for the wreckage, carry on negotiations with the Malaysian side for more information, and prepare to make arrangements for funerals," end quote.

And if that doesn't sound somewhat heartless, check this out. Quote, "We can understand and tolerate those victims' families emotional catharsis, as long as their behavior doesn't violate social norms." That was in the newspaper.

And as these families get over that, and also seek information, they're also, as you heard earlier, seeing compensation. But how much money can these families truly expect to get? This is not an American court system we're talking about. There are so many different scenarios.

Compensation attorney Kenneth Feinberg joins me live now from Washington, D.C. He worked on the compensation disbursements for 9/11 victims, as well as victims of the BP oil spill and also the Boston marathon.

Ken, thanks so much for joining me today. Let me just ask you, there's been lots of reporting about those flat, international-treaty- negotiated pay-outs that are somewhere around $150,000 that each of these victims' family members will get, no matter whether we find a plane or cause, no matter whether we find a cause, no matter whether we find if it's mechanical or whether it's human.

But after that, what can these family members do, and how successful do you think they can be?

KENNETH FEINBERG, COMPENSATION ATTORNEY: Well, they can certainly request of the Malaysian airline that as a result of the very treaty you reference, that actually the economic loss, the economic financial harm they have suffered as a result of the death of a passenger entitles them to more than $150,000 to $175,000, and the treaty so permits on an individual basis seeking additional compensation from the airline and the airline only. BANFIELD: OK. So what if they litigate and settle and there are pay- outs made and three, four, six, 10 years down the road, we find a piece of wreckage or we find a black box that actually can ascribe blame for this. I don't know what the statutes of limitations are for these things, but is there something that could change down the road for them?

FEINBERG: I suppose there's something that could change. Never underestimate creative lawyering. But I think you have put your thumb on a real problem, which is six, eight, 10 years down the road, the statute of limitations runs. They may have signed a total release to not to litigate in return for receiving some compensation. Who knows. You're posing some interesting additional hypothetical facts that will have to play out.

BANFIELD: And, of course, it's not America. And we are so used to multimillion dollar settlements as part of the norm. This is different. This will be a jurisdiction like China or Malaysia, where things are very different. Ken, thank you. Thanks for being with us. It's good to see you again.

FEINBERG: Thank you. Good to see you.

BANFIELD: So we've heard some pretty remarkable odds of our standards. And what we here in the United States are prepared to deal with when it comes to the possibilities of catastrophe. How does one in a billion sound in a standard? And if that's standard, how did this happen? We're going to tell you what the actual odds are and what the FAA says should be our brass ring, coming up.

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BANFIELD: The mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is as rare as it gets. Modern commercial air travel has become so safe that when something does go wrong, it is a massive challenge to find out what it actually was, from an intellectual and from an emotional standpoint. So what are the odds of something like this actually happening? If you ask the FAA, and I'm going to quote them, "the certification standard for a failure or combination of failures that would prevent an airplane from successfully landing on a runway must be one in a billion flights." That's not hours, that's flights.

I want to bring back in Lieutenant Colonel Michael Kay and CNN's safety analyst, David Soucie. David is also a former FAA inspector.

First of all, David, I could not believe when I heard that statistic, given what we've been dealing with for the last 24 days. But it truly is a standard of one in a billion. And if that's the case, why do we have air crashes fairly more regularly than that?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, the one in a billion is a good figure. I mean it comes right out of the FAA handbook. It's what we were taught at the academy. That's the way that it works. But that's based on assumptions. That's based on engineering assumption and operational assumptions. So those assumptions, those figures, that billion is only as good as the assumptions that we make. So if you look at the Aloha accident, you think about -

BANFIELD: Hawaiian Airlines?

SOUCIE: Yes, Aloha Airlines, when the top of the aircraft came off, I call it the convertible accident when the top of the aircraft came off, that assumption that the engineer made on that was that this aircraft would be stressed a certain number of times per hour, two- and-a-half hours to be specific. But when it went to Hawaii, it was only 20 minutes between flights. So the stress on the air frame was every 20 minutes. Now you've changed the assumption. So now you go from a billion to much less than that.

BANFIELD: So that billion is based on all the equipment and the gear being used exactly as it was planned and it doesn't make room for the monkey wrenches and the bug-a-boos that the human condition, you know, enters into this formula.

Bring in the pilot. You're the last guy, Colonel Kay, you're the last person in the chain of error that can save yourself and others. But really, you're at the mercy of everybody else's assumptions, aren't you? I mean you can check the outside of the plane, but you can't check everything.

LT. COLONEL MICHEL KAY, ROYAL AIR FORCE (RET.): No, you can't. And the responsibility of the captain is enormous. I mean the captain's not just responsible for the aircraft. He'll sign the aircraft out, and then he will be responsible for that aircraft until the point where they land at the other end and then he'll sign the aircraft back in again. He's also responsible for the souls on board.

And he'll - you know, right from signing the aircraft, he'll go and do the walk-around. He'll make sure that everything looks normal. He'll look into the engine air intakes. He'll be looking at the flaps. He'll be looking at the (INAUDIBLE). He'll be looking at every moving part on that jet. Are there any panels missing?

But, you know, getting airborne then as well is, you know, what happens if you have weather, bad weather. How do you navigate around it? What are the - what are the diversions if you have an emergency? The roles and responsibility of the captain are just enormous and they're constantly going over what if, what if, what if, and then you get to the destination, you sign the aircraft in, and then you can relax. And I always remember, in my career, when I was signing the aircraft in, you know, it was a nice feeling. You'd achieved the objective. You got everyone where you needed to go safely and -

BANFIELD: By the way, I thought that feeling would come wheels-down. Like that's what I would have assumed, that the minute you're wheels- down and you're OK, no matter what, I would think that that would be the feeling.

Michael Kay, David Soucie, as always, thank you so much for your expertise today.

KAY: Good to see you, Ashleigh. Thanks.

BANFIELD: Always good to see you both.

SOUCIE: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Appreciate it.

We've got another big story, as well, that's been developing. Some pretty tense exchanges of artillery fire, actual real bullets between North and South Korea. Yes, real bullets. Both countries exchanging -- or engaging in military tests and exercises. Not expecting what they were getting. Could this lead to a bigger real fight? More on that after the break.

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BANFIELD: That is not Hollywood. These are war games on the Korean peninsula. A little too close to the real thing. South Korea says that North Korean artillery shells, dozens and dozens of them, landed in South Korean waters on the country's west coast. In response, the South was having none of it. It fired even more shells into northern waters. And all of this occurred during military drills taking place on both sides of the world's most heavily defended border.

You're watching U.S. and South Korean maneuvers that take place jointly every year. And every year they spark outrage from Pyongyang. This time the North is also warning of possible new nuclear tests. And the White House is condemning what it calls continuous threats and provocations. And need I remind you, there are many Americans in that zone.

In Washington state, the death toll from the devastating landslide, up again. Twenty-one confirmed fatalities. Another four bodies have been discovered but not yet identified. The number of people unaccounted for has dropped from 90 to 30. The search, however, is grueling. The landslide hit with such force that rescuers aren't even finding full, intact bodies.

Those who do not have health care insurance, well, they have until midnight tonight to sign up. That's when open enrollment for Obamacare ends. Early this morning, the website was down temporarily due to technical problems as troubleshooters worked on a -- something called a software bug. By 8:00 a.m., it was back up online, but it is experiencing delays because of the crush of last-minute applicants.

Thanks, everyone, for being part of our hour. It's been good to have you with us. My colleague, Wolf Blitzer, starts right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting.