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Warrants Out for Captain; Jews Receive Fliers to "Register"; Bluefin Back in the Water, but Search Reveals Nothing Yet

Aired April 18, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(MUSIC)

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. In South Korea, the search is under way. Arrest warrants have been issued in connection with the ferry disaster that's left 28 dead and another 270 missing. That ship now completely under the water as buoys mark the spot in the Yellow Sea where that ship went down. Officials want the captain and two of his crew members -- actually, they've taken them into custody.

These are new pictures just in to CNN of that captain. He's in that highlighted circle there. Prosecutors say the third mate was at the helm of the ship when it began to sink. As for where the captain was, we just don't know. That's not clear.

We also have new video from inside the ferry as it sunk, passengers donning life jackets as the ship turns on its side. This person is actually walking on the wall of the ship's deck. That's the floor he's touching with his hand on the right side of your screen.

179 people were rescued soon after the boat started to sink but as I said, some 270 people remain missing. These are their relatives crowded inside a gym anxiously awaiting any word. Some of them so overcome with emotion they had to be taken away on a stretcher.

Paula Hancocks is on the scene in Jindo, South Korea, with more. Hello, Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol. Well, divers did manage to get inside the hull of the ship this Friday, the first time they've managed to do that. But they didn't find any survivors or any bodies. They only managed to get to the second floor and still the conditions are not good for this search operation. And now, many relatives are sitting by the side of the water's edge at this harbor for the third night in a row wondering what's happened to their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): This morning, divers in South Korea have finally made their way into the ship's hull. The ship now completely submerged under choppy seas, the strong currents in murky water making any rescue efforts nearly impossible. Rescuers this morning pumping oxygen into the ship in the hopes of providing air to anyone inside who may be alive.

But for desperate families waiting for answers, it's not enough. They're pleading with authorities to do more, releasing a statement saying, "We are making this appeal with tears because we are so furious with the way the government is handling this."

Some relatives broke down after hearing of a rumored autopsy report that one victim may have been trapped for some time before passing away. CNN cannot confirm this report.

Namsing Wan (ph) is waiting for word on his 16-year-old nephew.

NAMSING WAN, (ph) NEPHEW WAS ON SUNKEN SHIP: So even if how hard it is, how difficult it is, how hard it is, I don't care. I want to hear the truth.

HANCOCK: And new questions this morning, why when the ship took 2 1/2 hours to capsize, were hundreds still trapped? The captain, we now know, was one of the first to be rescued, while close to 300 passengers told not to move.

And investigators now revealing that he was not at the helm at the time of the accident; his third officer was. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'm at a loss for words."

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HANCOCKS: And another tragedy, we now know the deputy principal from this school where the high school students were, has been found dead hanging from a tree here in Jindo. He was on the ship as well. He was one that managed to escape. At this point, police are saying it's being investigated, they're not confirming it was a suicide, but yet another tragedy. Carol?

COSTELLO: Any word on why the ship sank? What it might have hit, if anything?

HANCOCKS: Well, we did hear from maritime police there was a low possibility it hit a rock or something like that. They thought it was a high possibility on Thursday that it could have been the fact that it deviated from its course, which could have caused this accident or at least contributed to it. We heard from another official this Friday saying they don't believe that that could have been the sole reason for this accident.

So, no, at this point we actually don't know what has caused it. We do have the transcript though of the discussion between someone on the ship, we don't know exactly who is talking, and traffic control on Jeju island, where the ship was intended to go. They say the body of the shift is tilted to the left, containers fell over, too. Traffic controllers saying put the life vests on and get as many people ready as you may have to abandon ship. And the person on the ship said it is hard for people to move.

Now of course we have heard from eyewitnesses that there was a PA announcement over the (inaudible) saying they shouldn't move, it was too dangerous to move. So this is something that's been being focused on quite closely. Why were people told not to move on a sinking ship? Carol?

COSTELLO: Paula Hancocks, reporting live from South Korea this morning.

For the families of the missing, of course it's an agonizing wait. Hundreds crowded on the dock near the sunken ferry's location. Others, as we showed you, crowded into a nearby school gymnasium, all hoping somehow their loved ones survived this disaster. CNN's Kyung Lah spoke with some of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hope, slipping away. Palpable anger replacing grief as families lashed out at whoever they could -- the news media and the government, chanting. "Return them to us," they say. These families have been here since the ship went down on Wednesday. Police officers were brought in to control the increasingly volatile crowd.

"What do you expect of us says?" says this father, whose teenage son is among the missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING KOREAN)

LAH: "He left saying, Dad, I'll be back," he says. "Now he's in the sea. Please help my baby. My baby is crying with fear in the sea. Please save my baby. All of his friends are there, all his school friends."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING KOREAN)

LAH: I want to jump in the sea, she says, thinking about my child in the sea. How can I as a parent eat or drink? I hate myself for this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SEAPKING KOREAN)

LAH: This couple can't bear to show us their son's picture or even utter his name. They and the other parents watching the live video feed of the rescue and news reports say what they need most is answers. Why did the ferry capsize? Why were their children initially told to stay put instead of escaping?

(on camera): Are you feeling that there's still hope for your child?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING KOREAN)

LAH (voice-over): "My little baby is in the sea in the dark. I worry he is shivering with fear and hunger. We need to rescue him fast. I don't know what to do. I just want him back."

A nation's prayers from many faiths fill this port, waiting to be answered.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Jindo, South Korea. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Last hour I talked to the spokesman for the U.S. naval forces at Korea about how the United States is helping with the search operation for survivors.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

VOICE OF LT. ARLO ABRAHAMSON: Oh, absolutely, you know, our operations continue aboard the USS Bonham Rashard. And that's the Navy's contribution. We've got two MH-60 helicopters that are search and rescue capable. And we also have liaison officers from the South Korean Navy that are aboard our ship that are working with us. And as long as we're tasked to continue these search and rescue operations, we're going to continue to work tirelessly, with hope, to find the survivors. And those families, who we're working with right now, or working for, as we do these operations.

Well, the U.S. Navy doesn't have divers currently assigned to this. Our current duties are with our helicopters and we're currently doing a search and rescue operations from the MH-60 helicopters from the Bonham Rashard, based off the Bonham Rashard, is in the vicinity of the area.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Abrahamson went on to say that even though the conditions are tough, divers will work tirelessly to try to locate any remaining survivors.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Bluefin-21 makes its fifth attempt to find wreckage as the Malaysian transport minister says he may need more underwater drones. Sumnima Udas is live in Kuala Lumpur with more. Hello? Sumnima?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Bluefin-21 is back in the water, making its fifth trip underneath the sea. It has now been 42 days since Flight 370 disappeared and still no clues. In the meantime, the visual search is moving forward. Nearly two dozen ships and planes are now scanning more than 20,000 square miles for any sign of debris. CNN's Sumnima Udas joins us live from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with more. Hello, Sumnima.

SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. The face of the investigation here in Malaysia, Hishammuddin Hussein, is the acting transport minister and also the defense minister. He tweeted that a committee is looking into possibly deploying more AUVs, or autonomous underwater vehicles, in the southern part of the Indian Ocean. That's of course as the search completes its 42nd day.

Now, he would not elaborate on exactly when that will happen. We know that the Australians haven't asked for more AUVs as of yet, but Angus Houston there earlier this week saying the Bluefin-21 is more than adequate for the search as of now. All of this, of course, as the families, particularly in China, become increasingly frustrated and they search for answers. We know just a few days ago there was a video conference between Malaysian officials and the families in Beijing. That didn't work out well. There were some technical glitches and the Chinese families became angry. They started yelling at the Malaysian officials, saying they are lying, that they need more answers. The Malaysian officials now saying that they will be sending a high-level delegation to Beijing, perhaps early next week, to inform the families about the search and also, in the words of Hishammuddin Hussein, to avoid more speculation. Carol.

COSTELLO: Sumnima Udas, reporting live from Malaysia this morning. Thanks so much. For more on the investigation, let's bring in Thomas Altshuler, he's vice president of Teledyne Marine Systems. Good morning, Thomas.

THOMAS ALTSHULER, VICE PRESIDENT, TELEDYNE MARINE SYSTEMS: Good morning, Carol. How are you today?

COSTELLO: I'm good. Thanks so much for being with me. You heard Sumnima, she said the Malaysian transport minister tweeted that he wants more underwater drones. The Australians say the Bluefin-21 is enough for now. Who's right?

ALTSHULER: Well, I think the issue is going to be the complexity of the search. And so more will cover more area more quickly, but the problem is these are uncommon assets. It's hard to find them. There aren't that many out there. They have what we would call a long logistics tail. There's a lot that has to be around to support them. And so putting more of them in the water is going to be a complex thing. It is possible. It will speed things up. But it is not just a simple process of putting another vehicle down.

COSTELLO: The Australian prime minister said that after about seven days, if the Bluefin doesn't find anything, the search may have to re- assess. What does he mean by that?

ALTSHULER: Well, I think the issue they're worrying about right now is the Bluefin is really about a -- covers about 40 square kilometers a day. That's limited by the swath or the width of the sonar scan and the speed at which the vehicle flies above the sea bed.

You start to do some of the math and you look at the area around that 17-mile ping location dimensions they talked about last week, you're looking at 30 to 60 days of survey time. So you start to think you're in here for the long haul. They have to look at whether they're searching at the right spot, whether or not they want to look at other assets. There are other types of deep water survey equipment that might be faster but they're even less common than, say, the Bluefin is.

COSTELLO: And is one reason the weather? Because the weather is not going to get any better out there.

ALTSHULER: Actually, the weather will get far worse. There this is right at the southern tip of the Indian Ocean and starting to approach what's called the Southern Ocean. We're going into winter. It's -- you've heard it called before, maybe some people heard it, it's right by the Roaring 40s. That means the water circulates around the southern part of the globe, the seas get rough, the winter is a tough time to do survey. And as the seas get rough, the vehicles can't go in the water. So it's going to stretch things out.

So to do a 30-day survey or 60-day survey, we usually think anywhere from two to three times the amount of time needed. So that could be four months, that could be six months of survey.

COSTELLO: Any way you look at it, we're in for the long haul. Thomas Altshuler, thanks so much for your insight.

ALTSHULER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, international diplomats reach a deal in Ukraine but there's some major pushback this morning. Phil Black is live in Eastern Ukraine. He'll be with us after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: International diplomats hash out a deal for Ukraine but pro-Russian militants reject it. This as Jewish people in Eastern Ukraine are beyond outraged after they receive these flyers requiring Jews over the age of 16 to register all their family members' cars and real estate.

Phil Black has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This letter injected the fear of anti-Semitism into Ukraine's crisis. The chief rabbi of Donetsk, Pinhas Vyshedski, reads the text, which says, "All Jews over the age of 16 must register their identities, real estate and car ownership."

He tells me the notice was handed out near his synagogue on Tuesday by four men wearing masks.

He says when he first saw it, he felt shock and fear. America's ambassador to Ukraine described his reaction to CNN's Jake Tapper.

GEOFFREY PYATT, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: It's chilling. I was disgusted by these leaflets, especially in Ukraine, a country that suffered so terribly under the Nazis. It was one of the sites of the worst violence of the Holocaust. To drag up this rhetoric again is almost beyond belief.

BLACK: The notice is signed Dennis Pushilin. Pushilin is the leader of the crowds occupying government buildings in Donetsk who want to break away from Ukraine. Pushilin denies he's behind the leaflet, telling CNN it's a clear provocation.

The notice says Jews must register because they supported protesters in Kiev who drove out the country's former president.

Rabbi Vyshedski says the Jews of Donetsk believe they're being used in a wider political game. He says the people who pray here are angry because those competing to control the future of country are repeating the mistakes of history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACK (on camera): It is not the first time anti-Semitism has been raised in the Ukrainian crisis. The Russian government in particular has made repeated allegations that there is a threat to Jewish people here from what they describe as fascists and even Nazis from the west of the country, the pro-European west.

Here on the ground, Jewish people say those threats are grossly exaggerated and they respond with some anger to them. So, too, this latest episode loving these leaflets. They believe that people are trying to manipulate this incredibly sensitive issue in order to achieve a political goal in the ongoing battle for the future of this country. Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: Phil Black reporting live in Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine. Thank you. We want to talk more about this deal reached in Geneva and whether it will work. With me now, Anissa Naouai, the senior political correspondent for "Russia Today." She's in Moscow. And CNN military analyst, Spider Marks. He joins us from Bloomington, Indiana. Welcome to both of you.

JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

ANISSA NAOUAI, SENOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "RUSSIA TODAY": Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Oh, glad you're here, Anissa. Anissa, I'd like to get your insight on Vladimir Putin. Americans don't trust him. Yesterday a U.S. senator called him unhinged. How do you respond to that? How do you see Mr. Putin?

NAOUAI: Well, it's not surprising that most Americans don't understand Vladimir Putin. He's portrayed as an evil man that runs an evil country that is invading Ukraine. I don't think that's the case. It's that simple.

COSTELLO: What about these flyers going around in Eastern Ukraine urging Jews to register? What do you make of that, Anissa?

NAOUAI: I think it's disgusting. I think it's horrific that you have the Secretary of State citing this incident when it was hours before very clear by very respected correspondents, including your own Phil Black, who was just talking about this, that this was a provocation. You had the head of the main synagogue in Donetsk saying almost first off he believed that this was a provocation.

There's no doubt that anti-Semitism is a big problem in Ukraine. Russia has been warning about this. I think what's even more alarming is that respected heads of think tanks in Washington were tweeting about this, writing about this. No one retracted or talked about how there was talk about how this could be black propaganda.

But what's even more frightening is that the government in Kiev -- call it illegal, call it legitimate, however you label it -- there's members in the government who are part of parties that are openly associate themselves with Adolf Hitler. We're not just talking about low-ranking people in the government. We're talking about the prosecutor general. We're talking about deputy vice prime ministers. These people associate themselves and are part of the Svoboda party as well as the Right Sector That is what Russia was talking about when it warned of these anti-Semitic problems.

And this is the government that the U.S. and NATO are backing in Kiev.

COSTELLO: General Marks, what do you make of this? Because there is sentiment here that pro-Russian militants are behind passing out these flyers.

MARKS: Carol, I think the issue of anti-Semitism is an extremely volatile -- clearly it's something that needs to be addressed. But let's be frank. Let's put that to the side right now. And we have to concentrate on what is taking place in this incredibly egregious violation of international law.

What has already happened? It's a fact, is that Crimea has been annexed by Russia. The referendum that occurred was clearly not something that would have occurred without the provocation of Russia. And, again, let's be frank -- Russia invaded Ukraine, annexed Crimea, and are now instigating what we see in Eastern Ukraine.

There is absolutely no basis of fact that any of this activity that's occurring in Donetsk is organic. That is instigated. And clearly it's instigated and we've got the intelligence that demonstrates that Putin has a number of his (inaudible) forces in Eastern Ukraine and they are totally unmarked -- their badges and patches are gone -- which is little more, frankly, cynical, but it allows it to occur and to assume its own level here.

And the Ukrainian government clearly is unarmed in this gun fight. They are not able to really move this thing to the side. Not only do they have a responsibility but they have an obligation to try, and that's failed miserably.

Therefore, we're at a point where the international community -- NATO, the EU, led by the United States -- really has to put pressure on Putin in a number of ways throughout the elements of power that exist. We have to start scoring points so we can get this to back off before it escalates.

COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you this, Anissa. This deal that was reached in Geneva after seven hours of negotiation required those pro- Russian militants who have taken over buildings in Eastern Ukraine to lay down their weapons and leave those buildings. Today, we hear they're refusing to do that. Why haven't Vladimir Putin somehow step in?

NAOUAI: Well, Vladimir Putin made it very clear that Russia in the sense that it's, yes, giving moral support to these protesters in Eastern Ukraine has nothing to do with the mass protesters that are armed. They are armed; they are occupying buildings. But let's not forget that's exactly what happened in Maidan.

And what happened in Crimea, the general calling it invasion, it of course depends on how you define an invasion. Because in Crimea, of course first of all it's an autonomous region, has its own constitution, its own government before the events in Kiev, which is what triggered the referendum, not necessarily Russia.

These people's rights were being infringed. It's one of the firs things the illegal government started to do, they scrapped a law that protected the autonomy of Crimea. They scrapped a law that protected their language rights to speak Russian and have Russian be an official language. It's not exactly a great sign of a government that, one, took over violently, illegally, but it's not a great sign of cooperation.

COSTELLO: But, Anissa, let's talk about what's happening today --

NAOUAI: In terms of Geneva --

COSTELLO: Yes, in terms of Geneva, what's happening today, they're supposed to be laying down their arms and leaving these government buildings.

NAOUAI: You can't talk about what's actually happening today in Eastern Ukraine and claim, like NATO does, that these protesters are absolutely Russian military because, one, they have Russian weapons, two, they're professional the way they use their weapons and, three, they're coordinated. So were the protesters on Maidan. There's video documentation of that. And anyone who's going to pretend that they weren't coordinate and well-organized is just not seeing reality. It's the same situation.

COSTELLO: But if these protesters are pro-Russian, couldn't President Putin go on Russian television and ask them to lay down their arms and leave so we can have a peaceful resolution?

NAOUAI: He did ask them to lay down their arms.

MARKS: Carol, can I jump in?

NAOUAI: He said that both sides need to lay down their arms. You can't have their arms laid down when tanks are moving in on their own people that have been labeled terrorists.