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Biden in Ukraine; Congressional Delegation visits Ukraine; Interview with Rep. Ed Royce; Chaos & Confusion Aboard a Sinking Ferry; Activity Detected at North Korea Nuclear Site; Yemen: 65 Militants Killed since Saturday; Obama Leaves Soon for Asia Tour

Aired April 22, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Vice President Biden in Ukraine this morning basically saying, we've got your back. Biden met today with Ukraine's top officials, including the acting president making it clear that the United States fully supports the country in its ongoing tensions with Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States stands with you, and is working to support all Ukrainians in seeking a better future. You will not walk this road alone. We will walk it with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Diana Magnay is in Moscow.

So I'm wondering, was Russia listening to the vice president this morning?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sure Russia was listening and it's not the kind of press conference that they particularly like to hear. Russia has always accused the U.S. of interfering in Ukrainian affairs. They consider the current authority in Kiev to be illegitimate. So the fact that the U.S. is propping them up and offering support, not just for the broader Ukrainian economy, but also for its sort of counterterrorism, as they're couched, efforts in the eastern Ukraine. The U.S. is helping with radio gear, with general sort of support facilities in the east. That kind of thing isn't going to go very well -- down very well in Moscow.

Also, the fact that Joe Biden said he doesn't consider the annexation of Crimea to be remotely legal. Clearly what Russia sees as something that is legitimate and that really what most people here see as a justified return of what was Russian to Russian soil is perceived by the rest of the world as an unfair annexation. These are irreconcilable points right now, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Diana Magnay reporting live from Moscow. Many thanks to you.

Republican Congressman Ed Royce is leading a congressional delegation to Ukraine. He joins me now by phone from Kiev.

Welcome, congressman.

REP. ED ROYCE (R), CALIFORNIA (via telephone): Well, thank you. It's good to be with you.

COSTELLO: Oh, it's great to have you with us.

You just returned from a trip to eastern Ukraine, the site of heightened tensions between pro-Russian forces and Ukrainian loyalists. You met with a governor there. What's the mood like?

ROYCE: Well, it was interesting because we made a point of trying to meet with all the Russian-speaking minorities and religious minorities in the region. The feedback we got was that they felt this was being manufactured by Russia. We'd bring up different points and people would smile and say, well, that's Russian propaganda. That, in fact, you know, what they were find - were Russian special forces sort of disguised, going around trying to whip up trouble. But the local people there, we met with leaders, for example, in the Jewish community, and in other minority communities, and they all were of the same opinion, which was, they're looking forward to the election on May 25th and want independence for Ukraine from Russia.

COSTELLO: Well, on the subject of that election, Joe Biden said this morning that the United States will provide substantial assistance for that presidential election. What exactly does that mean?

ROYCE: Well, it means about 2,000 election observers, and that's from the U.S. side. But Europe will be heavily engaged there as well with their observer teams. It also means money in order to try to train the Ukrainians in terms of how to conduct this vast election. I frankly think returning from the east you're going to see a big turnout from some of these areas. I know the Russians will attempt to disrupt the election, but security is certainly a concern. So you'll also see some funding for election security out of that.

COSTELLO: Well, and, of course, Russia is not backing down, and the rhetoric is heating up even here in the United States. In fact, Senator John McCain was on "Late Night with Seth Myers." He slammed Russia's president, Vladimir Putin. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country. All he's got is gas and oil, and that's really all that is sustaining them. Well, I take that back, it's a gas station run by a mafia that is masquerading as a - as a --

SETH MYERS, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Really, I - because originally i thought it was a little rough.

MCCAIN: Yes. Yes, you know - MYERS: I'm glad you - I'm glad you softened it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Of course, Russia exports natural gas to Ukraine. Ukraine pays Russia for those resources. Do you agree with Senator McCain?

ROYCE: Well, 70 percent of the Russian exports are oil and gas, and it's 52 percent of the budget for their military and their government. So the prime support for Putin right now is the monopoly they have, principally in eastern Europe, on oil and gas. So if we were to export gas into this region, and that has been part of our discussions here with Ukrainians, we were over in Azerbaijan. They're building the pipeline into Europe. Certainly could send gas from Louisiana. We have excess capacity there at an LNG (ph) facility.

Other - well, there's a lot we can do to help. You know, 50 percent of the gas needs of Ukraine could be met. In my conversation with the vice president (INAUDIBLE), he said, if - you know, they were to developing shale gas here. So I'm sure we're going to be involved in transmitting to them that type of capability engineering-wise.

So, you know, as we go forward, there are a lot of ways to put the pressure on Russia, because if you - if you eliminate their monopoly in eastern Europe on gas, that hits their bottom line. That hits their stock market. The value of their currency. So this is one of the ways to push back.

COSTELLO: Congressman Ed Royce, thank you so much for joining us live from Kiev this morning. We appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, more crew members arrested this morning for their role in that South Korean ferry disaster.

Plus, chaos, confusion and panic. Hear the crew's emergency calls for help aboard that sinking ship, next.

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COSTELLO: Investigators have arrested two more crew members for their role in that sinking ferry. That means a total of nine people, including the captain, have not been detained for their actions or inaction aboard that ship. Chaotic radio transcripts from the doomed ferry are now giving us new details about last Wednesday's disaster, which has left at least 121 people, mostly students, dead. Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Our ship is listing and may fall."

Recordings reveal the frantic ship-to-shore communications as a ferry filled with 476 people, most of them students, begins to list and take on water. At 9:10, VTS, the center that monitors ship traffic, asked, how are the passengers doing? The ferry replied, "it's too listed and they are not able to move."

Fifteen minutes later, panic sets in. The ship radios. "If passengers escape, can they be immediately rescued?" "Patrol ships should arrive in 10 minute." "10 minutes?" "Yes, 10 minutes. 10 minutes."

The chaos and confusion all add up to an unthinkable crime, according to the president of South Korea. "The actions of the captain and some of the crew are absolutely unacceptable," she says. "Unforgivable actions that are akin to murder."

The captain, who is facing five criminal charges, spoke about safety four years ago in a promotional video. "As long as you follow the orders of our crew members," he says, "traveling by ship is safer than any other means of transport." Now, that very captain faces tough questions about the orders he gave as his ship quickly sank.

"I gave orders to evacuate," he says, but that was after he told them to wait because the rescue boats had not arrived yet. Most of those who obeyed are still missing, trapped inside the sunken ferry. And with each passing hour, the likelihood of a survivor being found fades. It is a reality that weighs heavily on the divers. "We cry every day and search for the missing people," says a volunteer. So far, they have only recovered bodies. One by one, they are brought ashore. They are 15, 16 and 17-year-old students, parents and children. A national tragedy. And for the families, a grueling wait for answers.

LAH (on camera): Those buoys that you're looking at, those large buoys are off-white in color, those are the ones that mark the spot where the Sewol ferry went down. All around it, you can see orange ships, these small inflatable ships. That's what divers are using to get to the site itself. Then they're using guidelines to try to access the ship. What they are looking for are bodies or survivors. Driving these divers, they say, it's a miracle. The hope that they may indeed find someone alive.

Kyung Lah, CNN, on the water of the Yellow Sea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: One hundred and eighty-one people remain missing aboard that ferry. Officials still calling their efforts a search and rescue operation, but so far divers have not found a single survivor.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, is North Korea getting ready for a nuclear test? Up next, new concerns the repressive regime is beefing up its nuclear capabilities just days before President Obama arrives in the region.

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COSTELLO: New fears this morning. North Korea may be ramping up its nuclear capabilities after South Korea detected activity at one of the communist country's main testing sites. Experts are keeping a close eye on whether North Korea is preparing an underground tunnel at the site. They warned that kind of action would signal a nuclear test is imminent. This alarming news comes as President Obama prepares for an overseas trip to Asia and the South Korean officials focus on that sunken ferry disaster.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has more for you.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, there is stepped up activity at the Punggye-ri site in the north east of North Korea. This is where they carried out their previous underground nuclear test back in February 2013.

This is according to the South Korean defense ministry the basically tell CNN all that North Korea has to do is make the political decision to carry out a fourth nuclear test.

Now, we understand that they have yet to dig the entrance to this underground tunnel and then to seal it up, but we're being told that that would not take very long. Now just last month North Korea said it may carry out a new kind of nuclear test if it felt it was being pushed to do so by the United States.

Now experts say that this new kind of nuclear test may in fact be using uranium rather than plutonium. Now some experts say that this may also just be a bluff so that North Korea can try and extract some concessions from the United States.

The timing's certainly interesting. North Korea -- U.S. President Barack Obama is heading to the region. He'll be here in Seoul on Friday and North Korea's foreign ministry has mentioned that trip describing it quote "As a reactionary and dangerous one" -- Carol?

COSTELLO: Officials of Yemen say high-value al Qaeda targets are believed among the 65 militants killed there since Saturday. The Yemenis are performing DNA testing on the dead to learn their identities.

CNN's Jim Sciutto has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yemeni officials are calling the operation massive and unprecedented, killing at least 65 militants tied to the feared al Qaeda affiliate al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula with more raids still underway -- elite Yemeni units on the ground backed by drones from the skies. Two separate strikes this weekend targeted senior members of the group. Though American officials have refused to comment the U.S. is the only country known to operate drones in Yemen.

JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: We don't comment in the details of counter terrorism cooperation with our foreign partners. So I don't have more to share with you, but of course, as I noted, we have a strong working relationship. SCIUTTO: Terror analysts tell CNN that an operation of this scope would be unlikely without high-ranking terror leaders on the target list. Believed to be among them, Ibrahim al Asiri master bomb maker known for designing the 2009 Christmas day underwear bomb and more recently, suspected of refining the design for shoe bombs to get them past airport security. No identities of those killed have yet been confirmed.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R), CHAIRMAN, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: They are the ones who create and inspire magazines. And inspired the Boston bombers but the fact that the administration is now going aggressively against these terrorists I think is a very positive sign, given the prior narrative that al Qaeda is on the run and this is all over.

SCIUTTO: The drone strikes come just a week after CNN aired this video, showing a large and bold gathering of AQAP in broad daylight, near to where the current operations are under way. U.S. intelligence officials consider the group a direct and growing threat to Americans.

SETH JONES, RAND: This is one al Qaeda affiliate which is time and again been interested, willing and able to try to strike the U.S. homeland. So some drone strikes may disrupt the group's ability to conduct attacks both in Yemen and overseas. But if you don't control this territory, and right now, the Yemeni government doesn't, nor does the U.S., the group will still pose a major, major threat.

SCIUTTO: Yemen's central government is weak and faces a real existential challenge from these groups. Many analysts I've spoken to are calling this a good sign therefore that they have a commitment to carry out such a large anti-terror operation like this.

But large operations also carry dangers particularly civilian casualties. We know of at least three over the weekend from one drone strike. And in the past casualties like that have sparked real anger against the U.S. and the Yemeni government. And they're a real danger going forward.

Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, President Obama heads to Asia minutes from now to reassure our allies there. But he's stopping along the way to show his commitment to some devastated Americans. We'll talk about that next.

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COSTELLO: President Obama is scheduled to leave the White House in just a few minutes. He's going on a week-long four-nation tour of Asia. The trip, rescheduled from October because of the government shutdown, is aimed at reassuring allies of U.S. support. En route to Asia, the President will make a stop in Washington State to view the destruction from that massive mudslide and talk with families of the victims. CNN's Athena Jones is at the White House to tell us more. Good morning, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Carol.

This is a sad anniversary President is going to be marking there in Washington. It was a month ago today that that mudslide buried three dozen homes and killed so many people. And so the President is going to be going there to see the destruction first hand, meet with the families of the victims, talk to first responders and he'll be delivering remarks there before heading off to Asia on this four- country visit.

It's his fifth trip to the region. You'll remember back in 2011 the White House announced the pivot to Asia -- the pivot to the Asia- Pacific Region. And so this trip is meant to reassure those countries that that focus is still on Asia and the Pacific.

His first stop will be Japan. He'll also visit South Korea. And two other countries as you mentioned that he'll be visiting -- Malaysia and Philippines were countries he was supposed to visit back in October but wasn't able do so because of the government shutdown.

The biggest issues he'll be talking about are going to be trade and security issues. Ambassador Susan Rice said that if they're able to complete this transpacific partnership, this big trade deal, with the region it could boost U.S. Exports by more than $123 billion yearly. So that's going to be a big issue. And also security.

As you heard in that report earlier South Korea is raising warnings that North Korea could possibly be preparing another nuclear test. So far, the White House isn't commenting on that. But that's just the sort of issues that are going to be talked about while the President visits that region -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Athena Jones reporting live from the White House. Thank you.

Checking some other top stories this morning at 56 minutes past the hour -- gunfire in a Utah courtroom. A U.S. Marshal shot a gang defendant after he grabbed a gun and rushed the witness stand. The defendant had been on trial for racketeering and conspiracy. He later died in a hospital.

The witness had been testifying about his life as a gang member when the defendant tried to attack him.

Ayers Rock, probably Australia's most famous natural landmark and a natural sightseeing spot for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge -- look at them there. William and Kate are on the 16th day of a 19-day tour of Australia and New Zealand and yes, they're stars wherever they go.

The next hour of "CNN NEWSROOM" starts now.

Good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. A California boy's death defying feat is casting a critical eye on security at San Jose's airport. Investigators are wondering why no one noticed the 16-year-old boy scaling a six-foot high fence around the perimeter of that airport. A security camera also captured the boy walking across the tarmac. No one noticed.

The boy then climbed into the plane's wheel well. No one noticed. Then he flew five hours to Hawaii where finally someone spotted the boy. So why wasn't anyone playing closer attention?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSEMARY BARNES, SAN JOSE AIRPORT: it's my understanding we reviewed that footage after we were alerted to the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Some visitors at the San Jose Airport say the fence is the problem because it isn't high enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN: Pretty easy. Just throw a jacket or some type of clothing or something over the barbed wire and hop on over. Pretty easy -- a kid can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And we are learning about the boy himself -- at least a little more. We know the teenager left his Santa Clara home after a fight with his family. Also, neighbors say the family moved into the neighborhood about a year ago. They know the father was a taxi driver and they never noticed anything unusual.

As for how that teen got into the plane's wheel well and managed to survive, CNN's Gary Tuchman shows us how he likely did it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is southern California Aviation Airport in Victorville in the desert where airlines all over the world bring their planes they're not using anymore. We're going to demonstrate to you how someone would get in the wheel well of an aircraft.

This is a Boeing 767 that used to be used. This is the door that's closed but there is a way to sneak in a hole to get into the wheel well and we'll show how the process would start, according to experts here.

Someone who wanted to get in the wheel well would get in one of the two tires. You step on the bars right here, climb all the way to the top right here. And this right here is when an opening would be to climb into the landing gear wheel well. Once someone would climb through that hole they would end up here. I'm going to show you what happens after they climb through the hole. They get in this area. This is the wheel well area. And we're told there's only really one place to sit where you could possibly survive because when the wheels move in -- the two huge wheels -- they come right here. There's no room, except for right here if this spot. And this is where you would have to sit with your knees close to you.

The wheel well would close with two tires right here. This is the only place where you could possibly survive.