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At This Hour

Search for MH370 Enters New Phase; Baggage Fees Give Airlines Boost; New Player Enters Sterling Drama, His Wife; Michelle Knight Shares Her Story.

Aired May 05, 2014 - 11:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: @ THIS HOUR, the search for flight 370 is entering a new phase now. More money and more technology and a much larger search area all part of the plan.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Officials from Malaysia, Australia and China will meet Wednesday to hash out what to do next.

Let's bring in Will Ripley, live from Kuala Lumpur.

In addition to mapping, they are also going to reexamine all of the data that they have gathered, all of this Inmarsat, all this satellite information and all of the pings to make sure they are looking in the right place.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, it's the same team that was here in the days and weeks after the plane first disappeared. They are now going to head to Australia to see if they feel this is their best guess. It's an educated guess of where the plane's flight ended and if it's in this correct area. It's important they do that when you consider the amount of time and resources the international team is about to invest there, up to 12 months and $60 million.

PEREIRA: Where does the search stand so far, Will? Give us an update on the area that's been covered.

RIPLEY: Let me put this in perspective for you, Michaela. The Bluefin-21 has done 18 missions so far covering just 154 square miles, this newly expanded search area, 23,000 square miles. So clearly there's a lot of ground to cover. They will meet to figure out the best way to do it. Obviously they'll need to bring in different technology to assist the Bluefin in this massive effort and it will take a long time.

PEREIRA: That's what they seem to be alerting us to. It will take time. Obviously some patience.

Thank you so much, Will.

Let's bring in our aviation analysts, Mary Schiavo; and safety analyst, David Soucie.

Great to have you both with us at this hour. Mary, I'll start with you.

They're not sure if satellite information has been accurately interpreted. Let that sink in for a second. Does that surprise you or frustrate you or confound you?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, mostly it frustrates me. It doesn't surprise me because it was a limited amount of data. It was new application that they hadn't done before. They wanted to get the Bluefin in there and start looking. They thought they put Bluefin in to search in the best place. Now that they have time and pulled Bluefin out and are back onshore, they have time to reconsider and people now realize they're in it for the long haul. This is a good thing is. They want to make sure they're looking in accurate places and not waste any resources and be efficient in what they're doing.

BERMAN: David, a lot of people said they should open the books here. Let the world see. Open source to a certain extent this satellite data so they can get the best minds around the world weighing in on if it's actually accurate.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: I think there's good and bad to that. There are some things you want to do that with and some things you don't. When we got information from the north arc up there, turns out it was a bad lead. There's nothing up there. Bangladesh went out and couldn't find anything. At times you have to manage your resources. It's really best what they're doing right now is smart. Regroup. Surprised they haven't brought more specialists in. They reached out to our investigative community and a few of my friends on the teams that were in have been contacted to be just provide information. They haven't enlisted them yet but they are reaching out and looking for new information. That's a good thing.

PEREIRA: It's frustrating for many people and most frustrating must be for families, agonizing.

Mary, someone over the weekend because everywhere you go people talk about this mystery of this plane. Someone was likening it to me to a police investigation that has gone cold. It's not unusual for detectives to go back and look at all of their evidence and data to look over it again to make sure nothing was missed. If you look at it that way, it doesn't seem unreasonable at all, does it?

SCHIAVO: It doesn't seem unreasonable at all. When you are an investigator, you want to challenge yourself and go back and see if you have the right assumptions. It's part criminal investigation according to Malaysians to see if there was foul play involved in the disappearance of the plane but also a civil investigation. A civil aviation safety investigation and people are used to more openness and they are used to being able to have complete access to the data. Our own NTSB makes a public docket and uploads it for the world to see. That's part of the frustration for the families too. It's not what they're used to. I think after this meeting on Wednesday they will understand that for proper care of the families, they're going to have to be more open.

BERMAN: David, give me a sense of what the new technology is they'll deploy under water and how soon they can get it. It's not quick.

SOUCIE: It's not at all. There is only about two or three available. There is one in Germany right now and U.S. Navy has one but it's obligated right now. It's not like they can just pull these off the shelf. There's more than just the equipment. It's the crew. How do you manage those crews? What are they looking for? They've been asked -- some people I have talked to said they want us to just bring our tools and we'll search where they want us. That's not how it works. You have to really plan that. It's part of your tools. It's like hiring a mechanic saying can I borrow your tools? It doesn't work. The fact that they are in Canberra right now is important. That's where the cabinet is held. That's strategic. I think for them to be there, the cabinet has to approve more money so I think that's a really critical piece that we need to look at is to where the tools will come from and who will pay for them.

BERMAN: David Soucie, Mary Schiavo, great to have you with us. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: You probably cringe every time you have to pay them. I'm talking about baggage fees with the airline. Wait until you find out how much money the airlines have made off of your luggage last year. That's when you will really cringe.

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BERMAN: If you fly, we've got new numbers that will warm your heart. Kidding. They'll make you pull your hair out. We're talking about baggage fees and how much money you're spending on it.

PEREIRA: I feel like it will be bad news and I'll have to start wearing all my clothes on my body when I go on a trip.

Erin McPike, break down the numbers for us, here in D.C. It's bad news, isn't it?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, guys. Yes, these are new numbers from the Department of Transportation about the profit that U.S. Airlines made in 2013. U.S. Airlines weren't that profitable a few years ago, and these fees helped. In 2012, airlines profited at $98 million. And in 2013, that jumped way up to $12.7 billion. And baggage fees alone were a quarter of that at $3.3 billion.

So we'll break it down by some of these airlines and the biggest aggressor is delta air lines. $833 million for Delta last year in baggage fees. 624 million for United. Look at this. U.S. Airways at $527 million and American at 505. If you put those two together as you know, they merged. That's over a billion dollars in baggage fees alone. And then Spirit Airlines at $211 million last year. Now, Spirit Airlines is special. They add up lots of different fees to make their profits.

Here's the answer to all of this for you. You know this all too well, as I do, from the campaign trail a few years ago, carry-on. If you overstuff your carry-on, they have to gate-check it for you any way and then they don't charge you. That's the answer.

BERMAN: It's hard to get around the man when it comes to baggage fees.

PEREIRA: I will tell you, a friend of mine, a former colleague, he and his wife would FedEx his bags to a location because they didn't want them to get lost and they were tired of all of the fees that they were having to pay. I might as well pay to have them shipped ahead of me.

BERMAN: At least seats are comfortable and plenty of leg room. It's justifiable.

PEREIRA: And then you eat that food onboard.

MCPIKE: You can pay for extra leg room. Another fee that they get you for. And changing reservations got the airlines $2.8 billion last year. If you have to go on a Friday instead of a Thursday, they're going to get you for that too.

BERMAN: In-flight magazine is free for now.

PEREIRA: Wait for it.

BERMAN: Erin McPike, great to have you with us. Appreciate it.

Other news for us @ THIS HOUR, the first American to be diagnosed with the MERS virus is doing well. Indiana's Department of Health says the patient is a health care provider that traveled to Saudi Arabia. He returned with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. That's a form that killed 93 people in 12 countries but officials say the American patient is improving every day and has been kept in isolation.

PEREIRA: Check out Target. The chairman and CEO of Target left the company after a 35-year career there. Greg Steinhafel's decision likely had a lot to do with the data breach, that big data breach last year that exposed private information of more than 100 million target shoppers. The company says the breach has hurt sales and customer confidence. The resignation letter mentioned Target's rocky debut in Canada. The retailer lost $950 million last year. In the interim, the CFO will take the helm in the interim.

BERMAN: Ahead for us @ THIS HOUR, the Clippers co-owner says she agrees with the NBA's decision to boot Donald Sterling and find a new CEO. That co-owner happens to be Mrs. Sterling. We'll talk about how this could affect the team's future next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Let's just focus on the real victim here. It's me. My reputation has gotten a real black eye, which we know is the worst kind of eye.

(LAUGHTER) (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: "Saturday Night Live," Sterling satire there poking fun at Los Angeles Clippers' banished owner. Back in the not-so-real funny world, a new player entered the Donald Sterling drama. That would be Mrs. Sterling.

PEREIRA: She's not just his wife or estranged wife, depending on who you ask, but she's also the co-owner of the team. She says she's all for the NBA's plan to kick her husband to the curb and find a new CEO to run the team.

Our Ted Rowlands is following the story from L.A. where it is front- page news almost every day. Everyone is talking about it at the pantry, across from Staples Center.

What is the strategy here for Mrs. Sterling? Does she have one?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: It appears she does have one. She's been going to all of the games and this statement that she released over the weekend really does sort of open up that window that you think she's going to try to keep this team. Basically she says, oh, I love the idea of bringing in somebody new, somebody inclusive, somebody who will run the team and kick my husband out. That's great. That's what I have been saying for years. I'm committed to making the Clippers a winning team. I have been since 1981.

It sure sounds like Shelly would love to keep this team. She hasn't said it outwardly or done an interview but the statement spoke volumes.

BERMAN: Hard to appreciate the fact that anyone is committed to making the Clippers a winner team since 1981, when they had decades of doing everything not to win.

Ted, in our introduction, we said his estranged wife or maybe not estranged wife. That seems to be at the center of this whole situation here. If she's trying to keep this for herself or if she's doing this as some part of scheme with her husband to maintain Sterling family control over the franchise.

ROWLANDS: If you look at their history, she is still with him after all these years, and he's had all of these, whatever he calls them, friends, female friends he pays off. She comes in and sues to get the money back when he's finished with that said individual, and she's obviously involved in some of the other issues that have come up with their apartments and other buildings. Is he behind her and would he still be pulling the strings if she had ownership? It's hard to tell. Obviously, something the NBA would look into. I can't imagine the NBA saying, sure, you can have the team, Shelly. Just as long as Donald doesn't come to the games.

PEREIRA: Look, whatever it is going on in the locker room right now, it seems to be driving the Clippers to some kind of passionate run. They run against the Warriors. They're facing off now against OKC. That's next up. There's a lot of momentum for this team perhaps. Some people are saying it also could be a big distraction for the players.

BERMAN: I think it's been both. It does seem they've got things under control and are moving on.

Ted Rowlands, appreciate it.

PEREIRA: Thanks so much.

A sharp break here. Ahead, she was held captive for a decade. Now Michelle Knight is sharing the gruesome details of her experience after -- a year after she was rescued.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE KNIGHT, FORMER HOSTAGE: My legs and hands were bound like this. And I was that far from the floor.

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BERMAN: It has now been a year since the three young women held captive in Cleveland were rescued. Now one of them, Michelle Knight, is sharing her story. Her book called "Finding Me" comes out tomorrow.

PEREIRA: She says she's sharing her story partly because she wants to help other victims of violence.

Our Anderson Cooper sat down with Michelle Knight and asked her how she was kidnapped for Arial Castro all those years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, A.C. 360: What did he tell you to get you inside the House?

KNIGHT: In the car, he said that he had puppies. So when we got like a quarter down the road, he's like, that's my van right there. And it says puppies for free. So I was like, OK, I could take one home to my son because unfortunately his dog had passed away. So we get in the backyard. And I really didn't think nothing of it until, you know, we got into the House. That's when it dawned on me this was a mistake to get in this car.

COOPER: You knew by then this is wrong?

KNIGHT: Yeah. And then I ended up being trapped in a small room, small pink room. That's where he proceeded to tie me up like a fish and put me on the wall.

COOPER: You said tie you up like a fish. What do you mean?

KNIGHT: My legs and hands were bound like this. And I was that far from the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It's horrible. All those years ago.

PEREIRA: It's so horrible to hear this. The fact that they, young woman survived that.

We're joined now by Dr. Gail Saltz, a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, best-selling author.

Always a delight to talk about these things and help us. Always understanding what these women went through. Do you think it's going to help Michelle by opening up this way? I no know she really wants to help other victims.

DR. GAIL SALTZ, PSYCHIATRIST, PSYCHOANALYST & AUTHOR: There are a couple of things that help people who have gone under terrible trauma and it has to be driven by them. So for some, it is talking about and replaying, re-understanding their story. And for some, that's very healing. Obviously, she's driving this. And so I think, you know, yes, you could expect that would be helpful. The other thing is, as you pointed out, helping others. So for some -- you see this often when someone's undergone something terrible, they often start an organization, they'll get involved in some way, in helping other victims. And that is a way of, you know, it's called sublimation, taking something that's happened terrible to you and help someone else. It's a way of healing. I would think yes. I would also say the timing of one year here is important. Because the first year that you go through each thing, a birthday, a holiday, something significant with family that is after the trauma is usually extremely difficult. And you have sort of these reactions, including the one- year mark of an anniversary reaction. So around this time, you would expect might be extremely difficult for her. But perhaps for her being able to talk about it, being able to release her book, and feeling that she is helping others would be potentially healing.

BERMAN: Let's talk about the others here. If you're a survivor of something awful like this, and there are way too many people who are, what do you see and what do you take from this?

SALTZ: Well, I think she's trying to portray the resilience, the idea that even if you've gone through something terrible, a, you can survive and, b, you can recoup your life. And I think she's trying to be a model of that, to show that she's still enjoying her life. The truth is, some people wouldn't be able to do that. She is able to reengage. She is saying that, you know, she is enjoying the small moments? She is functioning. She is, you know, putting out this book. She is financially surviving. She has others rallying to her and being supportive. They're not shunning her. I think all those are really important messages for survivors of trauma.

PEREIRA: Gail, is this something -- I know it differs from person to person. When someone goes through an ordeal like this, a trauma like this, is this something that they can get past or is it something -- we pray that's not the case for anybody who's gone through something like this.

SALTZ: From a professional point of view, and not knowing her specifically, I would say the answer is both. You know, some people are going to be able to be resilient enough to keep going with their life and find joy and function and participate in meaningful ways that make life very worth living for them. But that doesn't mean that they're over it. In other words, you know, the likelihood of, say, if she wants to have an intimate relationship and have trust and those kinds of important things, you know, the likelihood is this will stay with her in some form or another. Doesn't mean, though, she hasn't somewhat overcome it. But I have to say, we don't understand resilience fully yet.

PEREIRA: Right, right.

SALTZ: Clearly, some people are more predisposed than others. Some people really wouldn't be able to recoup their life. I think having support is very important.

BERMAN: Dr. Gail Saltz, thank you so much for being with us, talking about this.

PEREIRA: And Anderson's second part of his two-part interview with Michelle airs tonight on "A.C. 360." Check it out at 8:00 p.m. eastern.

That wraps it up for us @ THIS HOUR. I'm Michaela Pereira.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now