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Co-Pilot Mental Illness; Crash Site Update; Viewer's Aviation Questions Answered; Harry Reid Will Not Seek Reelection . Aired 9:30- 10a ET

Aired March 27, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Excuse me, drive a plane into a mountain top. So I think it would be fusel (ph) and a big mistake to say, let's say if it turns out that he has depression, oh, he has depression, that's why he did it. I think we need to be very, very careful that mental health diagnoses are very complex, they can be very difficult to make and they are, you know, rarely when you have this kind of an outcome, they're rarely simplistic.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, also, I mean, something like depression, I mean the whole range of mental illnesses, mental health issues can be treated, though, you know, there are -- to your point, there are plenty of people, millions of people, living lives, productive lives, able to work in very complex jobs who have experienced this and who have had successful treatment.

COHEN: Right. And so that certainly begs the question, why didn't he seek treatment? Or it sounds like if there was a doctor's note, that he did, you know, why -- if there was treatment, why didn't it work? But the last thing that we want to do is discourage people from seeking treatment. And I know many of your other guests have said, you know, unfortunately, in the aviation industry, it is, you know, when you go in for that yearly physical and they ask you questions about your mental status, pilots know that if they say, yes, I've been suffering from depression or, yes, I've been suffering from anxiety, that may be the end of your career. And so I think that as a profession, the mental health profession, the aviation industry needs to learn how to make those distinctions between someone who is just suffering the kind of depression that many people suffer from that doesn't result in any kind of behavior like this and the kind of mental illness that does result in these kinds of outcomes.

COOPER: And the importance for getting treatment to change the potential outcome.

Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate you being on.

Still to come this morning, a tiny town in the shadows of the Alps has now become the center of efforts to recover remains from the crash of Flight 9525. We will take you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:35:15] COOPER: Well, for the workers attempting to recover the victim's remains, an incredible challenge lies ahead. The debris field in a mountainous area with steep slopes, icy weather. So rugged that workers have to be dropped down from helicopters by cable to actually reach it. The helicopters can't land. CNN's Nic Robertson is in the Alps, in the village that has become the headquarters of the recovery efforts, as well as the first stop for families making the difficult trip to the site where their loved ones died.

Nic, yesterday we saw a number of families coming to the staging ground, getting as close as they are allowed to get to the site where their loved ones remain. What is happening there today?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is a memorial, we talked about it yesterday, in the field that's the closest location that the French authorities are able to get the families of victims of the air crash. And the families are still continuing to arrive. A Spanish family visited the site there just in the last half an hour or so. The memorial itself, they came to lay flowers at the memorial. And at the memorial itself it says, "in memory of those who died in the air disaster 24th of March 2015." So this really is becoming now the first stop for the families of victims of the air crash.

There also have been other developments here today that we're learning from the recovery teams. They say they are now being able to bring some of the remains of some of the victims off the mountains. They've got a laboratory set up here. They are taking those remains to the laboratories there for testing, DNA testing was what the prosecutor said would be happening. So this is a -- this is an ongoing part of the process, but it seems to be a step forward.

It is windy today. Concerns are about the weather. But as -- but the recovery mission continues today. We're expecting more family members as well. But, really, again, the watch word here that we hear from all the officials is, that this will take time.

Some of those involved directly with the recovery today have described how it's done. Essentially there are two members on each team. One is there as part of the investigation and recovery, and the other person is there to make sure they're safe on the mountain. It is so dangerous. That's the way they have to work, Anderson.

COOPER: And where are the pieces of the aircraft that are being picked up? Where are they being brought?

ROBERTSON: There's -- this is the staging site where we are here for the helicopters picking up the air crews and going into the site. There's a secondary location deeper in the mountains where there is the initial drop off for the debris and for the victims. The victims are then brought into the town where we're standing right now, which is where the laboratories -- we believe the laboratories are set up for the testing that's been described to us. And the pieces of the aircraft itself are being stored locally as well. Not quite clear where that is. So it's a multi-step process here, Anderson. COOPER: Nic, this may be an odd question, but I'm just curious, the --

the plaque that was made, does it have the names of all the passengers on it?

ROBERTSON: Yesterday we were told that there was a plaque at the memorial that had all the names of the victims and from what we were -- the briefing that we were given yesterday, or the information we were given yesterday, if you will, said that the families were able to go and read the names. That all the names were there.

The memorial that we've been able to see today appears to be a very simple memorial that says, quite literally, in memory of the victims of the air disaster of 24th of March 2015. But yesterday, we understand, there was a list of the names of all the victims. It seems to be very much a work in progress, Anderson. This is something the French authorities have put together very quickly. It's their effort to help the families come to terms with what has happened to help them through this grief and to give them something to hold on to, to show that every effort is underway to help them at the moment, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, I guess the reason I was asking is because I'm wondering if when they made this memorial, when they made that plaque, they actually -- if they included the name of the co-pilot, because at that point nobody knew that it was the co-pilot who brought this plane down. And I'm wondering if they had now taken that name off or if they had changed the name or the monument. But, again, I guess we'll just have to see how things develop in the next several days.

Nic, I appreciate it.

ROBERTSON: Indeed. And that was -- that was my question as well. I think we would --

COOPER: Yes, go ahead.

[09:40:00] ROBERTSON: Yes, no, no, I had the same thought as you, Anderson. I mean how would it be for the families who'd only yesterday morning learned that this was a -- that the crash was a result of the -- of the direct intervention with the aircraft of the co-pilot, how would they respond to see his name. We're not clear if his name was on there, if that list of names has now been taken away because of that. But certainly yesterday, when we understood that a list of names had been prepared, it was before that information had been made public about the actions of the co-pilot. So it's certainly a very pertinent and poignant question at this moment.

COOPER: Yes. Nic Robertson, appreciate you being there. Thank you, Nic.

The crash is raising so many questions for so many people. We do want to give you some answers. We want to try to answer your questions. You can tweet us using the hash tag #germanwingsqs. And our experts will weigh in.

Joining me now is Scott Miller, he's a former Northwest pilot and a current flight instructor and aeronautics professor, Peter Goelz, CNN aviation analyst and former NTSB managing director, and Paul Callan, CNN legal analyst.

We've gotten a number of questions already. And I just want to start putting them to you. This one probably for Peter and Scott. "Can pilots and their trade associations reasonably continue to resist cockpit cameras now?"

Peter, that's something that was discussed a while back, the notion of having cameras in the cockpit. A number of pilots, pilot unions, from what I understand, resisted that idea. David Soucie has made the point that that resistance before was really kind of years ago when the ubiquity of cameras was not -- people had not gotten used to having cameras in as many places as they are now. Do you think that is something that may change now?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, I think that that position is becoming more and more untenable. I don't think there's any real rationality at opposing cockpit cameras. The protections that have been provided over the past decades to cockpit voice recorders have been very rarely breached and I think the same protections can be put for the cameras. So I think -- but I'd be interested in hearing what the captain has to say.

COOPER: Scott, what do -- what do you think about that? Because I mean there is the issue of having cameras then, of course also how are those cameras monitored, how are they used? Is it done -- is it in real time that people have access to it on the ground or is it something that is just sort of stored on a data recorder that can be viewed later?

SCOTT MILLER, FMR. NORTHWEST AIRLINES PILOT: You know, that's true. You know, finding out what the details may certainly color the argument. The pilot associations that we have here in the United States and worldwide have always been in the forefront of safety and have never opposed any changes that would improve safety. The issue with cameras is, we're not quite sure what that could add to the safety equation. A camera, in this case of the Germanwings accident, would have changed absolutely nothing about it.

And the technology that's increased with the flight data recorders, the cockpit voice recorders and the ability to analyze these, the National Transportation Safety Board has put together excellent animations of accidents that virtually duplicate what a camera would already be able to tell us. When you think of the expense and the complexity of installing cameras in all of our airlines' fleet, is there really going to be any increase in safety as a result of that added expense? I'm not trying to make this a dollars and cents question, but we're not quite sure that the cameras would really add anything to safety at this point.

COOPER: And I guess it's also a question of technology and what is actually technologically -- what's capable. But if it was possible to stream in real time so you had a real time recording inside the cockpit, isn't that something that if there was an accident, if there was some sort of reason to need to check, that authorities on the ground would have faster access to that video if it was able to be streamed and at least recorded somewhere, rather than having to wait to get the data recorders?

MILLER: Well, it's a very interesting idea and one that I think should be investigated. But, again, the devil's in the details. If we start streaming, especially video from every single flight, at any given time there's anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 aircraft in the air worldwide. That's an incredible amount of data. Where are we going to stream it? Where are we going to store it? And then what happens when data dropouts inevitably occur? If something as safety sensitive as tracking aircraft movement, we simply can't afford any sort of data dropout.

COOPER: Another question we received, "please advise the liability of Lufthansa and Germanwings for damage, repayments, too high for any bankruptcy, Airbus?

Paul.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, now, people who were injured and families who have been devastated by this have a remedy under the Montreal Convention. There's a guarantee of $157,000 per passenger. However --

[09:45:03] COOPER: That's if the airline has no liability at all.

CALLAN: No liability at all and they can't prove a case. However, here, I think you're going to have a strong negligence claim against Germanwings and its owner Lufthansa saying that the screening process for pilots was improper. Obviously, we're hearing now about mental health issues with respect to the co-pilot. There is also evidence that there have been prior pilot suicides. You had that Air Silk (sic) crash and there was the EgyptAir crash, maybe suicide, maybe terrorism involved. So they're on notice that when you leave somebody alone in the cockpit, they'd better be mentally stable.

COOPER: And if there is liability found on the part of the airline, if there's something that the airline could have prevented or could have done better, then there is no cap for potential damages?

CALLAN: It'll depend on which country you bring the lawsuit in. For instance, there were two Americans I believe, on the flight. They might have the right to bring it in an American court.

COOPER: Three Americans.

CALLAN: Three Americans. But there were Spanish citizens and French citizens and they may choose to bring in their own countries. There are different limits in different countries.

But bottom line, you're talking about millions of dollars per passenger and you're talking about liability for Lufthansa, which, by the way, is the largest airline in Europe and also is privately owned. People think of it as a German airline but since 1994 it's been privately owned.

COOPER: And you mentioned it depends on what country and what court the claim is brought in. but when you talk about liability, how is that determined? Is it based on the potential earning power of a person over the course of the rest of their life, that they could have reasonably been expected to earn?

CALLAN: It differs from place to place. In the United States, for instance, there would be two things -- one would be pain and suffering. That is what the passengers felt, they call it fear of impending death. Those moments when you know the plane is about to crash. American courts have sanctioned awards of millions of dollars just for that fear. The second thing is, yes, how much would you earn over your remaining lifetime and how much would your heirs inherit. That would be the standard in some American courts. It may differ in other parts of the world.

COOPER: We have another question now we got from Twitter. Why don't the air traffic controllers have more power to override the security or communication system of aircrafts? Peter? What about that?

GOELZ: Well, that's technology that's discussed, but it's years in the future and it presents a whole series of other unintended consequences. The idea of having pilotless planes -- well, we have drones now, but it's many years away from actually putting that into the cockpit with passengers and pilots.

COOPER: There's also, Scott, obviously the concern of the more complex you make this, the more people who could override a security system, there's dangers inherent in that. I mean, that the simpler system is by limiting the number of people who have access to it who can override it is greater protection.

MILLER: That's definitely true. The demonstration of drone power worldwide has been quite impressive. A drone pilot operator here at Beale Air Force Base in northern California can quite competently control an aircraft over the skies of Afghanistan. What's not talked about a whole lot, and in the scope of military operations, is the loss rate that they have due to, again, data dropouts and loss of communication. For a drone in an inhospitable area, that is something that can be taken care of. For an aircraft, that would be something that would be completely unacceptable. So I don't see remote control being a solution to this problem.

COOPER: Scott Miller, Peter Goelz, Paul Callan, thank you. We'll try to answer more questions coming up the next hour. Please keep on sending those questions. Tweet CNN using the hashtag #germanwingsqs You see it there @CNN. We'll be right back.

[09:48:57]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Earlier, we played a video from the German prosecutor in which the Reuters' translator had said that he had said that the co- pilot had a mental illness. Apparently, there was a mistake by the Reuters translator. The prosecutor had said a medical illness, not -- he did not specify a mental illness. So the importance of that is, had it been a mental illness as translated by Reuters, that would have been the first time the prosecutor acknowledged the exact nature of the condition, or at least gave a greater indication of the nature of the medical illness that the co-pilot faced. But apparently he did not say that, according to Reuters, the new translation. So right now, we do not know if it was a mental illness or some other kind of medical condition.

In other news, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has announced he will not be running for reelection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), NEVADA: But this accident has caused us for the first time to have a little down time. I have had time to ponder and to think that we have to be more concerned about the country, the Senate, the State of Nevada, than us. And as a result of that, I'm not going to be running for reelection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So he is not seeking reelection. The question is who is in line to be the top Democrat in 2016? To discuss I'm joined by senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

Jeff, how big of a surprise is this, that Harry Reid's not going to seek reelection?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, it's not that big of a surprise. We saw him in that video there with those glasses and the bruises on his face. He's still recovering from a serious injury that he had in January and he has been unable to see, he's had a few eye surgeries. He's of course getting up there in age and it is always a tough re-election seat back home in Nevada, so not that much of a surprise. But we were a little a bit caught off guard with it this morning. He wanted to control the timing of this decision.

And I thought it was interesting, in that message, he told Mitch McConnell, of course his Republican rival, he said, I'm not gone yet. I have almost two more years here. So a lot of fight left in Harry Reid, here for but it really sets off a scramble for who's going to replace him as the top Senate Democrat.

COOPER: And who are the top contenders? I mean, Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer?

ZELENY: Right, Senator Schumer right now is making calls -- or he's going to be making calls to other Senate Democrats this morning, I'm told. He probably is in the best position here. He has been at Harry Reid's side throughout this all. He has effectively arisen as one of the top or right hands for Senator Reid during his injury and others.

[09:55:04] But it is far too the soon to say if he's definitely going to get the seat. A big part of this will be will Democrats win control of the Senate. Of course, they lost control last fall and now only have a 54 seats in the Senate. So if Senate Democrats win control, who is most helpful to that? So Senator Schumer of course is probably in the top position, but far, far too soon to say if he'll get it, Anderson.

COOPER: And there's a picture of Dick Durbin there, and Chuck Schumer has released a statement. I want to say -- his statement says, quote, "Harry is one of the best human beings I have ever met," talking about Harry Reid, "and his character and fundamental decency are at the core of why he's been such a successful and beloved leader. He's so respected by our caucus for his strength, his legislative acumen, his honesty, and his determination. He's left a major mark on this body, this country, and on so many who have met him, gotten to know him, and love him."

Jeff Zeleny, Jeff, thanks very much for the update.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Good morning. I'm Anderson Cooper. Welcome to the viewers in the United States and around the world. We begin this hour in Germany where a police search has turned up new evidence, torn up medical records. They show that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, was hiding a medical condition from his employer and should have been on medical leave. Worse yet, he never should have been in the cockpit on the day he intentionally slammed the Germanwings airliner into the French Alps. The exact nature of the medical illness has not been made clear by authorities.

[10:00:02] Also new this morning, Germanwings' parent company makes it official, immediately adopting new rules that may have prevented this tragedy.