Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Search and Rescue for the Germanwings Plane Victims Continues; Astronaut Scott Kelly Prepares for One-Year Stay at ISS. Aired 3:30- 4p ET

Aired March 27, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00] NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's one team dedicated to flights and taking photographs. We've seen a team in a surveillance aircraft, not just helicopters over flying today, they take a lot of photographs at the scene, record exactly where each of the bodies are recover - being discovered. That goes to a central headquarters. Then they get directed to a map and other section of the ground there.

But you know, one of the biggest challenges in this and this just gives you some idea -- we talked about, you know, the physical challenges of getting in on the ground. How you have to be winched down. But get this, you know, the teams on the ground, these two men on each team, one is a recovery expert. But the other one is a mountain policeman who is only job, only job is to make sure that that recovery specialist doesn't fall off the mountain and is kept safe. This is how the chief, police chief in-charge of that operations described it to us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In order to make progress, you need mountain nearing techniques - (INAUDIBLE), just like fries (ph). And to work today like yesterday consists of evacuating and removing all these bodies to the bottom of the valley.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So we've been there when some of these specialists mountaineer police officers have been getting on helicopters. They've got full mountaineering equipment, harnesses, they got water proof backpacks. You know, they're taking medical equipment with themselves into the mountain as well, you know, survival gear because they don't know. They got dropped in for the wind and gracefully have to spend the night on the mountains. All these, you know, challenges things, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: So it is the challenge that sounds like a treacherous challenge of just even the process of mapping the debris and remains.

But also, Nic, let me ask just ask you about the DNA matching process. Because - and I talked to investigators, I mean, they are walking in the field of debris and remains with just the utmost respect, obviously, for these 150 souls on board. But how is it that they will then take the remains, and with the help of family members, identify these passengers?

ROBERTSON: Well, it's absolutely with dignity. I mean, that's what we're hearing here's. It's not also without trauma for these recovery experts and the police mountaineering experts with them. None of them have been prepared for this. It's a very traumatic site as this been described to us. And the police, you know, they tell us that they've been able to recover a few bodies intact but not many. So it's a difficult task of gathering up the remains that they find. And they carry them off the mountain. They're taking to a transit location there. They are carefully stowed and packed and then taken to the place you can see just behind me, and the lights maybe - I know it is night right now, but that's the police headquarters right behind that of the labs where they do DNA testing. And that is going to be going on late into the night. The helicopters might have stopped flying but the scientific work to identify victims, that is still going on, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Nick Robertson, difficult and delicate reporting there from the crash site in France. Nic, thank you very much.

Back to this co-pilot here and this new details. A hidden illness, ripped up medical note. This pilot deemed unfit to work by a medical doctor. But all of that did not stop this 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz from going to work Tuesday, co-piloting Germanwings flight 9525. Flight prosecutors now blame him for deliberately crashing.

Let me bring in Dr. Bob Worthington, former U.S. army aviation psychologist joining me now and part of the FAA member safety team.

Doc, welcome.

DR. BOB WORTHINGTON, FORMER US ARMY AVIATION PSYCHOLOGIST: Thank you.

BALDWIN: OK, so my first question would be, when you hear this medical doctor saying this young man was unfit for duty, what would that mean? What kind of illness, condition could that entail?

WORTHINGTON: OK. Looking at what the FAA requires, I have a whole list of medical conditions in which the pilot, if he falls under any of these or takes certain medications, they are not physically fit to fly. So I would presume that the physician psychiatrist, whoever saw him, made a determination that his mental or his medical status was such that flying the airplane could lead to difficulty and would be unsafe.

BALDWIN: What kind of incentive would a pilot or co-pilot have to let his employer know that he is unfit to fly? I mean, that would probably be -- he would be grounded. He wouldn't be able to fly and wouldn't be paid.

[15:34:57] WORTHINGTON: Yes. Well, the FAA places the primary responsibility for a pilot determining that they are unable to fly. They've got a cold, got an infection. It's up to the pilot to declare they are not fit to fly, they not safe. If they see a physician or some other health care professional, that person could make the determination. But it's taking a look at medical or psychological conditions that would make flying the airplane, manipulating controls or decision making very difficult and unsafe.

BALDWIN: All right. Doctor Bob Worthington, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Coming up next, we are seconds away from this historic launch into space, American astronauts Scott Kelly embarking on a nearly year-long mission. It is the longest consecutive time any human has spent in space. How will his body react in a zero gravity environment for so long? I got to talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta who is fascinated by all of this. He will walk me through this as we watch this countdown live here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:39:03] BALDWIN: Queue the nifty space background. We're watching. Hello to my space geeks. I have to confess, I'm so excited about this. And I know Sanjay is too. We have been emailing over this. Moments from now, American astronaut Scott Kelly is due to blast off a board this Russian rocket for nearly one year stay on the ISS, the International space station. And these are live pictures from Kazakhstan. This is the launch pad. It is where minutes away here from this big moment.

Now, a little background, Kelly's 342 days in space would be a U.S. record. The purpose is study long term effects of living without gravity. So zero gravity environment with the ultimate goal of preparing a crew to travel to Mars. I've got our chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta waiting in the wings. We'll talk to Sanjay in a second. But first, here is CNN digital correspondent Rachel Crane setting up why this historic mission is so important.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[15:30:00] RACHEL CRANE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Scott Kelly is on a mission to become the first American to spend an entire year on the international space station. That's nearly twice as long as any other American has ever stayed this space.

Kelly will spend 12 months orbiting the earth. And besides just being away from his family for a year, Kelly will also be away from something we all take for granted, gravity. And that will have a profound impact on his body.

Kelly will take part in a bunch of studies to find out how gravity impact his eyes, his heart, his bones, even his brain. About a third of American astronauts have developed vision problems. It maybe because without gravity, bodily fluids has floated up to their heads, causing structural changes in their eyes. But that theory has never been fully tested.

NASA science have documented cardiac (INAUDIBLE) and decreases in heart function and space like. Spending a long time off the planet, and your bones thins. This puts astronauts at a greater risk for broken bone and osteoporosis.

Have being confined on the space station for long period of time affects and your behavior. NASA says knowing this is crucial if ever going to Mars or deep space. But how will we know if being in space is the cause of Kelly's body changes? NASA has the perfect specimen to compare him to. His twin brother, retired as astronaut Mark Kelly.

Mark Kelly has volunteer for NASA's twin study to see how the identical twins change over a year in very different environment. So Mark will be here on earth getting poked and prodded by researchers while Scott makes history in orbit.

Kelly won't be alone on the space station. A Russian (INAUDIBLE) also is taking part in the one year mission. And several other crew members will rotate in and out during Kelly's stay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right, Sanjay Gupta. Are you excited? Are you geek out? I know you are based upon our emailing back and forth.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I love this stuff.

BALDWIN: I love the stuff, too. So I know that you've actually undergone some of the same training that astronauts have gone through. I've been to space camp twice, whatever. No big deal. So, obviously, I can relate.

Seriously, though, I mean, let's talk about the significance of this whole twins study between Mark and Scott as we are minute away from launch.

GUPTA: It sort of came about because Scott Kelly was going to do this, this mission. And he was going to be the longest astronaut, a NASA astronaut to stay in space. And for a lot of reasons you just heard, you know, we know what the human body does around the six month mark. There's lots of data on what six months of zero gravity does. The question is does that sort plateau then if that is going to become your steady state or do things continue to change? Do your bones continue to become more brittle? Is there continued impacts on the heart and eyes? Don't know for sure and don't know for sure how much of that is space and how much of that is just the person. That's why you have this perfect control again in both Mark and Scott.

BALDWIN: OK. Let me hit pause on our conversation. We're going to listen in to NASA narration and then I have lots of questions for you on the other side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Less than 15 seconds. Engine is igniting, ramping up, and liftoff. A year in space starts now. Kelly (INAUDIBLE) on their way towards the international space station. Getting good first stage performance, and so delivering 930,000 pounds of thrust through its four straps on boosters single engine. Getting reports nominal operation, the first stage measuring 68 feet in length and 24 feet in diameter, burning liquid fuel for the first two minutes and six seconds into the flight. Getting views from the cabin inside, as you heard, NASA astronaut (INAUDIBLE) smooth flight into orbit for these crew members.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixty seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Should come up on 70 seconds into the flight. The velocity will be just around 1100 miles per hour continuing to get good data from the so-used craft.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eighty seconds. All parameters of the control system are nominal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crew looking good inside. Again, (INAUDIBLE) in the center, (INAUDIBLE) in the top of your screen.

[15:45:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight, 100 seconds, all parameters of the structure are nominal. Copy, everything is fine on board. We are feeling good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This route (INAUDIBLE), copy? The first stage has separated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So at this point, the escape tower has been jet sin and the four strap boosters of the first stage have also been jet sin, completing their drop. They dropped away and altitude about 28 statute miles so use right now on traveling about 3350 miles an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One hundred and fifty -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Continuing to hear good things from the mission controllers over in the Russian mission control center in (INAUDIBLE). The crew are continuing to feed reports in good health, the vehicle operating flawlessly so far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, we're over three minutes into launch -- since launch. The aircraft passing speed 4700 miles an hour. Getting a look now at NASA astronaut Scott Kelly there on the right seat giving a big thumbs up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two hundred seventy two the flight, the stress of the (INAUDIBLE) stage are functioning nominally copy. Everything is fine onboard. We are still in good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the course stage which makes up both the first and the second is continuing to perform as expected. That core stage 56 feet length, 13.5 feet in diameter, has one single engine with four fuel chambers, has able to provide between 178,000 and 222,000 pounds of thrust depending on the altitude and the outside pressure. It's going to fire three minutes 28 seconds. It will burn until the 4:43 second mark. And then the (INAUDIBLE) will use what is known as a hot stage technique where the third stage while the second is still burning as being the reason for the (INAUDIBLE) to have that small open area in between the second and third stages.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two hundred and sixty seven into this flight. The parameters of this structure are nominal. Copy, everything on board is fine. We are good.

BALDWIN: OK. We are going to stay on these pictures because they're awesome.

But Sanjay Gupta, let me just bring you back in. You know, it is awesome hearing NASA saying the year in space starts now. And you were talking about what happens to the body and we really only know if you've been in space for six months. But you know, if you had Scott Kelly in front of you after six months, what are kinds of questions you'd ask him about how he's doing?

GUPTA: Well, there's all sorts of different organ systems that you're curious about. And I should just press this by saying, Brooke, you know, that when you look at this, the sort of macro on this, the real question a lot of people are asking is it takes about nine months potentially to fly to Mars. So a lot of scientific study and a lot of scientific inquiry, the questions that are people are trying to ask really revolve around that. The nine months to get there and the entire mission 26 months. So how long can someone stay space?

And at the international space station there and zero gravity environment. In Mars, you have a little bit of gravitational pull about a third of a G. So what are his bones going to be like? Do the bones become more brittle because you don't have gravity on the bones, forcing the bones together? The heart is not pumping against gravity in the international space station. How is that affected his performance?

You know, we also haven't really talked as much about the psychological impact of simply being up there that long. You're living in a place that's basically the size of a football field, that of a size of a four bedroom home. You've got your days split into sleep and exercise, doing scientific experiments. And then, spending about a third of your time just fixing things, if you will, aboard the international space station, things that could potentially go wrong, checking up on things, you know, how does someone organize their time?

So there is always questions about physically and mentally that they are going to be asking. But once again, Brooke, is so fascinating is how much of that is the international space station, the zero gravity situation and how much of it is the individual themselves and the changes that any individual take place in the year? That's why they're testing Mark Kelly back on a one gravitational pull situation on the surface of the earth.

BALDWIN: Yes.

[15:49:56] GUPTA: They're genetically identical twins. So you got the perfect ground control. It's amazing.

BALDWIN: It's the perfect situation. And so, I'm reading my twitter sort of blowing up over different questions, which I love. And one of the questions, let me just poses this to you. If you are looking at these two twins, would it be possible that Scott, who will be up in zero gravity, will he age differently? Would he age slower, faster?

GUPTA: Great question. So here's the wisdom on this. And this is something I was down in Houston looking into that very question recently. In almost a broader sense, someone who is further away from the surface of the earth should be aging more slowly. You are just orbiting more slowly. So the number of revolutions, if you will, around the earth are going to be fewer.

However, what we have found, what they have found in space, people who are on the international space station, if you look at the various things that you use to measure aging, you actually, aging appears to be accelerated for these astronauts, while they are up on the international space station. When they come back down to earth, their aging process seems to come back down -- come back to a normal pace again.

But for whatever reason, yes, it's really amazing. So the idea that you could even study things at a more accelerated pace up in the international space station is something scientists are looking into.

But over the next year, these two twins, Scott will actually be aging more quickly than Mark. He should be able to come back down to normal pace. But Mark is actually six minutes older than Scott, so when Scott gets back down, he can say hey, I'm actually older than you are now.

BALDWIN: I'm older than you. I'm older than you. What else, what else will they be looking at? You mentioned the psychology. I mean, I'm thinking my goodness. I'm stir-crazy during a snowstorm. I can't imagine 342 days on the ISS. What else?

GUPTA: Well, one of the big things is that, you know, we all, our bodies, we look at our bodies and see our flesh and bones, but we have millions of bacteria that inhabit our body as well. We call the microbiome (ph). And that really makes us, you know, able to physiologically do a lot of the things that we do.

The bacteria, the microbiome (ph) likely changes in the international space station. They are going to be measuring the microbiome (ph) in all sorts of different ways for Scott. But then again, comparing it to Mark on the ground as well. So while he's going to be on the surface of the earth, he's still going to be getting poked and prodded to try and extract some of this information and then compare it to Scott.

So there is lots of different experiments, Brooke. And I think there are some that are adaptive, meaning they will adapt to these experiments even over the next year. But those are some of the broad areas that they are going to be looking at physically and psychologically.

BALDWIN: OK. Wonder if his family was like, OK, see you in 342 days, honey.

Sanjay Gupta, thank you.

GUPTA: We have such good signal from the craft. Did you see that?

BALDWIN: Was that an iPad?

GUPTA: I know. You look at and they are playing Angry Bird. That is ipad while he was launching to the ISS. I mean, it is amazing.

BALDWIN: I was totally thinking the same thing.

Sanjay Gupta, always a pleasure. Thank you very for having a nerd moment with me here live on CNN.

Got to get serious again and we talk more about this investigation now back into this Germanwings flight that went down in the French Alps. And we are learning more especially about this note that was found in this co-pilot's trash can that was ripped up from a medical doctor determining he was unfit to work. Did it hold any more clues about why he apparently flew this plane full of passengers into this mountain? Breaking news on the investigation straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:36] BALDWIN: American Amanda Knox was convicted, and then acquitted, then convicted again by Italy's court of murdering her roommate. Her fate now hangs in the balance again. We are supposed to be learning any moment whether Italy's high court will uphold that conviction and require that she stay - that she return to the country, return to Italy to serve a twenty eight-and-a-half year sentence. Knox has vowed never ever to willingly return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will appeal.

AMANDA KNOX, CONVICTED IN ITALY'S COURT OF MURDERING HER ROOMMATE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will stay here in the United States for the pendency of the appeal.

KNOX: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens if the Supreme Court confirms this ruling and the case is closed and you are guilty?

KNOX: You know, from this whole experience, especially in prison where you have to take everything day by day, right now I'm having to take everything step by step. And if I think about everything that I could possibly be facing, it's way too overwhelming for me to even conceive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Make sure you stay with CNN for that decision to come down any moment now.

Before I leave you, this week's CNN hero may be 74 years of age but she can still off road like she's 16.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been riding since age four. I will never forget my father when he let go of my seat and I was there on my own, and that was 70 years ago. A lot of kids have never really left the city. To them, everything is concrete.

Is everybody excited?

I decided to take kids who have never had my kind of experience on these mountain bike rides.

OK, you guys. Let's hit the road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't trying in school. I was getting straight Fs. I got expelled. We go on bike rides, I kind of feel like (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looking good.

I have been doing this for almost 30 years. You bring them where there are no buildings. It is life. Wow, I didn't know that this exists.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: If you would like to nominate a CNN hero, we would love for you to do so. Go to CNNheroes.com and tell us all about him or her.

That does it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much being with me on this Friday. Hope you all have wonderful weekends. But stay right here with us on CNN. "The LEAD" with John Berman starts right now.

END