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Possible Causes of Germanwings Plane Crash Examined; Searchers Look for Remains of Crashed Germanwings Plane; Potential Effects of Remote Control for Commercial Airline Flights Assessed; Negotiations over Iranian Nuclear Deal Nearing Deadline; Congressman Gowdy States Hillary Clinton Wiped Personal Server; Amanda Knox Found Not Guilty of Murder by Italian Court; Man Assaulted on Subway After Being Asked Opinion of Michael Brown Case. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired March 28, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Time is ticking closer for the Iranian nuclear talks. Now one said progress is being made. The NEWSROOM starts now.

Hello, again, everyone, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with the latest development in the Germanwings crash. Citing two sources close to investigation, "The New York Times" is reported co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had sought treatment for vision problems. Lubitz's girlfriend has shed light on his personality, telling a German tabloid that she was fearful of him and he would be agitated talking about work.

And we can now confirm that Patrick Sondenheimer, a respected 34-year veteran pilot was the captain. He had 6,000 hours of flight experience and had flown for Germanwings for more than 10 years. Meanwhile, authorities continue their effort to determine why Andreas Lubitz apparently chose to crash the plane, killing all 149 innocent victims. Prosecutors say they found torn up notes found from a doctor declaring the co-pilot unfit for work on the day of the crash.

And the "Wall Street Journal" and "New York Times" are reporting Lubitz had been treated for depression, all this as searchers continue the treacherous mountainside for crash victim, a process officials say could take weeks. And as they search for remains, they are also looking for the critical second black box containing the flight's data recorder.

All right, let's talk about all of this, perhaps even the history of the plane's co-pilot. Let's bring in our panel, Dr. Mitchell Garber is a former NTSB medical officer and senior managing consultant for engineering consulting firm ESI. Diane Damos is a psychologist. She has been involved in pilot selection for the U.S. military for more than 40 years. She also is a pilot and has worked with commercial airlines. And John Gilliam is a former air marshal and FBI agent. And Les Abend is a CNN aviation analyst and contributing editor for "Flying" magazine.

All right, so to all of you, everything that we have learned so far that dabbles a little bit in his physical condition and maybe even his mental health, but nothing is definitive and CNN has not been able to verify any of the reporting that has come from the "New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal" and the German tabloid. So, doctor, maybe to you first. What is most concerning about some of the reports that there may have been -- there may have been a situation in which the ex-girlfriend observed something about his behavior or that there was some paranoia, yet it appears as though, Lufthansa, the airline, is still maintaining its position or at least not revealing much about knowing about his medical or physical state.

DR. MITCHELL GARBER, FORMER NTSB MEDICAL OFFICER: Yes, there have been some reports that suggest that maybe there was some issues during his training or during his early career that may have come to the attention of the airlines, and I think there's going to be a lot of attention paid to what they knew, what kinds of things were available to them, and what they did as far as evaluation treatment and monitoring of this pilot. Did -- did what they do, was that enough?

WHITFIELD: So I wonder, Les, would that be an issue when if the airline knew he had to remove himself from training for six months, how much information has to be revealed by that patient pilot that he is ready to resume training?

LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, here in the states, if it's just an outside medical doctor, as we've been discussing before, there's no requirement for that medical doctor outside the FAA medical doctor to reveal any information. But, to me, that is disturbing. If he was bringing up a red flag during his training process for whatever reason, performance or some sort of issue, personal issue, albeit a mental issue, I certainly as the airline would have taken him aside, talked about it at the minimum, and then possibly discussed his future.

WHITFIELD: And, Diane, what is peculiar about the details we're hearing from these publications in your view?

DIANE DAMOS, AVIATION PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, from everything I can determine, Andreas passed the Lufthansa pilot, cadet pilot selection process. This is a very extensive process. It takes several days to administer. It's one of the best civilian pilot selection systems in the world, and he would have been seen, both interviewed and observed, by several clinical psychologists. So either he did not have these problems at the time or he managed to present very, very well.

[14:05:01] WHITFIELD: And, Jonathan, since most of the information, we understand, has to be self-reported, and that it wasn't self- reported by this, you know, pilot patient, wouldn't you expect his colleagues to observe something, or would it be customary for, you know, your fellow pilots or even flight attendants to report and to say I noticed something strange about him, or he seemed disturbed? Because of these things being reported, it does seem like there was some public behavior or he emoted in a way publicly he may have been frustrated if what the ex-girlfriend says is correct and this note from a doctor is correct.

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER AIR MARSHAL: Well, I think you have a couple issues going on there. One, all of these different things like self- reporting, the different pilots going to different doctors, none of this stuff is really structured in a way, particularly to look for these types of things. I know in the military, we have peer evaluations. Peer evaluations are great because if one person flies with him and then another person flies with him, they evaluate, especially with someone with just over 600 hours, you're going to start to see a pattern of behavior.

But I think the real problem here is that he wasn't -- it didn't sound like he somebody who was depressed, who was retreating inward, which often you do see a change of behavior. You know, pilots, you know, just by nature are go-getters, and somebody who has anger issues, a lot of the times that can be confused for somebody who just has a very type-A personality, which a lot of pilots do. And if a person wants to hide that behavior, or may not think he has a problem as far as suicide goes, you may not see it.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, it's hard to know whether we'll ever really get any clear-cut answers about his medical condition or his physical condition, but I wonder, doctor, there are certain medications that would not be allowed for a pilot to take. And from what I read medication for ADHD, ADD might be medication that would cancel out your ability or an airline would not want to take a risk on you if you are taking that medicine. Are there other common medications or even conditions that would rule out the fitness of a pilot?

GARBER: Certainly. The regulators have extensive regulations about what can and cannot be considered consistent with safe flight. So there will vision issues, cardiovascular issues, mental issues, other health issues, any of which could conceivably end a pilot's career, medications that may not be consistent with safe flight, that are not permitted for folks to use while they're in flight. But again, a lot of this comes out through self-reporting. And that does make it difficult for the regulators to oftentimes know exactly what is going on with a pilot who may not have the motivation to report these types of things.

WHITFIELD: So most of this information is coming from self-reporting. Now this co-pilot is dead along with 150 other people. Will we have to rely on his doctors to now reveal, you know, posthumously what his situation was, Diane? I mean, would you know the answer to that? I mean, how will we ever know if the airline was already counting on self-reporting and he's no longer here, how will we ever get to the bottom of what his condition might have been?

DAMOS: Well, I think most of the information is going to have to come from the doctors. They can go back and look at his scores and the comments that occurred during the initial selection process. But, again, since he passed through that, the clinical psychologists did not see anything at the time.

WHITFIELD: And Les, what's your best guess on how that would happen? How will we ever really know?

ABEND: It's a good point, Fredricka, but, I mean, I would think that -- not my area of expertise, of course, but, I mean, this is a criminal investigation in this point in time, and so I think that information probably is going to have to be divulged at least privately to families and so on and so forth.

I would like to respond. Jonathan brought up an interesting point with reference to peer evaluation. We have something similar every six to nine months depending on airline policy and FAA regulation. We go down for recurrent training, and there's a lot of aspects to recurrent training that goes beyond ground school and simulator performance. So there is some of that during that process.

WHITFIELD: And Jonathan, what are you hoping will be uncovered or revealed in this now investigation? What do you think is feasible, is even possible?

GILLIAM: Well, you know, Fred, I'm not really as concerned about his mental capacity in finding that out as I am seeing policies change that forward-think these things. My background being a threat mitigation specialist, I can think like a bad guy. And I'll tell you, structure is what catches bad people that have nefarious thoughts in mind.

[14:10:08] However, if it's continuous structure, and that's not periodically evaluated, those bad guys will learn to get around that structure. So you need good policy, and then you need that policy to be revaluated before something happens. And I think that is something that really kind of helped this actually happen was that policies were not being reevaluated.

WHITFIELD: And doctor, do you see anything to punctuate on that notion?

GARBER: Well, I think, some places have requirements for physicians to report conditions. I think that's probably a good start for a lot of places that don't already have that. And for those places that do not require reporting of interval conditions as conditions change between exams, that also is probably a good way to go from a medical standpoint.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Mitch Garber, Diane Damos, Les Abend, Jonathan Gilliam, thanks to all of you, I appreciate it.

AND of course, you at home keep tweeting us your questions at #GermanwingsQA @CNN. Our experts will be answering those questions in a matter of minutes.

Also ahead, Iranian nuclear talks hit a snag, but now one side says there is progress. We go there live next for the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Nuclear talks with Iran are reaching a critical point just three days before the deadline. The negotiations are being held just north of Geneva.

[14:15:03] Let's go live now to CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott who is at the talks in Lausanne, Switzerland. So what is the latest?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it seems that the Iranians are holding out. We are told that the Iranians are really playing hardball on a few key issues, namely the amount of research and development they can do on advanced nuclear technology while the deal is in effect. Obviously international community trying to limit that and put tight curbs on that. And also the pace and scope of lifting sanctions against Iran, the Iranians wants to lift those sanctions on day one of the deal, and the international community, particularly the U.S. says that they need to be phased out and there are certain legal restrictions where they can't do that.

So it seems as if the diplomats are saying, listen, to Iran, you need to make a decision now. Do you want to deal or not, because they feel that this is the best deal Iran is going to get. The Iranian foreign minister says they do want a deal, but they're going to remain firm on those key issues, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, and Tuesday is the deadline. Will this be a case for they are working in the morning, noon, and night?

LABOTT: Well, they are working around the clock, a lot of meetings, some with the Iranian foreign minister. Now the German and the French foreign minister came, so they're meeting with him and they're meeting with Secretary Kerry, all kinds of configurations. Certainly there's a lot of desire to get a deal issue and everyone says that they want to get a deal. But the question is, has each side kind of reached their red line. Someone is going to have to compromise. The international community says it needs to be Iran, and Iran says the rest of the party needs to compromise. They have gone as far as they can, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Elise Labott, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, will we ever know what was on Hillary Clinton's e-mails on her personal server? Erin McPike is live for us in Washington. Erin?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the congressman leading the investigation is complaining that Clinton wiped her server clean. I'll have those details after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:20:24] DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Jamie Grace grew up of growing up becoming a singer-songwriter. But before she could begin to pursue her career in music she got some news that put her dreams on hold. At the age of 12 Jamie was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome.

JAMIE GRACE, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I wanted to be a singer. I had no idea what Tourette syndrome was. All I found were clips of movies of these actors yelling and cursing and, I remember seeing it at 11 years old and crying my eyes out. And I spent the next year being absolutely miserable.

GUPTA: Instead of letting her condition silence her, Jamie turned to YouTube. Just two years after her diagnosis Jamie began posting videos of herself singing.

(SINGING)

GUPTA: She got the attention of record labels and an online audience.

GRACE: I didn't blow up like Justin Bieber did, but I had a really cool response.

GUPTA: Now she's using her stage and her story to inspire others.

GRACE: I love the way you hold me.

GUPTA: Jamie started her own foundation, I'm a Fighter. It's a place where people dealing with illnesses and challenges can share stories and find support.

GRACE: It's daily stories of fighters, a little kid with cancer or a hardworking father. It's been really cool to able to build that community. I really hope that my songs connect with people. I really want to bring encouragement.

(APPLAUSE)

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Reporting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Amanda Knox says she's glad to have her life back now that her eight-year legal battle is over. Italy's supreme court overturned her murder conviction, clearing her in the death of her college roommate. Initially Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of murdering British student Meredith Kercher in 2007. They served four years in Italian prisons before an appeals court overturned the convictions for lack of evidence and set them free. Knox returned home to Seattle. Two years later, they were retried and found guilty again in absentia. Knox was facing 28-and-a-half years behind bars. She says she is relieved the Italian high court overturned that conviction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA KNOX, CLEARED OF ROOMMATE'S MURDER: I prefer not to answer questions. I just -- I just wanted to say that I'm incredibly grateful for way has happened for the justice I've received, for the support that I've had from everyone, from my family, from my friends, to strangers, to people like you. I -- it -- you saved my life, and I'm so grateful. And I am so grateful to have my life backing. Thank you. That's all I can say. I'm -- right now, I'm still absorbing what all of this means. And what -- what comes to mind is my gratitude for the life that's been given to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does the future hold for you now? KNOX: I don't know. I'm still absorbing the present moment, which is

full of joy. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.

You know, other than, again, we're so grateful, I mean, I know you're here, but we really just need time as a family to kind of digest. And, again, so thankful that everything is finally right.

KNOX: I'm -- Meredith was my friend. And it's -- she deserved so much in this life. I'm the lucky one. Thank you. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We really can't do that now. Thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Knox's former boyfriend was also cleared Friday night.

And there's a new development in the Hillary Clinton e-mail saga. The GOP lawmaker who subpoenaed her e-mail messages says Clinton deleted them all from her private server. Erin McPike is at the White House for us. So Erin, Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina is requesting the e-mails as part of the probe into the attack in Benghazi, Libya, but how is the deletion of this material on the server in conflict with what traditionally has been happening at the State Department on government servers?

MCPIKE: Well, Fred, you have to remember that there are new policies in place. And what we learned is that Hillary Clinton deleted those e-mails in December of last year.

[14:25:02] Now, we did just get a letter that Clinton's lawyer, David Kendall, sent to Trey Gowdy. It's a nine page letter explaining that she was really following the law. And I'm going to read part of that letter to you because he says that she was following from the State Department and the Records agency the policies that make clear that the reliance on individual officials to make decisions as to what e- mails must be preserved as federal record is not an arrangement that is unprecedented or unique, but instead the normal procedure carried out by tens of thousands of agency officials and employees in the ordinary course.

So in other words, what Trey Gowdy is saying is that she should be turning over the server so that an independent arbiter can look at all of these e-mails. But Clinton's lawyer is sayings no, what has to happen is that the State Department has to look at those e-mails first to determine what is sensitive information. But as far as an arbiter, the individual the government employee is the person who makes the determination about what is a personal e-mail and what is an e-mail that is in any way related to the government official's job, and that Clinton has the ability to look through her e-mails and determine that for herself, and she did that.

WHITFIELD: And then is there a response from Republicans even after the attorney has spelled that out? MCPIKE: Absolutely. Chairman Reince Priebus of the Republican National Committee sent out a pretty scathing statement, and it starts with saying even Nixon didn't destroy the tapes, and goes on to say that Clinton went to extreme lengths to eliminate e-mails from her server and that's she's really gone above and beyond what she should have done. But they are obviously trying to point fingers to make this look as bad for Clinton as they possibly can, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Erin McPike at the White House, thanks so much.

All right, the recovery effort at the site of the Germanwings crash facing challenges in the terrain and the weather. CNN's Karl Penhaul climbed a mountain in the area to see just what kind of challenges the crews are facing. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:10] WHITFIELD: Hello, again, everyone, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We have significant new developments in the Germanwings crash. Citing two sources close to the investigation "The New York Times" is reporting co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was treated for vision problems. Lubitz's girlfriend has told a German tabloid that she feared him. And we've learned the identity of the plane's captain. Patrick Sondenheimer had 6,000 hours of flight experience and had flown for more than 10 years.

Meanwhile, authorities continue their effort to determine why Lubitz apparently chose to take down the plane. They say they found torn up doctor's notes declaring the co-pilot unfit for work on the day of the crash.

All this as recovery teams continue the treacherous hunt for crash victims, a process officials say could take weeks. Also a focus of searchers, the missing second black box containing the Airbus 320's data recorder.

The families of the victims are trying to come to terms with the Germanwings crash. Relatives and friends of the deceased gathered today in an area near the site where their loved ones died. They held prayers near where the crews have set up recovery operations. Loved ones brought flowers and pictures to the service as they mourned the lives lost. Meanwhile, recovery crews face a daunting task as they try to find the remains of the victims. There are only two ways to get to the crash site, by helicopter or by foot. CNN's Karl Penhaul shows us just how difficult that task is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Swinging on a wire, they recover the remains. Hundreds of feet below emergency crews cling to the mountain side just so they don't fall. Investigators say the speed of the crash pulverized plane and passengers. The recovery operation, they say, is bit by bit, bag by bag. You can just pick out small red flags rescuers dig in the earth when they discover new fragments. And that looks like a scorch mark.

The French prosecutor says the plane hit the mountain, bounced off, and then disintegrated. It's a tough hike through rugged mountains and steep valleys.

It's still a little while before dawn, but we're going toward a trail here.

In order to understand why some rescuers describe this as their biggest ever challenge, we tried to get closer to the crash zone.

There was a bit little frost this morning, and now the sun's coming down, certainly no sign of snow just yet.

Few people except shepherds live up here. Conditions are too inhospitable.

Getting up here is literally hanging onto tree roots, and see if we are going to have to fly anything out of that crash site by helicopter.

The whir of rotor blades helps us pinpoint the site. From our vantage point we see forensic teams working with expert mountaineers to keep them safe. High winds make flying treacherous.

Saying farewell is never easy, but perhaps those grieving could find a little consolation amid these crags, peace of the running water, peace of snowcapped peaks, peace to loved ones lost.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, the French Alps.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was alone behind the fortified cockpit door when he apparently sent the plane on a fatal dissent. Passengers and crews were powerless to stop him. Many are now wondering could someone on the ground have taken control of the plane remotely and guided it to a safe landing? Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just enough time to shut it all down.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Watch closely. This plane over England has a crew at the controls, passengers in the back, but something extraordinary is about to happen. A pilot on the ground is taking over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready to control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Proceed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have control. FOREMAN: This is the $94 million Astria (ph) Project by the British

Aerospace Company BAE, one of several efforts around the world to develop planes that can be flown remotely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you hear at the moment is the discussion with that traffic that's exactly the same discussion the pilots would have if they are in charge of the steering of the aircraft.

[14:35:00] FOREMAN: Military success with drones has driven much of the interest, and some efforts are focused on airplanes in hazardous conditions, such as hurricane research and fighting wildfires. Analysts say pilotless planes could be a $400 billion a year global business, so why not passenger flights? First the airline industry has a remarkable safety record despite high profile disasters. Many believe onboard pilots remain the most reliable way to handle problems, and retrofitting planes would cost billions of dollars. And, second, passengers may not be ready. Robert Goyer is with "Flying" magazine.

ROBERT GOYER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "FLYING" MAGAZINE: I start by asking myself that question, how would I feel getting into an airliner that didn't have airlines pilots up front, and I wouldn't do it.

FOREMAN: One of the reasons that there's still questions about reliability in these systems, and there are unanswered questions. For example, if you want to make the plane safe by having a ground station control so a terrorist can't take over up here, what if they take over down here? Now the plane is in their control and they don't even have to be onboard. One possible solution is you have more than one ground station. They have to work in tandem. That sort of defeats that problem, but it does not answer another question. What if you just have some of hacker who interrupts the data stream and takes over the plane anyway? That's why this is a little more complicated than it seems.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, that was CNN's Tom Foreman reporting. And keep tweeting us your questions at #GermanwingsQS @CNN. Our experts will be answering them in just a few minutes.

Also still ahead, a horrifying attack on a commuter train all because of a cellphone and a question about Michael Brown?

Plus, Arab heads of state meeting to stop Yemen descent into chaos. This as Saudi Arabia takes out the country's rebel targets. We're live at the summit in Egypt next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:35] WHITFIELD: All right, now to the fierce battle underway for control of Yemen. A source says the Saudi Arabia led air strikes have taken out key military targets controlled by the Shiite Houthi rebels. Earlier today in Egypt, Yemen's president addressed the Arab League summit, and his foreign ministers suggested ground troops might be needed to defeat the rebels. CNN's Becky Anderson is at the summit and joins us now on the phone from the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh. So Becky, let's talk about what are the options that are being discussed there for taking control of Yemen?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, a very long, drawn out conflict is what people are saying here, possibly as long as six months. President Hadi, who fled the country last week, perhaps not surprisingly, with pretty fiery rhetoric he addressed the Arab leaders here at the summit earlier on today, not mincing words, saying that it would be puppets of Iran who were effectively created chaos in his country, and saying he blames Iran for what has happened and what will happen going forward.

And that is really the very big question here. What does happen next? King Salman saying that they have no choice, that they have exhausted all options and that he and the Arab allies were left only with military intervention as their option.

There have been dissenting voices here among the Arab leaders gathered at this Red Sea resort, not least Iraq, who said that it is nonsense to suggest that Iran is behind the regional turmoil here, and also suggesting that the Saudis have been hasty in their intervention into Yemen.

The secretary general Ban Ki-moon here insisting that political dialogue is the only way forward to solve this crisis. But clearly what we are seeing here is a lot of efforts on behalf of the Yemenis by the Saudis and others Arab allies here. But the sense is one of concern amongst people behind closed doors, opening the idea of sectarian conflict going forward with an Iran-Saudi proxy war.

And Fredricka, the context to this one must remember that we have these talks going on in Iran between -- in Lausanne, Switzerland, sorry, between Iran and the U.S., desperately trying to negotiate some sort of conclusion before the deadline to the talks on the nuclear negotiations. And I think that, you know, there's been concern here and perhaps in Washington as well this could really throw a spanner into the works. But certainly the sense of the specter of an all-out sectarian war here in the region very much concerning those who are on the fringes of this conference today. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Becky Anderson, thank you so much from Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

All right, straight ahead, our experts answer your questions on the Germanwings plane crash. Keep them coming, tweet at #GermanwingQS @CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:37] WHITFIELD: All right, we know you have questions about the Germanwings plane crash, and we've asked you to submit them on Twitter. Now we have some answers.

Let's bring in our panel from New York, Les Abend who is a CNN aviation analyst and contributing editor to "Flying" magazine. And with me here in Atlanta, Dr. Mitchell Garber, a former NTSB medical officer and senior managing consultant for the engineering consulting firm ESI. All right, gentleman, so Les, you first on a question coming to us via twitter from Lilac. "Why does the system allow reprogramming altitude from 38,000 to 100 feet? What circumstance would require that drastic change?"

ABEND: There is only one circumstance, and it's not reprogramming. It's setting what we call a mode control panel. But there's only one drastic circumstance, and that would be an explosive depressurization where you need to get the airplane down immediately just for breathing purposes. But what happened here was just a simple matter of operating the machine, knowing it well enough if he entered 100 feet, the airplane would descend depending upon what mode of descent he selected.

WHITFIELD: OK, and, Mitch, Lynn wants to know this. "Why don't airlines adopt requirement like CDL medical certificates? The doctor won't sign off if you're unfit and not break HIPPA laws." That, to you, Mitch.

GARBER: Yes. Well, I think part of the problem is that the CDL is a government requirement, commercial driver's licenses, and the doctors who do that may not be the person's private position. In fact that program which is now being modeled a little bit more after the FAA's program, is going to be a requirement to have that independent physicians actually giving that information to the government. You can't always get the information that you want from the individual, though, and that's the -- that's the crux of this matter is that all of these, commercial driver's licenses, FAA pilot certificates, even Coast Guard certificates, all of those require the individual to give information to the system.

WHITFIELD: It's self-reporting.

GARBER: That's accurate, that's right.

WHITFIELD: OK, and then Les, here's another question. "Couldn't airlines move towards drone technology if something happens like this, someone on the ground comes online and takes over?"

ABEND: Well, let me put the question back to the person that asked it. Are you comfortable with not having anybody in the cockpit or just one person in the cockpit? I think the answer is maybe not so much.

[14:50:10] WHITFIELD: I wonder if they mean more in overriding. You would have pilots in the cockpit, but something strange is happening, and so someone on the ground would have to take over?

ABEND: If that's the case, it still begs to question on how are they going to stop a situation like this? In other words, they would -- it seems a little difficult if a pilot has control of the aircraft how they can remotely take it away from them. That's my only answer to that one.

WHITFIELD: OK. And, Mitch, this next question from Buzzy, "Is the doctor who cited Lubitz as being unfit accountable in any way?" GARBER: Well, that's going to be a very interesting question, I

think, Fredricka. We've got a criminal investigation going on right now, and obviously one of the things they are going to be looking at is who knew what when? Did this physician have an obligation to report? Did this physician know that this pilot was going to be flying a plane that day? And are there other physicians who may have been treating them and had the same awareness? To what extent do they have that obligation to report when they see a potential hazard come up like this? I think that's going to be a major focus of the criminal investigation going forward.

WHITFIELD: And it will interesting to see how impactful that potentially could be to any kind of changes in policy.

GARBER: That's correct. I think what's going to have to happen is how are we going to actually get to that? And then do we necessarily want to be putting ourselves in between patients and their treatment? To what extent is that going to be reasonable and necessary for this type of safety issues?

WHITFIELD: OK. And then one last one to you, Les, Electra asking "Would it be possible for any drastic changes to a normal flight plan require the input of two pilots?"

ABEND: Well, just in a normal preflight duties, it does require the input of two pilots. We work in harmony together. When we do a course change, just as a for instance, we verify if that course change is correct no matter who is entering it. The other pilot that's entering it puts it in, and then that pilot responds is that a correct situation.

By the way, if I could just kind of respond to Dr. Garber's, some of --

WHITFIELD: Sure.

ABEND: With reference to the self-disclosure aspect, there's a certain disadvantage of it that we kind of brought to light here. But the doctors that are not familiar with aeronautical medicine could potentially suspend or end the career of the pilot without understanding fully what he's dealing with. So, I mean, that, I just want to explain that's a fear of airline pilots to some extent. And they -- sometimes we don't disclose that that's our employment.

WHITFIELD: All right, Les Abend, Mitch Garber, thanks to both of you gentleman, appreciate it. And thanks to you at home for sending in your very probing questions, appreciate it.

Also straight ahead, a horrifying attack on a commuter train all because of a cellphone and question about Michael Brown.

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[14:57:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got the idea for my business back in college when I was doing my own laundry, trying to find a Laundromat that I felt comfortable in. And it was always really boring, nothing to do, and not very clean.

Later I got my MBA in sustainable business, and I focused my thesis project on Laundromats, and I started thinking that the Laundromat uses so much water and so much energy. And there had to be a better way.

I started the Laundry Lounge in 2014, and it's the first and only eco- focus Laundromat bar and cafe. The first thing I did was get high efficiency machines so washers will save up to 30 percent of the waters that traditional washers use, and they use quite a bit less energy as well.

One of my favorite features about the machine is their text messaging capabilities. If you send the washer a text message it will respond back to you when it has 10 minutes left, or when it's finished. There are many ways to pay for the washers and dryers. You can use good old fashioned quarters or credit or debit card as well as your smart phone.

While waiting for your laundry you can enjoy food or drinks in the cafe, you can go up to the mezzanine. We have pinball and arcade games, a shuffle board table, and a nice couch for reading.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sometimes I stay after my laundry is done just to read a book and have a cup of coffee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I definitely think it's been successful. And I really hope it is an example of the future Laundromat. It's very important to save water and energy and make a big impact on the environment.

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WHITFIELD: All right, this story we're following, a shocking video surfaces from St. Louis revealing an attack on a commuter train.

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WHITFIELD: Police say an African-American man started throwing punches at a white man when he refused to talk about the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson. Nick Valencia takes a look what led up to this confrontation.

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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ambushed on the metro, cellphone video catches this assault on a 43-year-old white man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whenever I got punched in the face, my glasses came down and split the skin here between the bridge, the bridge of my nose. VALENCIA: The victim, who has asked that his name not be used for

safety reasons, says what hurts him the most is that of the all the people who witnessed the attack, no one stopped to help. According to the police report, the assault began at 10:00 p.m. Monday night when one of the suspects asked to use the victim's phone. When the victim refused --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He asked my opinion on the Michael Brown thing, and I responded I was too tired to think about it right now. And he stood up, and next thing I know he sucker punches me right in the middle of my face.

VALENCIA: The attacker punched him at least a dozen times before exiting the train with two others. Police are looking for the three men described to be in their early 20s. MetroLink tells CNN affiliate KMOV that it spends at least $10 million a year for off duty officers and security.

[15:00:05] DIANA WILLIAMS, METROLINK SPOKESWOMAN: What we're doing in response is talking to St. Louis city, our partner in the city, about how they can increase their patrols.