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Stunning New Details of Germanwings Flight's Last Minutes; Air Canada Jet Slides Off Runway in Nova Scotia; Iran Negotiations Continue; Reports: Co-pilot Encouraged Pilot To Leave Cockpit; Family Of Crash Victims Speak About Their Loss; Arab Leaders Agree To United Military Force; Indiana Governor Taking Fire For "Religious Freedom" Law. Aired 2-3:00p ET

Aired March 29, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:24] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone and thanks so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with breaking news. Stunning new details today about the last minutes of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the Alps last weekend killing all on board. The German tabloid magazine, "Build" is reporting that the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz encouraged the plane's pilot to take a bathroom break. And when the pilot left, investigators say it was at that point that the co-pilot locked himself in the pock kit and intentionally began its decent into the mountain side.

The French newspaper (INAUDIBLE) also has new details about Lubitz's medical history. The paper is reporting that he suffered from quote "generalized anxiety disorder." It also says that in 2009, Lubitz also suffered from severe depression symptoms. And in 2010, he even received injections of and antipsychotic medication.

Investigators have also said that two sick notes from doctors were found in his apartment. They apparently were meant to excuse Lubitz from work on the day of the crash.

And as I mentioned, the German tabloid magazine "Build" is reporting more details of the timeline of what happened in the last minutes of the Germanwings flight.

Will Ripley has been following the story for us and he is now joining us from Cologne, Germany. So what else is in this timeline, Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if the newspaper's account is accurate, Fred, this cockpit voice recording, in an hour and a half of audio, this evidence of a deliberate act that resulted in the deaths of 150 people and 149 of them were helpless on this plane, aware that something was wrong for a full eight minutes before the flight hit the French alps, just horrifying to think about.

Some key things in the recording. First of all, before the plane even took off, the pilot Patrick Sondenheimer told his co-pilot Andreas Lubitz that he hadn't gone to the bathroom in Barcelona. Now, this was a two-hour flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. And this is significant because had the pilot used the restroom before hand, then perhaps he would have stayed in the cockpit the spare time and the co- pilot would not have had the opportunity to do what then happened in the subsequent minutes.

At 10:27 a.m., the plane reached its cruising altitude of 3,800 feet. And that is when the captain asked his co-pilot to prepare for the landing. After the landing tracks were complete, then Lubitz told his pilot, OK, you can go now, you can go to the bathroom. You can hear the seat then pulling back, the pilot seat. And the captain's heard telling Lubitz, OK, now you can take over.

Now couple of minutes later, at 10:29 p.m., this is when we believe that Lubitz had locked the cockpit and set it in a way that nobody would be allowed to get back in, even the pilot. This is when the flight radar monitors on the plane start to descents. So what would have had to happen was a manual input in the controls in the cockpit for the plane to start moving down towards the French Alps.

And at 10:32, then you hear air traffic controllers trying to contact the plane. They're getting no answer from the cockpit. And then there's an alarm going off. It is a sync radar alarm, It's telling the person at the controls that the plane is descending too rapidly, that's when you also start to hear a loud banging on the door, that is the captain who's screaming for God's sake, open the door. And that's also when you can start to hear passengers screaming in the background. Now, again, that's 10:32 a.m., the plane didn't crash for another eight minutes. And it just gets more horrifying as this goes on.

At 10:35 a.m., you start to hear loud metallic bangs. This is what is believed to be the captain trying to break his way in. The plane keeps going down. There is another 90 seconds. You hear alarms. The plane detects that the terrain is getting closer. You are telling that the pilots have pull up. You can hear the captain screaming again, open the damned door.

10:38, the plane continues moving closer and closer to the French Alps, all of this while passengers are in the back, looking out the window, they're seeing the ground coming up closer. You continue to hear those screams. The plane only about 13,000 feet elevation at this point.

Two minutes later, 10:40 a.m., a sound that they believe was the plane's right wing scraping the mountain top. More passengers screaming, Fred, and then the recording go silent. It is horrific to say the least. And it just goes to show, again, a deliberate act. It is horrifying.

WHITFIELD: And so Will, you know, given this kind of information now, what's next for the investigation is the issue focusing on the co- pilot and what drove him to this point or is there another direction or something else giving this kind of info?

[14:05:10] RIPLEY: Well, keep in mind that this investigation had been a manslaughter investigation thus far. So the key question is going to be, was this manslaughter, was it premeditated murder. Because again, Lubitz would have had no way of knowing on a two-hour flight that his captain was going to get up and leave the cockpit, and that was his moment of opportunity. So when you are looking at his mental state, when you are looking at all the other factors that led up to this day, and led up to taking this action, did he just seize the moment when he realized that there was going to be a moment when he was alone in the cockpit that he was going to do this.

That's why you have investigators looking so closely at all the documents, everything that was apparently hid from Lufthansa, all of these things. And they'll have to figure out how to move in regard from there.

WHITFIELD: All right, alarming material there. Thank you so much, Will.

All right, there are even more troubling questions today that are being raised as a result of what's being reported, and say for instance, (INAUDIBLE) newspaper.

I want to bring in out panel, Alastair Rosenschein is a former pilot and aviation consultant, Jim Kreindler is an aviation attorney with the Kreindler and Kreindler and Jacqueline Brunetti is a senior aviation medical examiner.

All right, so good to see all of you. This is all such troubling information, whether it be the transcripts or now you have been hearing what other newspapers across the globe are reporting. So the French newspaper (INAUDIBLE) says that it has information about the long history of mental issues of this co-pilot, including one time when he was given antipsychotic medication.

So Alastair, to you first, because I remember hearing you when you were talking to Wolf Blitzer the other day, and your prediction seems now to have some true in a sense, that it was as if he had a bomb in his brain. And so now, if all of this information is correct, this medical information showing a history of very severe kind of medication, it sounds like it may have indeed been just that. How do you sort through this kind of reported info?

ALASTAIR ROSENSCHEIN, AVIATION CONSULTANT: Well, first of all, it's extraordinarily that the airline or more importantly the regulatory authorities in Germany didn't know about his mental and his physical condition. I mean it's vital that the airlines and the regulator know when a pilot's unfit to fly. I mean, clearly this chap was in the very high risk category. And it also seems from other people's reports that he had been planning this for some time. There are some indications of that.

It's quite worrying, only on the positive side, it's very rare, and there can't be many people flying in this sort of -- with this sort of mental disorder. But it's very important that all medical authorities are aware, if one of their patients is a pilot and take the precaution to go and notify the authorities.

WHITFIELD: And so Jacqueline, you know, as an aviation medical examiner, how does this information be sorted through and what is it investigators want to know and how much will it show that the airline knew or perhaps was indeed kept in the dark? Because to Alastair's point, it seems if the illness was so severe, there had to have been in some sort of exhibition of symptoms. Someone must have known something was awry in this gentleman? Wouldn't you think?

JACQUELINE BRUNETTI, SENIOR AVIATION MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, we are getting information in such a slow manner when you have little snippets here and there. The story as it unfolds so which suggests its fact if he actually indeed had a psychotic episode in 2010, it's hard to believe that it was not known by at least the people that were close to him. You know, whether or not his employer knew, we can't say, and certainly Lufthansa says they were unaware, it was probably -- unless, again, if he self-declared, otherwise, those records would not be available to the airline.

WHITFIELD: And so Jim, as to pertain to the investigative end, I mean, clearly, there's going to be a lot of questions on the part of the survivors of these passengers, and there's also going to be a host of questions that will say, how complicit, how responsible is the airline? Did it know? How far back might it have known about his mental health, why didn't it intervene? What are some of the questions that you expect that they will have to answer very soon?

JIM KREINDLER, AVIATION ATTORNEY: Well, we hope and expect that they will answer those questions. I'm sure as the days and weeks unfold, there will be more information about his mental state that was known to at least some people, co-workers. In terms of the lawsuit, the airline is absolutely responsible and on the hook, has no defenses and will pay full damages.

[14:05:13] WHITFIELD: What do you mean even though the airline would be able to say, but we didn't know he was going to take this opportunity at this moment.

KREINDLER: Yes. Under the 1999 convention, the airline is responsible unless it can show it did absolutely nothing wrong or a third party was solely responsible. And an airline acts through its pilot. This is the airline's pilot who did something wrong. So the airline has no defense at all under the convention and knows it's going to pay full damages. The problem is the vast majority of the people cannot sue the airline in the United States. And this is the only country where you get meaningful recoveries.

WHITFIELD: And Alastair, do you see that, you know, the airline will try to say, we didn't know and that's our best defense, that we didn't know his ability, we realize that there is this privacy between a patient and doctor. We weren't privy to the all of this information. And so because of that, we're just as stunned as everybody else?

ROSENSCHEIN: No, clearly, they can't use that defense. I mean there is corporate liability. They know full well that pilots are subject to all the various illnesses, both psychological and physical. You know, one has frequent medical. Every airline has its own medical department. They will have - they will know whether or not their crews are fit. And if they're not doing the proper checks, then clearly they're responsible for it. No question about it. WHITFIELD: And then I wonder, you know, quickly, we're running out of

time. But you know, it seems there -- isn't there some responsibility on the medical community, these doctors who were either administering any kind of injection reportedly by (INAUDIBLE) or giving him any sort of treatment, writing the note, they know, why would there not be an obligation, maybe Jacqueline to you before we go, why would there not be an obligation to those doctors to say something knowing that many lives are in this pilot's hands?

BRUNETTI: Fredericka, you're right. And in the United States, although we have HIPAA laws which cover patient confidentiality, there are times when there is danger to the greater public, when those laws are suspended and you can report without the patient's consent. But you would have to be very careful when doing that. And do it under the appropriate circumstances. But there are provisions for such reporting.

WHITFIELD: OK, and then we're going to talk more to all of you.

Thanks so much Jacqueline Brunetti, Jim Kreindler and Alastair Rosenschein. Thanks so much.

All right, so they are sticking around to answer some of your questions that you have been sending to us via twitter, #GermanwingsQS. But first, more horrifying moments in another plane when it skidded off the run way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the plane hit initially, it bounced back up into the air.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The airline says it's a hard landing, but passengers, well they do not agree. The details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:24] WHITFIELD: All right, some pretty terrifying moments for more than 130 passengers on an Air Canada flight early this morning. The airbus 320 skidded off the run way as it was landing at Halifax Stanfield international airport in Nova Scotia. And you can see the plane appears to have a nit (ph) wing. There's a lot of damage on that plane, part of the nose missing. And according to air Canada, 25 people suffered nonlife-threatening injuries.

Our Nick Valencia is joining us now. So Nick, was there weather that was, you know, made an impact here?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredericka, there was a snowstorm at the time of the incident. But the airline executive, they got from the media said that this it was appropriate weather for landing. Still, passengers that spoke after this incident said it was the worst experience of their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): Early Sunday morning on final approach from Toronto into a snowy Halifax, Air Canada flight 624 came down hard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were coming in to land and we heard a very big bump and very hard. Then I hit my head and we had another big bang, and then we just -- everyone just started to say get out, get out, get out.

VALENCIA: Airline and airport officials called it a hard landing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the difference between a crash and a hard landing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, a crash is when the aircraft doesn't make it to the gate like in this incident.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So why is this not a crash?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well in this incident, at this point in time, the TSB investigation will determine.

VALENCIA: Passengers say they know what they felt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not a hard landing, it's a crash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the landing gears are off the run way, the engines are off of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all we know, it's just a hard landing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We read that on landing on facebook. They said they had a little bump in Halifax. No, no, we crash landed. Air Canada 624 crash landed confirm.

VALENCIA: These dramatic photos taken just after the crash shows significant damage to the plane's wing, engine and nose. TSB investigators will look into the extent to which heavy winter weather conditions played a role.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You slip for awhile. Thankfully, we are all alive.

VALENCIA: Of the 138 on board, 25 were hospitalized including the two pilots who were later released. There were no major injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you talk about what you have around your neck?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, just neck injuries and back injuries.

VALENCIA: Halifax Stanfield international airport briefly suspended takeoffs and landings after to the incident. As for the plane, an airport official would not get specifics about the damage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard it completely lost a wing, can you confirm that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I'm sorry I can't.

VALENCIA: Passengers still processing the experience say things certainly could have been much worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Weill, I'm still lucky. I mean, lucky and glad that we all made it. Nobody was like badly injured.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Canada's transportation safety board is investigating the incident. Meanwhile, the airline Air Canada is releasing a statement saying, we at Air Canada are greatly relieved that no one was critically injured. That we fully appreciate this has been a very unsettling experience for our customers and their families as well as our employees. And we are focused on caring for all of those affected. We will also fully cooperate with the transportation safety board as it begins an investigation to determine what happened.

WHITFIELD: That's pretty startling stuff. I mean, just seeing the images there and the passengers, they're calling it as they see it and as they felt it.

VALENCIA: Yes. They're saying this is semantics here. It's not a hard landing. This is a definitely a crash.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, thank goodness for them. It was not more serious.

VALENCIA: Everyone OK.

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable that they were able to walk away.

All right, thanks so much, Nick. Appreciate it.

VALENCIA: Thanks, Fred.

[14:19:58] WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, negotiations are under way. They are trying to beat that Tuesday deadline to come up with a nuclear deal with Iran. Elise Labott is in the talk or rather at the talk, maybe not in them, but out there in Switzerland with a look at where the negotiations stand.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Fred, those nuclear negotiations are in the end game, but will there be a deal? We're live from Lausanne after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:24:09] WHITFIELD: All right, at this hour, nothing is certain in the negotiation on Iran's nuclear program except for the fact that we are just now two days away from the deadline. The Iranian foreign minister and his counter parts from France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany along with U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, are all in Lausanne, Switzerland. They are trying to hammer out an interim deal over Tehran's nuclear program before Tuesday's deadline.

CNN's global affairs correspondent Elise Labott is there covering the talks. And also joining us from Paris is Christopher Dickey, Middle East editor at "the Daily Beast."

Good to see both of you.

So Elise, to you first, are the sides any closer?

[14:24:50] LABOTT: Well, Fred, all of those ministers are now here and the discussions have really intensified over the last 24 hours and diplomats say that they do see the contours of a deal taking shape, but they cautioned it's possible that it doesn't comes a bit at the end of Tuesday's deadline. But they are trying really hard and say these discussions are very intense, very focus and very tough. And that Iranians are known as master negotiators. And so, they are really playing a hardball, Fred.

There are few key sticking points that still, after days have not been resolved particularly the lifting of U.N. security council sanctions. Iran wants them lifted on day one. The security council sanctions wanted them lifted on day one. This international community wants to phase them out as Iran shows its compliance with the deal. There's also a question of how much advance research and technology Iran could do on its nuclear program in the end years of the deal. International community wants to keep very tight limits on that, but Iran is really looking as the deal progresses to be able to keep up with its nuclear technology.

So tomorrow is supposed to be a very intense day of negotiations, negotiators say all sides want to debt to a deal. Really at this point, it's unclear, Fred, but in those last, as we reach the 11th hour, everybody really says that's one when the real bargaining begins.

WHITFIELD: OK. So all of those who are part of these negotiations, they want to some way, you know, cut off this pathway to, you know, a nuclear bomb. And at the same time, they want to have some kind of oversight. They want to be able to watch, pay attention to what Iran does over the course of time.

But Christopher, I could bring you into the equation now, you have written that this really is quite simple, it's about war versus peace. And you're saying that come Tuesday, if there is no deal that Iran and Israel could potentially be at war and it would be a war and a mess unlike anything that anyone knows.

CHRISTOPHER DICKEY, MIDDLE EAST EDITOR, THE DAILY BEAST: Extraordinary mess in the Middle East, but if we take the question of Iran's nuclear program in isolation, then it is a question of war or peace because Iran is not going to give up all of its nuclear rights as it sees it. It is still going to maintain the possibility that it could at some point develop a nuclear weapon. Israel is going to continue to feel threatened by that. But this deal, again, taken in isolation, is probably going to be the best deal that can be had. It will stop or stall Iran's development of the weapon for some considerable amount of time, give the world a little bit of breathing room on this question. And avert the likelihood that Israel would take matters into its own hands and start a war that the United States would probably have to try to finish.

But it's not happening in isolation. It's happening in the midst of a moment of huge chaos in the Middle East where Iran has become a very aggressive player. And really the problem here is we're dealing with two different Irans, one is the President Rouhani, foreign minister Zarif, Tehran, people who are in Lausanne right now, being very conciliatory. We can reach a deal, we can find some common nation. And then there's the (INAUDIBLE) revolutionary guards Iran which is expanding his powers all over the region. And we can only imagine how aggressive it would be if it has somewhere in its hid pocket, a nuclear weapon. So all of that is in play right now. It's a very difficult and danger situation.

WHITFIELD: So is Elise, is there a feeling amongst those that are at the table there, you know, France, China, Germany, Russia and the U.S., is there a feeling, just as Chris said, that Iran could potentially take matters into its own hands, is that the feeling even if there is a deal reached, imperfect as it may be, but is there an expressed worry among all of these ally that Israel will ignore this deal, if there is a deal, and go on about its own business and make the next move toward Iran in an aggressive way?

LABOTT: Well, that's always in the back of everyone's mind. And you saw today Prime Minister Netanyahu saying that this deal is worse than anybody else's feared. And as Chris said, it plays in to what is going on in Yemen where Iran is backing the Houthis there and throughout the region where it has practice. And Prime Minister Netanyahu said they're trying to take over the Middle East.

But I think that there is pressure to get a deal because they don't think that if there is a deal, Iran would -- Israel would be able to take action on its own, it would need the United States to take any action. And I don't think, if there is a deal, that they would be able to do that. Of course, Prime Minister Netanyahu says, all options are on the table, Fred. That's why he wants to get that deal as tough as he can.

WHITFIELD: All right, Elise Labott, Chris Dickey, thanks to both of you. I'm going to see you again, both of you later in the next hour. Thanks so much.

All right, also still to come, new developments from the crash site of the Germanwings plane including progress in the recovery effort. We go there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:33:07]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Surprising new details today in the crash of that Germanwings airliner, a German tabloid released what it says is a summary of the timeline of flight's final moments based on the cockpit voice recorder.

According to the German tabloid "Bild," the flight captain, Patrick Sodenheimer, told the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, that he had not been able to go to the bathroom before take-off.

Lubitz encouraged him to go twice and then just minutes after the captain presumably leaves for the bathroom and as the plain descends, the captain is heard screaming, "For God's sake, open the door!"

That's followed by loud metallic bangs on the door, as the captain again demands to be let in, "Bild" reports, as alarm sound in the cockpit, passengers can be heard screaming and that is followed by what sounds like a wing hitting the mountain and more screams and then silence.

We have also learned that the French defense ministry sends a fighter jet and a helicopter to the area of the crash site after losing radio contact with the airliner.

Today, "Le Parisien" newspaper citing sources close to the investigation report that Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz suffered from generalized an anxiety disorder and from severe depression in the past. The paper also reports that Lubitz received injections of anti- psychotic meditation in 2010.

Meanwhile the "New York Times" reports that police found antidepressants in Lubitz's apartment. A French prosecutor says at least 70 bodies from the ill-fated Germanwings airline crash have now been identified and that's nearly half of the 150 people on board.

Joining us now at a French town near the crash site is CNN's Karl Penhaul. So Karl, you spoke to family members today, of at least one of the crash victims and what was said?

[14:35:02] KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Fredricka, as you can imagine, a lot of the grieving families are trying to seek solace and privacy from the media at this time.

And again it's a tragedy that transcends generations in many different nations, but there was the sister of an Iranian sports journalist who decided to talk to CNN and tell us about her brother's life. He had been in Barcelona covering a soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, and this is what she said about big brother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHSID ESLAMI, VICTIM'S SISTER: He was my everything. He was the only one in my childhood, you know, you have the big brother. You always have some security with him. You can rely on him. He was so good. We had a good relationship, friendship, and I lost everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PENHAUL: Now the family members including Mahsid Eslami's sister, they are desperate to know exactly how the area around the crash site is because right now the closest they can go is only about 2-1/2 miles away as the crow flies. It is just too rugged to get in there.

So I described the scene because I've hiked up there just a couple of days ago. You know, I told there's an area where wild flowers are growing right now and where the melting snow is filling crystal streams and at the end of that interview, she turned away and she looked at the mountains and pointed up and said, you know, my brother now, he's king of the Alps -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, so sad. All right, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right, now to the fierce battle under way for control of Yemen, some major developments today at the Arab summit in Egypt. Leaders have agreed to a unified military force in the region and are demanding that those Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen drop their weapons and leave the capital city of Sana'a.

And in Saudi Arabia, last night trucks were seen hauling tanks on a highway headed south toward Yemen about 20 miles from the border. CNN's Becky Anderson is at the Arab League Summit in Sharm El-Sheik Egypt and joins us live now.

So Becky, with the tanks on the move, it appears this is more than just talk about a ground invasion, but it looks like it might be imminent?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I spoke to the Yemeni foreign minister here, in the wee hours of the morning, they have been thrashing out this communique here, the Arab leaders and he told me that we could see boots on the ground within days, and he stuck to that.

As a Saudi-led offensive from the air, continues to grind down the capability of Houthi rebels on the ground across the Yemen, there is now a very real chance that tens of thousands of Arab boots on the ground could be deployed within days to further degrade what is this Iran backed militia.

Why do we care about this? Well, Fredricka, we've got to remember, what goes on in Yemen doesn't stay in Yemen. And the reason for that is that what we have seen whether anybody will agree with this or not in the region, you've pretty much got the sense that there is a proxy war going on here between Iran and Saudi.

And so as you see Iran backing these Houthi rebels, as you see Iran backing the former President Saleh, so you see Saudi encouraging it's Arab allies here at the confronts with the Sharm El-Sheik declaration on Arab military force going forward.

You see Saudi flexing its muscles. And don't forget, there's a new leadership in Saudi, a new young defense minister making his mark. Not everything we heard here at the Arab league summit and they did sign off on this agreement to deploy more forces if necessary. But there were dissenting voices and one of those was Iraq and what Iraq said is that they believe that Riyadh has simply been too hasty in this Saudi-led invasion and they also said they don't want to see military intervention as a whole across the region.

And what Iraq wants to see is more political dialogue and that was also voiced by the international community here represented by Ban Ki- Moon, who was pushing for discussion.

He is saying don't give up on discussion. We haven't exhausted that. You may see further discussions in Riyadh and also in Oman, which is one of the DCC countries, which hasn't signed up to this Arab allied coalition.

[14:40:04] But be aware that we could see, within days as the foreign minister of Yemen points out to me, boots on the ground and that would be a real ratcheting up of this effort.

WHITFIELD: Those continued discussions will indeed make an impact in any way. Thanks so much, Becky Anderson, in Sharm El-Sheik.

All right, Indiana Governor Mike Pence under fire for a new law in his state that lets businesses turn away gay, lesbian and transgender customers, or at least that's the interpretation of many about this new law, but now the governor is taking the chance to defend the law. CNN's Shasta Darlington joins me with more from New York.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. We have new comments from the governor of Indiana trying to put out that fire, but he may end up fueling the controversy, more details after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maria Sharapova spent much of her life living and training in Florida, but there's one title that's eluded her, the Miami Open.

MARIA SHARAPOVA, TENNIS PROFESSIONAL: I've been coming to this tournament for so many years so it's always nice to be back and there's a great weather and with all the palm trees around and a great center court behind us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sharapova moved to the sunshine state from Russia when she was just 7 years old.

SHARAPOVA: I have loved this sport ever since I was a young girl and you grow up going through many different experiences.

[14:45:09]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has won all four tennis' majors, but has yet to taste victory at the unofficial sixth grand slam.

SHARAPOVA: It's a tournament that I've had really good success at and getting really far in the tournament, but haven't been able to win it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sharapova has been the runner up five times and came up short this year, but she's far from giving up or giving in.

SHARAPOVA: We all want to hold the trophy and I really want to as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Indiana Governor Mike Pence is defending his state's controversial new religious freedom law, some interpret it as saying it lets businesses use religion as a legal defense in turning away gay, lesbian and transgender customers.

Pence signed the bill on Thursday and today he faced the national media, who he blames for fuelling outrage over the law. CNN's Shasta Darlington joins me more on this. So did he make a convincing argument defending this law?

DARLINGTON: Well, Fred, it's interesting because yesterday, the governor said he was considering new legislation that would clarify the law. Today, we didn't get any details about what that new legislation could be. What it looks like is the governor considers this controversy really a misunderstanding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it a mistake to sign this law?

GOVERNOR MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Absolutely not.

DARLINGTON: Indiana Governor Mike Pence on the defensive over the new religious freedom law sparking protest and boycotts. Opponents say it will allow businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers on religious grounds. On ABC's "This Week," Pence blames the media.

PENCE: There's been a tremendous amount of misinformation and misunderstanding around this bill and I'm just determine, and I appreciate the time on your program, I'm just determined to clarify this.

DARLINGTON: The firestorm comes amid criticism from business. CEOs from Apple to Yelp are lashing out and Angie's List, which is based in Indianapolis cancelling a planned expansion there.

The NCAA preparing to host it's college basketball final four in Indianapolis next weekend, saying, "We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student athletes and employees.

Former NBA star, Charles Barkley, is piling on the pressure, "As long as anti-gay legislation exists in any state, I strongly believe big events such as the final four and Super Bowl should not be held in those states' cities."

But Pence made it clear, he is not going to change the law or consider a bill making gays and lesbians a protected class like in many other states.

PENCE: I will not push for that. That's not on my agenda. This is not about discrimination. This is about protecting the religious liberty of every hosier, of every faith.

DARLINGTON: But deflecting repeated questions about its impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes or no, should it be legal to discriminate against gays and lesbians?

PENCE: George, you're following the mantra of the last week online.

DARLINGTON: The White House quick to react.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when you have a law like this one in Indiana that's seems to legitimize discrimination, it's important for everybody to stand up and speak out.

DARLINGTON: There are now 20 states with some form of religious freedom law on the books, but the blow back in Indiana could deter others from pursuing such laws.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DARLINGTON: As far as damage control goes, it's really not clear what kind of an impact these latest comments will have. He refused to answer at least six yes or no questions about whether the law legalizes discrimination against gays.

Specific examples like now in Indiana, can a florist refuse to sell flowers for a gay wedding? But there just weren't any answers to those questions. So it looks like the controversy could go on for quite a while -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. Shasta Darlington, Appreciate you being here that. We're going to talk more about that in the next hour with our political panel, actually two hours from now.>

All right, straight ahead, our aviation experts answer your questions on the Germanwings plane crash. Keep those questions coming tweet us #germanwingsqs.

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[14:52:50]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. You've been tweeting us your questions about the Germanwings crash and our panel is back with us with some answers. Joining us from London are former commercial pilot and aviation consultant, Alastar Rosenschein and in New York, senior aviation medical examiner, Dr. Jacqueline Brunetti, and aviation attorney, Jim Kreindler.

All right, good to see all of you again. All right, so Alastair, you first, Jolly tweeted this, "I suggest the introduction of panic buttons for all flight crew to be used during emergencies. Is this a good idea?"

ALASTAR ROSENSCHEIN, FORMER COMMERCIAL PILOT: I'm not sure what he means by panic button in what sense, what would be the outcome of having a panic button. If you look at this particular incident, whether it would be the captain pressing the panic button in the cabin or the co-pilot pressing one, I'm not quite sure what good that would do.

WHITFIELD: All right, and Dr. Brunetti, Coney wants to know, would anti-depressant drugs show in the random required drug tests of flight crews after trips?

DR. JACQUELINE BRUNETTI, SENIOR AVIATION MEDICAL EXAMINER: Drug testing is usually for non-prescription drugs and cocaine, anything that would be cocaine based, alcohol, marijuana, and nonprescription drugs. Routine anti-depressant may not show depending on the chemistry of the drug.

WHITFIELD: OK, and this question, Jim, most public transportation has CCTV cameras, so why not in the cockpit? What are the legal implications here?

JIM KREINDLER, AVIATION ATTORNEY, KREINDLER AND KREINDLER LLP: Well, I think cameras in the cockpit are a good idea, it helps the investigation. Of course, here, it would not have prevented this tragedy. What might have prevented it was if the airline followed what American air carriers are doing in requiring a second person in the cockpit who may have been able to unlock the door and let the captain in.

[14:55:04] WHITFIELD: OK, and Jim and Dr. Brunetti on this one, when do you draw the line between a HIPAA type laws and the public's right to know conditions of who is flying. Maybe Jim, you first.

KREINDLER: Sure, my own view of it is given the critical safety nature of what pilots do, to me it's reasonable for carriers to say, if you want to fly for us, we want you to consent to spot checks of your medical records. I think that's an appropriate response without sacrificing privacy.

WHITFIELD: And Dr. Brunetti?

BRUNETTI: I would have to agree with that. When something is so crucial that it's going to affect public safety, you have to act on that.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it would seem. All right, Alastar Rosenschein, Dr. Jacqueline Brunetti and Jim Kreindler, thanks so much to all of you. Appreciate it. We have so much more straight ahead in the newsroom and it all starts right after this.

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