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Violence Erupts in Post-ISIS Tikrit; ISIS Wants Truce?; Trust Between U.S. & Iran Tested; Private Security Now Guarding Flight 9525 Site; "Furious 7" Speeds to $150 Million Debut. Aired 4-5p.

Aired April 04, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Here in the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you at 4:00 Eastern.

And we begin this hour in Iraq and the strategically key city of Tikrit. That is where ISIS had control until just a few days ago. What happened after that, though, Iraqi officials say was completely out of control.

Iraqi troops and paramilitary forces that liberated that city apparently nearly burned it down. Fires, lootings, lynchings and senseless violence. Remember, these Iraqi forces and Shiite militias have the support of the United States, and if what Iraqi officials is saying is true, these are the same groups that triggered the violence chaos after liberating Tikrit.

Our Arwa Damon is in Baghdad. She is hearing from inside Iraq just how much damage these so-called liberators have done in Saddam Hussein's hometown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A senior Iraqi security official in Tikrit told CNN that just hours after the city was liberated it was, "out of control." He confirmed that at least 20 homes were set on fire and around 50 shops were looted and destroyed saying that Iraq's security apparatus was unable to stop trucks from laddened with goods from fleeing the scene.

He says that mostly to blame were the popular mobilization units, that is the fighting force that is largely made up of the Iranian-backed Shiite militias and volunteers but he also said that a few members of Iraq's own security forces were also complicit in the destruction and looting of various buildings.

There has been a very close look being taken at what kind of human rights violations are happening in Tikrit. When we were up there as well, we did witness a group of men from the PMUs, popular mobilization units as well as some Iraqi police officers dancing with the severed head of an alleged ISIS fighter. The fighter had been detained, cuffed, shot in the head and later decapitated.

Now on Friday, Iraq's prime minister did issue a directive to all security forces to detain anyone who had been causing damage, destruction, looting, or any sort of human rights violation. A spokesman for the mobilization units did say that they would be withdrawing from the city.

These various reports of all sorts of violations, potentially tarnishing what up until now had been touted as a victory against ISIS.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Arwa, thank you very much for that. Let's talk about it with Jonathan Gilliam. He's here with me and a former Navy SEAL and FBI agent. Also joining me, Phil Mudd, a former CIA counterterrorism official. Thank you both for being here.

It's incredibly disturbing what Arwa just reported. I mean, you look at this as a victory and then look what happens within days.

Phil, this was a chance for Iraq's security forces to claim a major victory over ISIS and it looks like that has been dashed. Does this surprise you?

PHIL MUDD, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: It does. Look, let's book end this. Ten, 15 years ago you have a Sunni dictator that is Saddam Hussein who controls a country that is roughly two-thirds Shia. Now you have Shia leadership in Baghdad going against ISIL or ISIS, which is a Sunni organization and taking back the city of Tikrit.

What are the Sunni citizens of that city thinking? They are concerned that the Shia leadership in Baghdad is going to crush the Sunni minority after all those years of Saddam Hussein. What we saw is evidence of that. The concern here is that we will end up in a country that is Iraq that is divided between Sunni and Shia and it will end up in a civil war that's a religious war.

HARLOW: And Phil, you have Iraq's prime minister Haider al Abadi saying, "look, this shouldn't take place ordering his troops there to capture anyone that's been engaging in this." But how realistic is that on the ground?

MUDD: I don't think it's realistic. Look, he's backed by Iran. Iran, a Shia country obviously.

HARLOW: Right.

MUDD: Interested in having an ally that is Iraq that governs by Shia principles. I think what's going on here is that the leadership of Iraq is concerned that there will be viewed by the international community as a country that's re-reasserting Shia control over the entire country even while they want American support.

But we all know what the end game here is and that is that there will be Shia leadership in Baghdad that will suppress Sunnis. I think that's the end game here. HARLOW: Jonathan, the prime minister of Iraq telling an interviewer that, (inaudible), a German magazine that look, they cannot succeed if ISIS keeps getting all of these foreigners coming in to help them. Foreigners from the west, foreigners from Europe, foreigners from other Middle Eastern countries. How can that recruitment be interrupted effectively? Now you're hearing it from the top leader in Iraq.

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Again, we don't have a strategic battle plan for countering the recruitment process. Just here in the United States we have females now that are trying to carry out efforts here in the United States. Well, we also have people that are from all over the place, France, all different ages that are trying to go over there and fight, so I agree with him, there needs to be, at the same time we have a strategic battle plan to actually fight in these different tactical areas like Syria, like in Tikrit or in Yemen, there needs to be in this technically advanced world, we need to start looking at how they are spreading. It's like a heartbeat. It goes out and it comes back.

HARLOW: But when you look at Tikrit, for example, and how strategically key that is, does it make sense to send some of the U.S. sort of advisory positions that are on the ground right now, the military advisers right now on the ground into a city like Tikrit to sort of try to stabilize what's clearly a division within Iraq's own forces?

GILLIAM: Right. I have been one of those advisers before in central south America, the war on drugs and I tell you right now Poppy, when you ask me a question, I'm going to give you an honest operational answer. You can't send in advisers in. It's not going to help because as you can see, the liberators came in and they looted, right? So you need a force that's going in and start fighting these, a coalition force with a strong leader and that's the problem.

HARLOW: Phil, is this an example of what you think could happen more if we see sort of Iraqi force victory against ISIS within and around Iraq and if so, how do they keep the support from the U.S.?

MUDD: I think this is what you're going to see happen in a country that's divided in three parts. You have the Kurds up north. They've already started to separate out of Iraq. You have a Shia majority that's taken over because of elections in Baghdad. And you have a Sunni minority what you're seeing now in cities like Tikrit saying we're worried that when the Shia come in here, they look like the government, but they are actually shia. They are going to suppress us.

I think what we're seeing is a slow degradation of Iraq in the three basic pieces. The Kurds up north, the Sunnis in the northwest and the Shia down south. The country is slowly degrading, and I think the influence the Iranians will accelerate that because Iran's interests are pretty clear. Iran is a Shia country that wants a Shia majority in Baghdad to assume power and control power. That's what we'll see happen in the future.

HARLOW: All right. Phil Mudd, thank you very much. Jonathan Gilliam. MUDD: Thank you.

HARLOW: Good to be with both of you.

Now, I'm going to turn to the deteriorating situation in Yemen. That is clearly spiralling out of control and the alarming number of civilians being killed in these clashes. More than 500 civilians in just the past two weeks. Today at the U.N., Russia calling on the U.N. security council to push for a pause in the Saudi-led air strikes against the Houtti rebels on the ground there.

Our senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth has more now on this resolution to try to get some humanitarian aid in and foreign diplomats out.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, the U.N. security council heard Russia's deputy ambassador present a draft resolution calling for some type of humanitarian halt in the fighting on the ground in Yemen. Hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded. The Saudi Arabian ambassador who was not part of the discussion said everybody agrees that there's a need to get assistance on to the ground, but it's how you achieve that, that's the question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDALLAH AL-MOUALLIMI, SAUDI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: The desire to provide assistance to those who need it is something that we share. The mechanism is something that will have to be discussed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Western countries and Jordan indicated they were not happy that the Russian proposal also didn't put the blame where it belongs, in their opinion, on the Houttis, who have ignored previous security council resolutions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER WILSON, DEPUTY U.K. AMBASSADOR: We got to this position because the Houttis over and over again violated ceasefires, took military action, took action by force instead of engaging in a genuine way in political talks. The only way out of this crisis is through a return to genuine political talks on an equal basis and not using force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: It was the first formal meeting of the security council since Saudi Arabia intervened militarily. It doesn't appear that this is going to be the last session. Poppy.

HARLOW: Richard Roth at the U.N. for us this afternoon. Thank you, Richard.

Now to Kenya where the terror group, Al Shabaab is promising they will indeed attack again and kill more innocent people. The country still reeling from the deadliest terror attack since 1998. Gunmen now identified as Al Shabaab fighters stormed the college campus without warning killing 147 people, most of them students, most of them Christians. They were separated from Muslims, who were spared.

A 19-year-old student told CNN how she hid in a cupboard and heard the attackers' footsteps and gunfire just inches away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CYNTHIA CHERATICH, SURVIVED COLLEGE CAMPUS ATTACK: And I decided to go to the wardrobe. In the wardrobe, we have these small rooms. And then I covered myself with the clothes. Then these people enter the room and then they told my other roommates who were hidden themselves in the under-bed. They told them to come out, to go out. When they were outside now, they told if you don't know how to read to them in the Muslim word, whatever, you lie down and then if you know, you go to the other side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, Kenya's president went on national television today and promised to fight the Somali-based terror group, Al Shabaab, and anyone who supports it, finances it or recruits for it.

Consider this, would ISIS ever think about a military truce? There are new signs the terror group may be open to exactly that. What would it look like and could it mean ISIS is in trouble, weaker, that's next.

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HARLOW: ISIS surprised the west with their swift and dramatic takeover in northwest Iraq. Well, when you look at it, the group has taunted the world with its gruesome videos showing western hostages. So is it possible that after all of its military success and online propaganda, ISIS is ready for a military truce.

I know it sounds crazy but let's bring in the man who wrote the article about this, Jamie (inaudible), contributor to "The Daily Beast," also with us Phil Mudd, former counterterrorism official at the CIA. Thank you, gentlemen for being here.

You know, Jamie, ISIS wants a truce is your headline here. Basically you write that the British hostage, John Cantlie, who has been held for quite a long time now and has sort of become the face of propaganda for ISIS, wrote this in an English language magazine and it repeatedly calls for a truce. Quoting Cantlie you write "When the mujahadin start beheading western troops, then every option is going to be on the table, and fast. A truce will be one of those options." That's according to someone who is being held by ISIS.

Do you believe that this is legitimate and also why do you think they are using John Cantlie, this British hostage, to get this message out?

JAMIE DETTMER, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, they have been using John in all kinds of ways, obviously under duress and anything he writes or any video he's fronting is clearly being designed and crafted by the ISIS leadership. I think, I'm not in charge of our headline writers, but they're clearly floating a truce idea. He mentions it four times that they have been using him really as a mouthpiece to provide some kind of counternarrative.

I think what they are doing here is carrying on taunting the west and trying to play to western war wariness and suggest the fact that the end to all of this is going to be repeated failure as Iraq was before and they are going to have to negotiate with us. And this is all part of a narrative that is John is used to push out under duress, I must emphasize again.

HARLOW: Right.

DETTMER: To try to legitimize the caliphate, the Islamic state. But I think there is something here. It's kind of intriguing that he mentions it four times. It's the basis of his latest article. There's a foreshadowing about three issues ago in this magazine where he again mentions negotiations and what's also very interesting is underneath this article there is an editor's note saying, an anonymous note saying "look, we can't have a full-time, permanent truce with the infidel because our default position is we have to fight them, but we can have a temporary one.

And there is classical Muslim jurisprudence, the idea of a temporary truce to rearm yourself or to rejig your positions. So it's very intriguing.

HARLOW: Phil, I'm interested in how you read this and if you see this at all as a sign that ISIS is weakening.

MUDD: No, I see it quite the opposite. This is believe it or not, this is a sign of strength. Look we view ISIS as a terrorist organization. ISIS views itself as a state, the Islamic state who conducts negotiations about truces? That's a state to state conversation. You remember the beheading videos of last fall. ISIS is talking in those videos from their perspective to the president of the United States.

They believe they are having a conversation with the world leader. I don't think this is an indication of weakness. I think this is a way for them to say we're not a terrorist group, we're an organization that was ordained by god to control territory. We provide governance in that territory. We provide services to people and we can conduct state to state conversations with the foreign government including the United States.

So I don't think this is weakness. I think this is them saying we're on the world stage and we're not going anywhere.

HARLOW: Jamie, in your article.

DETTMER: I think he's right. I mean, it's a sign of confidence.

MUDD: Yes.

DETTMER: Legitimacy.

HARLOW: Jamie, in your article, you point out, Cantlie writes here in his sort of propaganda piece that western leaders have accepted that ISIS is a bona fide state, that ISIS has its own police force, that it has functioning schools and court system and a currency. Do you believe that ISIS is holding on to John Cantlie after brutally murdering, executing so many other of its hostages because this is a western voice for them to get their message out and they see that as incredibly valuable?

DETTMER: I think that's right, they have been using him a lot. I mean he's fronted a lot of videos. He's written quite a lot of articles. We have maneuvered into a position of appearing to be some kind of objective observer, when clearly he isn't, he's under duress and he's doing anything to save his life, as he should be in these circumstances.

I mean there's an element to him - I think there's a great deal of anger there in him as well. I mean it's a psychological questions about what's going on with him. His sister, a few weeks ago, in an interview with London Sunday Times" was mentioned when he attacks the west, particularly the British government for not negotiating for his release, he actually believes that.

But I mean, this is a very complex psychological thing happening with him, but in terms of them, yes, they see him of value and as long as they continue to see him of value, he will live. In terms of the legitimacy question, there are signs that they are meant to be providing social services, they have a supposed currency, but there are very clear signs that they are having problems now in (inaudible) and in some of the other territory that they control. They seem to be running out of money a bit.

The efforts by the Turks (inaudible) is having some effect in terms of oil (inaudible) which they sell in Turkey and other neighboring countries, as are the airstrikes. But they are still very strong. They have had some successes in Syria recently, even though they are being pushed back a little bit in Iraq.

HARLOW: But also losing to Tikrit this at the same time.

DETTMER: (INAUDIBLE) lost Tikrit. I mean, there's a lot of claims and counterclaims here, but it looks like 30 percent of Tikrit in the outskirts may still be under control of the militants. And of course what hasn't helped has been the Shia militia behavior on Friday, which is going to undermine efforts to get Sunni tribesmen to pull away from the Islamic state. That is a really, really bad news we'll have on Friday.

HARLOW: Well, it's a fascinating piece. ISIS wants a truce on the DailyBeast.com. Jamie Dettmer, thank you for talking about it. Phil Mudd, good to have you on the program.

MUDD: Thank you.

HARLOW: We appreciate it.

Coming up after a quick break, the nuclear deal with Iran only works if everyone follows the rules, follows the guidelines. Can we trust Iran? Not everyone is sure at all, that's next.

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HARLOW: Coming up at 5:00 Eastern, we're going to have my sit-down interview with Warren Buffett talking about the U.S. economy, income inequality and who he wants for the next president.

But before that, came the framework for a nuclear deal with Iran. Now, President Obama and members of his administration are calling on lawmakers and foreign leaders to make the sell. But there's another big looming factor here Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, who has promoted hostility towards the United States.

Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto looks at whether or not the U.S. can really trust Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Celebrations on the streets of Iran overnight. The foreign minister Javad Zarif welcomed home as a hero, but behind the smiles another Iran still defines America as the great Satan and the target of death to America chants.

This is the Iran of supreme leader Alah Homeini and the feared revolutionary guards. Many critics worry cannot be trusted to hold up Iran's side of the bargain.

REP. ED ROYCE (R-CA), FOREIGN AFFAIRS CHAIRMAN: The military here has a lot to say about this. Not necessarily the Iranian negotiators, they don't have the power. The ayatollah and the military have the power.

SCIUTTO: U.S. ally Israel is certain they cannot be trusted.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Israel will not accept an agreement, which allows a country that vows to annihilate us to develop nuclear weapons, period.

SCIUTTO: The fact is the supreme leader faces sharp division at home. Between hard liners loathed to trust the west and average Iranians eager to ease their country's economic pain and isolation.

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT: The supreme leader is in a difficult dilemma right now because his hardline base has long opposed any accommodation with the United States and at the same time there's tens of millions of Iranians who are euphoric about the prospect of sanctions relief and international integration. It's going to be difficult for him to disappoint so many Iranians who are eager to see this deal happen.

SCIUTTO: Still trust between the U.S. and Iran is already being tested in the differing views of what the two sides actually agreed to in Switzerland. On the key question of economic sanctions, for instance, Iran says there will be immediate relief. The U.S. says it will be phased in over time. And while the diplomats smile, three Americans remain in Iranian prison cells. A former marine, Amir Hekmati, a Christian pastor Sayid Abudini, and "Washington Post" reporter Jason Rasayin, all jailed on what the U.S. considers baseless charges. (INAUDIBLE) Hekmati, brother Amir has been held for more than 1,300 days.

SARAH HEKMATI: Calling on Iran again to release my brother and the other Americans openly when they are sitting face to face at this negotiating table to me seems like we're past that point. Iran needs to take steps to prove their commitment.

SCIUTTO (on camerA): We're familiar with Israeli opposition to an agreement, but America's Arab allies share many of the same concerns sparking fears of a nuclear arms race in the region. The president called many of them Friday from Air Force One speaking to leaders of U.A.E., Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. He's also planning to invite the Arab leaders to Camp David to calm their fears but it's going to be a tough sell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Jim Sciutto for us and our Fareed Zakaria sat down with deputy U.S. national security adviser Ben Rhodes. He said that even though the U.S. likely cannot convince Israel that this is a good deal, it can assure them that the security of Israel is a top U.S. concern.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: Prime Minister Netanyahu is still not convinced. What will you do to try to convince him?

BEN RHODES, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I think that we're not going to convince Prime Minister Netanyahu. Frankly, he has disagreed with this approach since before the joint plan of action, the first interim agreement that was reached with Iran. What we will say to the Prime Minister Netanyahu as we're saying to our Gulf partners too is we're making a nuclear deal here.

It's the right thing to do. It's the best way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon for the longest period of time. At the same time, though, we're not at all lessening our concern about Iran's destabilizing actions in the region. Its threats towards Israel and other partners, its support for terrorism, we can have a dialogue with them about what else can we be doing to reassure you of our commitment to your security to counter those steps of destabilizing activities and make clear that again, while we may have a nuclear deal here, we're going to be very, very vigilant in confronting other Iranian actions in the region that concern us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Much more of that interview with Ben Rhodes tomorrow on "GPS" 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Eastern. You won't want to miss it.

Also on "State of the Union" tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. and noon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins CNN to talk about why he's so opposed to this deal. That's only right here on CNN, tomorrow morning.

Coming up next for the families of the victims from the Germanwings crash, the past weeks have been unbearable. Details leaking out that have been heartbreaking. How are they holding up? A live report from Europe, next.

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[16:30:00] HARLOW: Coming up next: for the families of the victims from the Germanwings crash, the past weeks have been unbearable. Details leaking out that have been heartbreaking. How are they holding up? A live report from Europe, next.

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HARLOW: Police investigators today wrapped up their work at the crash site of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps. The private security firm will protect the area for now. This as investigators sift through new information that they have received from the flight data recorder that was found among the wreckage on Thursday.

The biggest revelation so far is the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz increased the speed, accelerated the speed several times after setting the plane on a crash course.

Joining me from Marseilles, France, is our Karl Penhaul. He has been following the story from the beginning.

And, you know, Karl, we talk so much about why could this have happened, what motivated Lubitz, what was his state of mine? But the most important thing is the victims and the families and how they're doing? How are they doing?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Poppy. I mean, that really has been the feature of this tragedy, hasn't it? There's been so many twists and turns, there had been revelations, but the bottom line is that 150 life stories came to an end the moment that that plane crashed into that wind blown gully.

Now, right now, still some of the friends and relatives are staying at a hotel just a couple blocks away from us here in Marseilles. They are still waiting. They're getting help from psychologists on a daily basis. They're getting briefings on the investigation, both on the accident investigation and the criminal investigation.

I was talking to the family of one of the South American victims on that flight, and I can tell you they're not doing very well. That could be expected.

But one man I spoke to lost his brother. He says he gets up in the mornings, he's overwhelmed by this tremendous sadness and as the day goes on, he gets filled with rage.

[16:35:01] When I first approached him a couple of days ago, I apologized for invading his privacy and he said to me, says, don't worry, Karl, it's not you invading my privacy. It's Lufthansa that is invading my privacy, Germanwings who is invading my privacy. I never wanted to know those names. They didn't need to be in my life.

But now, my brother is death, they will always be part of my life, he said. And it's not good enough that people here are talking about compensation and the legal suits. He said in his view that somebody allowed Andreas Lubitz to fly that plane, even though it handed in a note in 2009 saying that he was suffering from mental issues. And he said -- this young man said to me, he says, what I want to see is Lufthansa and Germanwings executives behind bars in jail for putting Lubitz in that cockpit, Poppy.

HARLOW: And, Karl, what are these family members telling you about how they want their loved ones honored and remembered?

PENHAUL: Well, there is talk, of course, of putting a memorial stone closer to the crash site. Now that rescue teams managed to drive a dirt path right up to the ravine where the plane crashed perhaps we're going to see that in the next few weeks as the ban on access to that site is lifted. The other thing, of course, though, in the short-term that the families will get maybe a little consolidation, a little comfort from in the course of this week is that the identification process of the remains is going to start and that, again, news that we didn't really expect because some had been predicting that the remains of those passengers in that flight would never be found.

But a prosecutor said that 150 separate sets of remains have been found. That essentially means that every body on that plane will be identified and they will be able to be laid to rest. So these are, of course, small comforts, but they've got to take what they can get, Poppy.

HARLOW: Karl, thank you very much for keeping us focused on the most important thing, the victims and for your reporting throughout we appreciate it.

Coming up next, we're going to continue on this story. We are going to talk about that second black box that was found amid all of the debris late this week. We have already learned the co-pilot's state of mind, but what else could we learn from that data? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:39] HARLOW: We have been looking at the latest in the investigation of the Germanwings crash.

Before the break, we heard about the families and the DNA testing being done to identify the victims of Flight 9525. So, let's dig a little deeper into what we have learned and what is still to be discovered from the second black box that was found this week.

In New York, joining me, Les Abend, contributing editor to "Flying" magazine and a 777 captain. Also joining me in Denver, David Soucie, a former safety inspector and author of "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370."

Thank you both for being here.

David, let me begin with you. When we talk about this first testing of the DNA from 150 people on board, how does the process of identifying them work and then returning any remains they possibly can, any jewelry, anything personal to the family members?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: It's really a gruesome task, to be honest with you, Poppy. And to be able to identify and separate each of the remains and try to put as many as they can together, part of the process is identifying where the remains were found, location of where the parts were, I hate to say it that way, but that's how it happens.

And then at that point, they are gathered together and placed respectfully into these caskets, if you will, and sent back to their families.

HARLOW: Les, when it comes to the flight data recorder, the second of the so-called black boxes that was just recovered on Thursday, it is not the audio from the cockpit, it's a lot of other information. What are the most important things investigators are going to try to glean from that?

LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, Poppy, I can only guess, and Dave can back me up on this also, I think with reference to the cockpit door, they may be listening to whether that deactivation switch was utilized or perhaps the cockpit door, the manual aspect of the cockpit door was utilized through the cockpit voice recorder. There is a possibility with the research that was done that we know of through the prosecutor's office that he was looking in the cockpit door basic mechanics of it perhaps.

Nobody really knows for sure at this point, but if he attempted to pull circuit breakers to disable that -- the arming aspect of the cockpit door, that may be able to be determined by the flight data recorder, in addition to the fact we're talking about speed that he accelerated, but this is the speed, the vertical speed he accelerated in a descent toward the terrain.

HARLOW: David, here's the thing. No matter what information you find, it doesn't bring these lives back. It doesn't bring back the lives of 149 innocent people who were murdered here.

When you look at why they want all this information, obviously, they want to know what happened. But ultimately, how does that factor into who might be charged?

SOUCIE: Well, where it comes down is the intent of that pilot and what he did to try to prevent something from happening. One of the reasons we look at these things is to see if it can be improved or stopped from happening before.

From a liability perspective, it's something they are trying to prove that they knew this potential existed yet did nothing about it. And that's where the liability comes into play. So, part of this idea is did he push down the switch, did he not, it will tell us what didn't happen as much as it will tell us what did. And if there was no attempt from him to try to recover from this downward movement, which apparently he did nothing but try to accelerate it, so that does prove his intent, the second part of this is then the liability part in which they are trying to find evidence that they knew of something.

HARLOW: And what the airline knew about his mental state years before. As a 777 pilot, is there anything that other carriers can learn from what investigators have uncovered so far?

ABEND: Absolutely, I mean, unfortunately, now we have the public doubting our basic mental health, but I think what we can do is we can go back and look at our own screening process for pilots.

[16:45:00] My particular airline is in the process of hiring pilots. We can go through and see if we can revise some aspects of the physical exam, still keep it a self-disclose situation, but going through the whole process of evaluation as it stands now, but let's reinforce and let's reinforce some of the avenues that are available for professional pilots to get help, if indeed they need that kind of assistance.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Les, David, thank you guys very much. We appreciate it.

Coming up next, we're going to switch gears in a big way, and here talk about the box office where the new "Fast and Furious" movie. Get this -- this is a $2 billion movie franchise. The latest installment number 7 in the series bigger than ever. We'll look at the key to this incredible success story for this franchise. Also, how it has been impacted by the death of its young star.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Have you seen it yet? You know what I'm talking about, "Fast & Furious 7". I haven't seen it, just came out, but apparently a lot of you have because look at the numbers. They are pretty astonishing. The newest installment of "Fast & Furious 7" making its way to be the best ever April opening, with analysts predicting it will pull in $150 million this weekend alone.

[16:50:02] The success is bittersweet, of course, with fans also remembering the film's late star Paul Walker.

Here's CNN's Paul Vercammen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WALKER, "FAST & FURIOUS": Dude, I almost had you.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paul Walker explained just how tight this cast became before the release of the first "Fast & Furious."

WALKER: You know, you hear about egos and people that are difficult to work with, and, blah, blah, blah. But everyone in this, we got along really well. .

VERCAMMEN: Now mention Walker to his co-stars, emotions flow. JORDANA BREWSTER, ACTRESS, "FOURIOUS 7": He was the best guy. He was

the best guy to be around in the world. So, he's very, very missed.

VERCAMMEN: Walker died in late 2013, riding in a 600 horsepower Porsche that wrecked in Santa Clarita. An impromptu memorial sprung up, 5,000 fans paid respects.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a very genuine person with a big heart. He wasn't like any other celebrity.

VERCAMMEN: No doubt Walker connected with his fans so much because he seemed anti-Hollywood, no entourage or publicity stunts. He founded a charity to help people affected by natural disasters, anonymously buying this $9,000 wedding ring for a newlywed soldier who could not afford it.

A decade and three children later, the couple told CNN, "It was a fairy tale, he was our fairy godfather."

But how in Hollywood do you take a fairy godfather figure Walker and finish "Fast & Furious"? Roughly 85 percent of Walker's parts were finished when he died. The director James Wan says he used Walker's brothers to fill the gaps.

JAMES WAN, DIRECTOR, "FURIOUS": They were basically act out the scenes, they would play out the scenes how Paul would have done it in the film.

REPORTER: So they have dialogue?

VERCAMMEN: There's also an homage to walker in the movie, but perhaps there can be no greater tribute to a friend than naming a child in their honor. Paul Walker lives on in co-star Vin Diesel's new baby.

VIN DIESEL, ACTOR, "FURIOUS 7": Paul is the one to cut the umbilical cord. As I was cutting the umbilical cord two weeks ago, I couldn't stop thinking about Paul and his advice and when it came down to write down the name, Pauline just came out. I don't have friends. I've got family.

VERCAMMEN: Paul Vercammen, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: All right. Joining me to talk about this is CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter.

I haven't seen it. I actually haven't seen any of them, but I'm clearly in the minority here. Why does this franchise do so well?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I haven't seen the new one, but I've seen some of the older ones, Poppy. And this is what, the seventh one, is it does go to show that even though critics might not love sequels, movie-goers do love sequels. This is, by the far, the most successful of all the films. They have made as you mentioned $2 billion over time. But for this one, the estimates keep going up. You know, a few days

ago, box office analysts were saying it might make $115 million this weekend. Then, it was $125 million, and it was $140 million. And now, today, they are saying $150 million.

The studio Universal is being careful, I tell you their guess, $149.5 million. They don't want to go and say $150 million. But whatever it ends up being, it's going to be the biggest April movie ever.

I think we have a graph of the last biggest April box office opening weekends, because here's been some big ones in the past. You can see them here, "Fast & Furious" in 2009, "Fast 5" in 2011, but none of them can compare to this. We see $99 million, $95 million was the previous record. This movie is going to go way past that to about $150 million. And that goes to show in some ways, the summer movie season is starting earlier than ever.

HARLOW: It's starting early and it's starting as a bang. Paul Walker, obviously in this film. If there's an eighth one, he won't be in that one.

Can this series go on without him?

STELTER: I think not only can it -- it definitely will because it's been so successful. They have shown an ability to recreate this franchise with new cast members. You know, it's remarkable that even though it's a huge big budget blockbuster movie, it's getting great reviews. Most critics actually like it. So, Poppy, we should go see it.

HARLOW: Can we go together, Brian? I'm back tomorrow.

STELTER: Oh, I'm free tomorrow night.

HARLOW: OK, we're going, "Fast and Furious 7". Brian, thank you so much.

STELTER: Have a good one.

HARLOW: Switching gears to an incredibly important story that is now getting more attention like it deserves. California's drought, imagine a natural disaster so severe it could change the way of life for every man, woman and child in this country. That's what is facing California right now. A drought so terrible it is transforming the state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:57:17] HARLOW: The four-year long California is alarming even experts, experts who have been watching this happen. Just look at these before and after photos from some of the state's landmarks.

Our Sara Sidner reports on what the state is doing to cope with this historic trap.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): California is going dry.

GOV. JERRY BROWN (D), CALIFORNIA: People should realize we're in a new era. The idea of your nice green grass getting lots of water every day, that's going to be a thing of the past.

SIDNER: The new edict, mandatory statewide water restrictions, including changing 50 million square feet of California's thirsty grass lawns to drought resistant zero scapes, a rebate program makes it free.

ANDREW FARRELL, TURF TERMINATORS: Because of that program, we have come up with a way for homeowners to get this service for free and we think because of that this could catch fire and really help California.

SIDNER: The plan also calls for a reduction in potable water usage and agriculture must provide a water usage plan. Scientists say these actions can't happen soon enough.

JAY FAMIGLETTI, SENIOR WATER SCIENTIST, NASA JET PROPULSION, LABORATORY: California has about one year of water left in its reservoirs on the surface.

SIDNER: You don't have to tell Vickie Yorba how bad it is. The retiree lives it every day in California Central Valley.

VICKIE YORBA, HOMEOWNER, EAST PORTERVILLE, CALIFORNIA: They say you never miss a well until the water runs dry, you know? It's true. Who would have ever thought that I wouldn't have any water?

SIDNER: Her well went dry and her taps did too.

(on camera): Did you ever actually cry because of what was going on?

YORBA: I have cried myself to sleep a lot of times and I have lost weight.

SIDNER (voice-over): In East Porterville, dry wells have left about 5,000 people without running water in their homes.

(on camera): How long have you not had running water in the house?

YORBA: It's been a year and one month.

SIDNER (voice-over): Angelica Gallego says one of her children is being bullied over it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter, she came from school and said, mom, I'm sick and tired. They say I don't got no water, I didn't shower and this and that, that I stink.

SIDNER: Nothing is spared. At one of the largest reservoirs the dry rings reveal where the water level was just a few years ago.

(on camera): The water is receding so quickly, even GPS is having trouble keeping up. According to this, we should be submerged in deep water right now.

(voice-over): The water crisis impacting everything from people to the produce and nuts the world has come to rely on. If the drought does its works, it could turn the part of America referred to as the world's salad bowl into a sand pit.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Tulare County, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)