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Debris Could Belong to MH370; Grieving Families Await News About Possible MH370 Discovery; Answering Twitter Questions about MH370; Backlash Grows Towards Lion-Shooting Dentist Now in Hiding. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 30, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00] DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Because Jeb Bush does, at this point, the best against Hillary Clinton. Donald trump does just about the worst. In fact, in that same poll, he's losing to Bernie Sanders, if Bernie Sanders was going to be the Democrat nominee. So that really speaks to why the Democrats are going, "Go Donald Trump."

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: One week from today, 10 podiums on that stage.

Dana Bash, thank you so much.

BASH: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We'll be talking to you up until then, and much more beyond.

Next, though, here, getting back to our breaking story. A source tells CNN that Boeing officials are confident that the plane debris found off that island matches that of a Boeing 777. That's the same model of the missing Malaysia Air flight 370. Much more on that.

Also, I'll talk to a family member of a victim of a totally separate disaster, Air France 447, who has been talking to family members of those lost on that Malaysian plane. How are they coping? How are they dealing with this potential piece of knowledge? Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:11] BALDWIN: I'm Brooke Baldwin. Back to our breaking news.

New information suggesting debris found off Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean could be from Malaysia Airlines flight 370. There's a component number stenciled on this piece of debris and it matches schematic drawings of a Boeing 777 wing part. Investigators from Malaysia are heading to the island. The search area for MH370 has been in the Southern Indian Ocean here. It's 23 miles away from where this debris washed up.

CNN's Tom Foreman uses a virtual studio to show us what investigators are really up against -- Tom?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke. Hour by hour, the evidence is mounting that this piece of debris seems to be connected to the missing Malaysia Air flight. The first clue came from Boeing engineers. They said this looks like a part of a 777. It has the right structure, it has everything. Specifically, that it would match to a piece of the back right wing. So, in terms of mounting the evidence here, it is the right type of debris that they would be looking for. It's the right color. It's in the right condition, consistent with the barnacles on it floating in the water for 500 days. There are a lot of numbers on different parts of airplanes.

For example, this is a seat cushion from a different plane. There are numbers all over the place. This can match it up to a type of plane and if they find a serial number on this part that they found, that will be specific not just to the type of the plane but to the specific plane. If they have that, you'll absolutely know it was this plane. The remaining history at that point will be how did it wind up way over here? Remember, all along, Brooke, we've been talking about a search area that's 2200 miles south here off the coast of Australia. Very far away from this location. So how could something like this wind up all the way over here? Well, there are a good number of models coming out right now and a lot of experts are speaking with certainty about the ocean currents and they say it could carry this piece over the width of the United States of America to Reunion Island and that also explains my officials near Reunion are still scouring the water to see if any other pieces are now finally showing up -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Tom Foreman, thank you.

For more than a year now, no answers for the families of the 239 people who disappeared on board MH370. I cannot imagine the range of emotions that these mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles have been facing. The discovery of this debris off the coast off this French island, Reunion, bringing more emotions to relatives who have been waiting so long for answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH BEJIC, PARTNER WAS ON MH370: Ultimately, if this is a piece of the wing, then that little thread of hope that I've been holding on to will have to break. And reality will have to take over. But, yeah, up until now, I and most of the family members have continued to believe that until we have a body, we can't -- we can't give up hoping that they'll still come back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: My next guest, unfortunately, knows all too well some of the emotions these family members are going through. He is Maarten Van Sluys. He lost his sister in the Air France crash six years ago. He's the founder of the Air France Flight 447 Victims Families Associations, and he's been helping the families on board this missing Malaysia Airplane. He joins me now.

Maarten, again, I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you for joining me.

You flew to Malaysia a month after this plane disappeared. You've been in touch with the family members. Can you just share some of the emotions that they have just recently shared with you?

MAARTEN VAN SLUYS, LOST FAMILY MEMBERS ON FLIGHT & FOUNDER, AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 447 VICTIMS FAMILIES ASSOCIATIONS: Yes. Nice speaking to you from St. Anne, and all of your audience. I was very touched by the disappearance of the Air France flight 447 where I lost one of my beloved sisters. And since then, I am helping out families affected by the same situations.

And in April of last year, I went to Malaysia from Brazil and joined a couple of families and took part in the first month's ceremony in Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian government at that time did not give the right answers. There were a lot of misunderstandings and messages saying people should not have hope of finding their beloved ones so it was really touching what I experienced in Malaysia. And now we are 15 months after the crash or what we suppose it was a crash. I know there are a lot of families that still believe that maybe this plane was not hit in the water or maybe on the ground but I understand the suffering and now I see that the wounds are all open again. I felt the same at that time six years ago.

[14:40:39] BALDWIN: The wounds are all open again, Maarten. In your situation, with your sister, the biggest difference between the Air France flight and this one, it was seven days after it went down into the ocean, there was at least a debris field but it did take what I imagine was two excruciating years to finally find the actual plane, to find the black boxes. And can you describe for me, in those seven days of truly knowing nothing, what was that like for you?

VAN SLUYS: Yeah, it was a very, very hard situation among the families. We were all in shock by having information that the plane disappeared. And first reports came saying that there were reports of likes on the water which after we found out they were not from our plane and then seven days after when we finally got really pieces of the airplane floating on the water, we were -- families went -- some of the families were completely out of their control, some others still hoping people maybe would be a rescue boat coming through and took some people to a specific island or somewhere on the shore. So it's very confusing. Your rational part wants to believe what happened and emotional. You have to have the bodies until you finish this process. That's what happened for us. But for the liability and for the families' support now in the legal aspect, I think this is a very important part if we can discover the serial numbers of these parts which are found in the ocean, if this is proof of the airplane, we did not have this until now. This would be, I think, very important now and we have to step in again and get the families together and maybe talk to you will a of the people to understand what they can do from now on related to the liability question.

BALDWIN: I think it's incredibly kind of you, in spite of your loss, to help these loved ones. And we are all thinking of them as they --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: -- I'm sure, are watching every bit of coverage just to wait to see what this may mean for them.

Maarten Van Sluys, thank you so much.

Next, much more on this. My experts answer your questions. You know, anything from how the debris will be matched to what the debris can tell the investigators about the condition of the black box, all of that. Your Twitter questions answered, next, on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:36] BALDWIN: The plane debris found in the Indian Ocean off the island of Reunion is raising new hopes in the search for the missing flight MH370 missing now for some 15 months. The debris washed ashore some 2300 miles away from that main search area.

So let me bring back in my experts. We have CNN safety analyst, David Soucie, also author of "The Mystery of MH370, Why It Disappeared"; and Nick Mallos, marine debris specialist and conservationist and biologist:

Gentleman, we've got some questions from our viewers on Twitter.

David Soucie, let me begin with this is a question from Mike Smith. He tweeted this, "Does the debris indicate whether the plane broke up in flight or at impact?" Good question.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT & AUTHOR: It's a great question and, to Mike, I'd say that there's obviously too early to tell. If it broke up in flight, then the pieces would be coming apart as they did and there wouldn't be any indication to anything different than if it had skidded onto the water. Now, if the aircraft had hit an impact and had dramatic impact, that piece that we see there would have been crushed. So still too early to tell but there's only two other possibilities there that it landed in a ditching or it did come off in flight. Good point.

BALDWIN: Nick, this is my own sort of -- my own question. I'm fascinated by the marine biology aspect of all of this. Tell me, what is growing on the side of this piece?

NICK MALLOS, MARINE DEBRIS SPECIALIST, THE OCEAN CONSERVANCY INC & CONSERVATIONIST & BIOLOGIST: What you're seeing are barnacles and they can be found throughout the ocean. And actually anything that inhabits the ocean in a stagnant form, often barnacle growth would occur. Most people are familiar with this. If you're walked at the beach or lake, walking on the dock, you'll see these creatures kind of growing all over the piers and the pylons. These organisms will grow on debris and other forms and drifting material in a very rapid amount of time. Somewhere between three days to a week you can start to see barnacle growth.

BALDWIN: Staying on that, if we're doing the math and saying 15 months, should there be more barnacle growth, should it look different or would this be consistent here?

MALLOS: Well, it really varies. Barnacles grow very rapidly. Some regions of the ocean have more living organisms living in them and so you may see an ebb and flow in terms of the growth and development on these wings. So, you know, it's hard to say how long it's been at sea based on the amount of barnacle growth there, but it doesn't take long for the organisms to grow.

[14:50:29] BALDWIN: All right, David, we've been throwing out technical terms for piece of plane, and when I say flaperon, there appears to be a flaperon, tell me where on the plane, where on the wing specifically that is and the function of it.

SOUCIE: Well, first of all, let's talk about what the aleron does, which is further out on the wing. It changes the lift of the wing left or right. As it goes down, it pushes the wing up. As it goes up, it pulls the wing down. So that's what it does. At high speeds, though, that aleron on the outside of the wing is way too much for this airplane and the slightest movement can turn it into an uncontrolled spin. So they have an inside aleron which also guides the airplane left to right by going up and down. That's what this thing does. In addition, at very low speeds, it can be put out and down together and serve as a flap which changes the cord of the wing and makes it more efficient at lower speeds. That's why they call it a flap and an aleron, a flaperon.

BALDWIN: Staying with you, David Soucie, here's the biggie, if this is it, will they find the black box? A question from Jody on Twitter is this, "How likely is it that if the black boxes were found they would be readable?"

SOUCIE: Oh, very likely. The black boxes are pretty impervious. They are tested at super high heat and water penetration and depths. And in addition to that, they are solid state. Even if they did get salt water on it, they can be recovered. Very high probability once they find it they'll have that information.

BALDWIN: David Soucie and Nick Mallos, thank you both very much.

Coming up at the top of the hour, more of our special coverage of the debris found off the coast of Madagascar. Could it be related to this missing plane, MH370? We'll take you live to this part of the world, to Reunion Island.

Next, the backlash is growing over the death of Cecil the lion, and now the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is looking for the man that allegedly killed that lion. He is American dentist, Walter Palmer. You know what? This guy can't be found anywhere. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:02] BALDWIN: We are now getting word that the U.S. government would like a word with the Minnesota dentist at the center of this growing global trophy hunt controversy. We're talking about Walter Palmer, who now admits, yes, he killed Cecil, this beloved, protected and famous line in Zimbabwe. But now he now says he regrets it, but that's still not keeping protesters away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All your money, all your lives, we will never compromise.

CROWD: Extradite Palmer!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow. Look at this crowd. So this is the parking lot outside of his Bloomington, Minnesota, dental practice. Demonstrators are calling for him to be extradited to Zimbabwe. In fact, his practice has been shut down. The dentist is hiding.

Even Minnesota's governor is joining in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: I'm so disgusted with that man, and shoot any lion, but a lion like that, to lure him out of the preserve and shoot him? I mean, how could anybody think that is sport? It's just appalling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Ed Lavandera, let me go to you.

So this dentist is MIA. When is the last time anyone saw him?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, the wrinkle continues to deepen and intensify with this situation. Dr. Walter Palmer is nowhere to be found since all of the news has erupted in the last few days. And he has said publicly in a statement, in a letter that he has sent to his patients of his dental practice that he's willing to meet with investigators and cooperate with whoever is investigating this situation.

Kind of left the impression that Dr. Walter Palmer was cooperating, but the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has said that they have not heard from Dr. Walter Palmer. A while ago, the director of the service sent out this tweet saying, "CNN reporting Dr. Palmer is seeking to cooperate. Easy to do. You or your representative, please contact the Fish & Wildlife Service immediately."

So an intensified wrinkle to this story, as no one has heard from Dr. Palmer. And, more importantly, the investigators investigating this have not heard from I am had. We reached out to them a while ago and the Fish & Wildlife Service are telling us that they are now working with the Department of Justice in this case as well. So serious problems for Dr. Palmer.

BALDWIN: That's one piece of the story, is the dentist, right? But he also -- he hired guides back in Zimbabwe. What's the status of those guides?

LAVANDERA: Well, they were in court yesterday. They are going through the process there. Basically, the government and conservation groups accusing them of illegally carrying out this hunt, not having the necessary permits, not having the quotas to be able to hunt on the land where this hunt supposedly took place. So a lot of that background will be investigated to figure out what kind of paperwork and what kind of -- how all of this was carried out. And obviously, Dr. Palmer's testimony and information will be highly crucial to all of this.

BALDWIN: Ed Lavandera, thank you so much.