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Charles de Gaulle Airport Investigation; EgyptAir Communication; Rift Widens Between Democrats and Sanders. Aired 9:30- 10a ET

Aired May 19, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:34:01] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

France's president has convened an emergency meeting, vowing to work closely with the Egyptians on the investigation into that missing airplane. Investigators will be looking at the backgrounds and movements of ground personnel, like baggage handlers, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. You may remember the airport fired numerous baggage handlers and airport staff last year after they were suspected of having links to radical Islam. Our senior European correspondent Jim Bittermann live in our Paris bureau to tell us more about that.

Good morning.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

This came after the November 13th attacks here that Prafay (ph), that's sort of the highest police officer out at the airport, basically said that they had lifted the security clearances of 57 employees during the course of 2015. Those 57 out of 86,000 who work at the airport. But basically lifted their security clearances because of their dubious contacts with Islamic organizations and that sort of thing. There's always the possibility that maybe they didn't get everybody, and so that's what they're doing today is that they're going back through, checking anybody that had contact with this EgyptAir flight.

[09:35:16] Now it should be said that the plane itself was at four other airports yesterday, including Tunis and Cairo, before coming here. And all of these places, too, probably are at this stage checking airport personnel. But the French, in the absence of being involved directly with the search operation that's going on out in the Mediterranean, they're at least checking what they can check, which is things out at the airport.

Carol.

COSTELLO: So what -- I know that Charles de Gaulle Airport added new safety features. What were they? BITTERMANN: Well, they've added -- they're certainly upped the number

of visible security operations. There's a lot more military on patrol out there. In terms of the handling of the passengers, not much changed that certainly that I could see in my number of times that I've gone through there. But in terms of securing the personnel that work there, the people that come on to the airport tarmac, they've had different levels of security installed so that you get a badge that will allow you access to one part of the airport and maybe a badge that wouldn't allow you to get that to point. The most sensitive areas are being kept off limits to some people.

There's been some complaints about that, but this actually is a problem that has gone back now some years, the idea that there may be people who would try to take a bomb on to an aircraft, but also that there might be some people who might be in -- have connections to criminal gangs. So there's been a lot more concern about security at the airport over the last few years, and especially in the last months since the terrorism of last year.

Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jim Bittermann reporting live from Paris, thank you.

As authorities search for EgyptAir Flight 804, Egypt now says terror is more likely than a technical issue as for what brought that plane down. Let's bring in CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien.

Good morning. Good morning, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so we know the pilot stopped communicating at a time where there should have been communication, at a time when there absolutely should have been communication. It's vital at this -- because the plane had left Greek airspace and went into Egyptian airspace. Why is it so important that the pilots communicate with air traffic control at this moment?

O'BRIEN: Well, it's called a handoff. One controller is telling the aircraft that you're about to fly out of my sector, please check in with the next controller. And this is part of the routine communication of aviation. As you fly across the planet, you make these routine check-ins and check-outs as you go along.

They missed that one. Now that in and of itself, that happens all the time. Pilots missed the checks. The radio doesn't work correctly. A lot of things can happen. But there were repeated attempts to reach the aircraft. They did not respond. That in and of itself is still -- could be a number of things that would cause that to happen.

But what happened two minutes later is what, when you put the non- communication together with it, is what leads us down this road towards some sort of deliberate act. The aircraft flew erratically and ultimately fell off radar screens. What happened, what was going on in that aircraft, was there some kind of struggle, is the crew itself potentially culpable? What was going on in that aircraft as the Egyptian authorities say that terror is the most likely scenario, what -- who or what is the motive and who is responsible?

COSTELLO: So why would it be advantageous for someone intent on committing terror, let's say, to -- to do the act at the moment that an airliner would fly into another country's airspace?

O'BRIEN: You know, that's deep in the realm of speculation.

COSTELLO: Yes.

O'BRIEN: The fact that it happened in Egyptian -- you know, at the point where they entered the Egyptian sector could be just some sort of coincidence for all we know. But it was at the point when the aircraft would have begun its decent into Cairo. And if you were a member of the flight crew and had something, you know, diabolical on your mind, that might be a time to do it.

COSTELLO: So earlier this morning Egyptian officials were not saying that it -- it might be terror related, but now they are. They say it's more likely than not. What do you think changed their minds?

O'BRIEN: Well, I think the initial reports, Carol, were that it, you know, sort of vanished without a trace almost. You know, just fell off the radar screens. Subsequent to those reports, the Greek authorities came out and said, you know, we've got some radar information which indicates this aircraft was -- took a sharp turn, a 90 degree turn, and then actually did a full 360 revolution. That changes the dynamics significantly. It's very difficult to come up with a scenario that jives with some sort of catastrophic failure. Well, put it this way, it leads us down the road to a deliberate act, coupling that with the nonresponse.

[09:40:05] COSTELLO: All right, Miles O'Brien, thank you for your insight.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a massive maritime search and rescue effort is underway right now for EgyptAir Flight 804.

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COSTELLO: A major search now underway for that missing EgyptAir plane that went down in the Mediterranean. Greece has said it found objects, but it's unclear if those objects are actually from that missing plane. Greece and Egypt have both sent a number of rescue and search jets, along with navy vessels specialized in rescue operations.

David Gallo helped lead the successful international effort to locate the remains of Air France Flight 447, and is currently involved in the search for that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Welcome, David.

DAVID GALLO, LAMONT-DOHERTY EARTH OBSERVATORY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi.

Greek and Egyptian official are searching by sea and air. They're using military jets and navy vessels. What might that search effort look like?

[09:45:04] GALLO: Well, they're trying to coordinate, I'm sure, to make sure that every area of the ocean is covered so that they don't pass over an area and miss something, either small or big, that may have something to do with the airplane. But it's critical because with every hour that goes by, the currents and the winds are acting on whatever might be on or just under the water, and moving them away from the impact site. And if we want to get our hands on the recorders, the flight recorder and the data -- the voice and data recorder, we have to know where that x marks the spot is. And so, you know, time is really of the essence right now.

COSTELLO: If authorities know kind of where the plane went down, why is it taking them so long to find anything?

GALLO: It's a -- it's a big ocean, Carol. That's the problem. Is that when you get out there and start looking around, you realize how big it really is. And this is probably going to be a search area on the orders of many tens of miles in diameter, a big, giant haystack. And covering that with whatever they've got out there at the moment is going to take some time. It's going to be even more difficult, I think, once they begin, if it's -- if it's necessary, once they begin an undersea search, it's going to take weeks or maybe even a month or more.

COSTELLO: Oh, goodness. We have a map that we'd like to show our viewers now. It shows the traffic in the area of the Mediterranean Sea. And I know there are a lot of ships in that area. It's not like this has happened in a remote area where no one is. There was a report of someone on board a ship who saw a flash in the sky. Authorities are investigating that. They don't know if that means anything. Is it surprising you that no one has seen anything of value so far?

GALLO: The first thing I did when I heard about this, Carol, was checked my marine traffic app to find out what ships were in the area, and it does appear that there's a lot of traffic. But, you know, when you're on board a ship, you can barely see to the horizon, and that's maybe six, seven, eight, nine, ten miles away, depending on how tall the ship is. So it still is very sparse coverage. And so I'm not -- on one hand, it seems like they should have seen something by now. But if we've got any sort of experience being out at sea, you know that it's not that easy.

COSTELLO: Yes, and, for example, if the plane exploded in the sky, you might see a flash of light, but it was nighttime too, which I would -- would assume complicate things.

GALLO: Well, you know, remember, Malaysian Air 370, all sorts of people saw all sorts of things, explosions and streaks of light and there were people on, you know, both east, west, north and south that claimed they saw something right about at that time, and none of those things really panned out as far as I know. COSTELLO: All right, David Gallo, thank you for your insight.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, we'll continue to follow the latest in the missing plane. Stay with us.

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[09:52:28] COSTELLO: We are continuing to follow the developments on that missing plane, but first a bit of politics. Bernie Sanders is charging ahead with his quest for the Democratic nomination, undeterred by the growing rift in his own party. And now one high- profile member of the so-called Democratic establishment is saying the party should let Bernie continue his campaign.

CNN's Joe Johns has more for you.

Hi, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Vice President Joe Biden apparently not ready to join in on the in- fighting and criticism of Bernie Sanders. In fact, he is keeping with his most complimentary tone regarding the campaign despite the fact that he has said he feels confident Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee for president. Biden also pointing out that at this point in the 2008 race the former secretary of state was also still in the race against then Senator Barack Obama. Keeping with the kind of message we've seen coming out of the White House Briefing Room over the last 24 hours.

Here is some of what Biden had to say to reporters while traveling in Ohio.

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JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): Bernie Sanders is a good guy. Bernie Sanders is -- I think we should -- look, I think, let Bernie run the race. I'm confident that Bernie will be supportive if Hillary wins, which the numbers indicate will happen, and so I'm not -- I'm not worried. There's no fundamental split or anything in the Democratic Party.

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JOHNS: Biden says that when the primaries are over, he expects Democrats to come together, much as they did eight years ago, despite the chaos and anger we saw at that Nevada state Democratic Party convention over the weekend. But he did say that if a similar situation happens again, Sanders will need to step up and be more assertive in dealing with it.

Listen.

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BIDEN: Oh, I think what Bernie's going to have to do if that happens again, he's going to have to be more aggressive in speaking out about it.

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JOHNS: The latest sign Sanders is planning on hanging in there, this campaign all the way through the California primary, is that he now says he has accepted an invitation to debate Hillary Clinton on Fox News before voters go to the polls on June 7th.

Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Joe Johns reporting live. Thank you.

Also this afternoon, Hillary Clinton will join Chris Cuomo live one- on-one to talk about Sanders, Trump, and the state of the race. That's coming up today 1:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

[09:54:52] Much more on the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight 804 after a break.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world.

A plane vanishes from radar off Egypt's coast, and now the government there saying terrorism -- terrorism appears a more likely cause than any technical issue. We're also learning new details of the final moments before that plane apparently crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. Greece's government was tracking the flight. It says the plane was cruising at -- you know, was at cruising altitude at 37,000 feet and had just entered Egypt's air space when it suddenly swerved 90 degrees to the left and then it swung wildly to the right, doing a full 360 degree circle. The plane plunged from 37,000 feet to 15,000 feet. Once it dropped to 10,000 feet, Greece lost it from the radar. The search is now underway to locate wreckage. Some debris has been recovered, but it's not yet confirmed to be from that flight.

[10:00:06] This is what we do know right now. The Paris to Cairo flight had 66 people on board. Air controllers in Greece say the EgyptAir pilots did not respond.