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France: Plane Sent Smoke Alerts Just Before Crash; Trump, Clinton Appeal to Hispanic Christians in New Videos. Aired 2-2:30p ET
Aired May 21, 2016 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, NEWSROOM HOST: All right, again, so it's other pilots on other planes who are also trying to help locate EgyptAir 804. No reply from 804.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian military releasing the first video of life vests, suitcases and airplane seats found in the Mediterranean Sea. We now know the plane's communication system known as ACARs sent four key signals to the pilots about malfunctions on the airplane.
Egyptian officials say the crash was likely a terrorist act, but no one has claimed responsibility. Investigators are stressing that right now, every possibility is on the table.
I want to bring in Mary Schiavo. She is a CNN aviation analyst and a former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. She also represents victims and families after airline disasters.
All right, good to see you. So now we've got yet more audio transmissions. Now, we're hearing from the Turkish airline pilots who were trying to locate EgyptAir 804, as well as you heard from pilots of another EgyptAir flight.
So how routine is that for other airlines in the area to also try to reach out to an aircraft that air traffic control no longer has contact with?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Actually, that's very typical in air traffic control around the world. United States also is trained to do that as a way of when they can't reach them, there are other communications lines that they can use.
And they actually ask other pilots literally to use their eyes. Do they see anything? Can they see the plane, anything burning, anything in the sky? And many tragedies, both daytime, nighttime, passenger, small planes, often air traffic control does that. So in the face of a missing aircraft, that is a very common and typical response.
WHITFIELD: And that is the transmission, the audio now that we're hearing as a result of somehow 804 is now out of commission. Earlier we were listening to audio of, you know, one of the pilots on 804 talking to air traffic control out of Switzerland, and everything at that point sounded fine.
How do you compare? Why is it important to have these two different types of audio communications right now? How do you compare them? SCHIAVO: Well, it also helps pin down the time as well. So the first
one is absolutely completely normal. Pilots use what's called standard language. You're taught to do that literally from your first day in flight school. The only thing non-standard is the nice greeting, you know, good night or good day. We saw that same issue come up on MH370. It's very typical. It's common.
Actually, if you do tend to talk to flight controllers a little bit more than the standard language, because you're being polite and you're just being nice. You're all up there in the airspace together, or the other planes and you are.
So completely normal, and then later when they're asked to look for the plane, obviously the plane was not responding at all. So I see nothing there to indicate either terrorism or, you know, mechanical. There's just no evidence there as to what was going on.
WHITFIELD: And why is it important that this kind of audio is being released at this juncture? You know, what's behind making this portion public right now?
SCHIAVO: Well, hopefully it's an urge to be transparent. In the United States, those communications are subject to the Freedom of Information Act, and they are made available and they are made public. So you can get those.
And that is just hopefully just an effort for everyone to be transparent, so the families can get information. They want so much information. They want every piece of information, which is the problem with the tardy release of the ACARs messages.
Those messages go from the plane to the airline --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
SCHIAVO: -- so the airline can get ready for the plane to come in. Usually, what they use them for is the plane has a problem and the aircraft itself tells its home base, hey, I'm coming in and I have this wrong with me or that wrong with me. Be ready to fix me.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
SCHIAVO: So the airline has had that since day one.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And also that kind of communication from the ACARs, this is your plane talking to, you know, ground control, are things conveyed that perhaps a pilot doesn't even know about? Or will the pilot always know what ACARs is transmitting?
SCHIAVO: When there's a warning, the pilot will know. Now, ACARs transmits other information that just helps the airline operate efficiently as it translates information about your fuel usage, of all sorts of information. But in terms of any kind of warning, yes, those warning lights are displayed in the cockpit, in particular these are displayed on a warning panel on the cockpit, some on the overhead and some in the -- in the console. WHITFIELD: OK. We heard our own Tim Lister reporting that, you know,
there may be four scenarios that investigators would be looking at, whether it be weather related, pilot error, whether there's a mechanical problem or a terror.
Weather, it looks like many people are ruling that one out. Do you think the other three possibilities should still be on the table? Are you leaning on anything based on the audio and the types of debris that's been located?
SCHIAVO: Well, so far on the debris -- and this is a tiny part of a plane --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
SCHIAVO: -- a huge plane. You know, so far the debris doesn't show -- and they have to test for this, but it doesn't show fire, sooting, pitting of an explosion or anything like that. But it's way too early to say anything like that, because it's such a tiny, tiny amount.
But obviously, we can rule out weather. Pilot -- the pilot doing something, pilot error or pilot intentional --
SCARAMUCCI: Yes.
SCHIAVO: -- you can still have a mechanical malfunction, and what the pilot to respond to it can be an error.
For example, in here, say the first sensor that went off, e know the first sensor that went off was the window heating element, the cockpit pilot right side --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
SCHIAVO: -- the right side pilot, usually called the co-pilot seat. And there, if it was a fire arcing, sparking or whatever, they would have had to go through firefighting. They have -- they put their oxygen masks on, and they don their goggles and they actually have gloves that they can firefight and things like that in the cockpit. So their actions would be evaluated.
But at this point, it looks like some kind of a fire, electrical arcing that started with that window or maybe in the electronic bay or some kind of an incendiary device right behind the cockpit --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
SCHIAVO: -- or in the front cargo hold.
WHITFIELD: All right. Mary Schiavo, thank you so much. And we'll continue to follow this breaking news surrounding EgyptAir Flight 804.
And then, in politics the race for the White House, the nation's biggest Hispanic Christian organization is giving Donald Trump a platform to win them over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: National Hispanic Christian, three great words.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: We'll talk about his message, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, this breaking news. Welcome back. We're getting a new audio now, air traffic control audio and the pilots searching for EgyptAir Flight 804. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
Turkish 141: EgyptAir 804, EgyptAir 804. This is Turkish 141.
EgyptAir 995: EgyptAir 804 from EgyptAir 995 on 124.7.
(END AUDIOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Air traffic controllers routinely ask other pilots who are in the area to reach out to planes that might not be responding. We'll continue to follow this story throughout the hour.
Meantime, let's turn now to another story we're following, the race for the White House. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sent two very different messages to a large Hispanic audience Friday. While they did not attend the conference for evangelical Hispanics, they did tape videos to around 1,200 attendees.
First, here is Hillary Clinton's message.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's work together to raise the minimum wage, create more good paying jobs, give everyone a quality education no matter their zip code. Let's keep families together by passing comprehensive immigration reform.
So we're hearing some divisive and dangerous rhetoric in this election. We have a candidate who wants to tear families apart and forcibly deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, who calls Mexicans rapists, who talks about banning Muslims from entering the country. That is not who we are as a people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So that's Hillary Clinton's message. This is Donald Trump's video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TRUMP: We're going to do massive tax cuts, especially for the middle class, and people that are poor are going to pay nothing. We're going to bring back jobs. You're going to start paying taxes after you're making a lot of money. Hopefully, that's going to be soon.
We're going to stop drugs from pouring into our country. We're going to strengthen our borders, but we're going to stop the drugs.
I just want to thank the whole group and all of the committees that asked me to do this. National Hispanic Christian, three great words.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: OK, big difference in the style, substance and even presentation. I want to bring in CNN political commentators, Ryan Lizza and Jeffrey Lord, also Rebecca Berg. She's the national political reporter for Real Clear Politics.
OK, good to see all of you. So Ryan, you're first. What do you make of these messages, how they were carried out and what's behind the messaging?
RYAN LIZZA, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, Trump has a lot of work to do in the Hispanic community. Most of the polls show his disapproval rating among American Hispanics is 70 percent to 80 percent. That's a lot of political work to turn that around.
And so I think it will be very interesting to see if some of the, you know, more heated rhetoric of the primary, if he starts to down play it. You know, a lot of Republicans think that Hispanics can be wooed to the Republican Party, not necessarily on issues like immigration, because there's a big disagreement in the Republican Party about how to move forward on that, but on some of the social issue.
And, you know, what I heard Trump saying there was he was talking about crime and he was talking about economic issues. So also ways to sort of appeal to Hispanics who might be very turned off by some of his other rhetoric. So maybe a little bit of a pivot by Trump to try to talk to this community that -- where his numbers are so negative.
And, of course, Clinton, just going right at Trump, bringing up the most -- the statements that have been the most harmful to him in that community. So big political projects for Donald Trump if he's going to beat Hillary Clinton is to reverse his disapproval numbers among that segment of the population.
WHITFIELD: So Jeffrey, how do you analyze, you know, your candidate of choice's video?
JEFFREY LORD, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's a great job. I think it's the first step. I mean, he is appealing to people not based on race, which is what Hillary Clinton is doing and what Democrats in general always do and have been doing since they supported slavery.
He is appealing to them based on economics, based on their lives as American citizens. That's what's important here. I mean this is going to become crucial.
If you noticed in her video, Mrs. Clinton, again, deliberately misrepresented him as talking about Mexicans when he was talking about illegal immigration. There is a difference. Hispanics who live legally in this country are just as affected by illegal immigration as --
WHITFIELD: Isn't there direct reference, though, to the day in which he made his announcement where he was speaking specifically about Mexicans?
LORD: Yes, he was talking about illegal immigration. He was talking about illegal immigration. That's the whole point. And in point of fact, if you go and look at the statistics from the border patrol, what he was talking about is, in fact, a problem.
So there's no question about that. But it is perpetually misrepresented with malice, of course, because Democrats like to play the race card, and they always have and they apparently intend to do this no matter what.
WHITFIELD: So Rebecca, is that what is going on here? Is Donald Trump offering some clarity in his video or even in his, you know, recent dialogue as he's trying to appeal to Hispanics?
REBECCA BERG, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: Well, maybe in the sense that Donald Trump could provide clarity, but, you know, he does things in his own way. He certainly is trying in his way to soften his language when it comes to Hispanic voters.
We saw, of course, his tweet recently with a taco bowl in Trump Tower in which he tweeted, "I love Hispanics." That is not what you would usually see from politicians, especially at the presidential level in terms of outreach to a particular demographic. But Donald Trump operates in a way, as we've seen, that's very different from most politicians and particularly politicians at the presidential level.
And what really struck me about these two videos is that you get the sense that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are speaking in totally different universes --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
BERG: -- in totally different manners. These two candidates could not be further apart in --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
BERG: -- terms of style, and that's something that we're really going to continue to see in this race.
WHITFIELD: Well, there are huge differences in style, Ryan.
LORD: Hey, Fred?
WHITFIELD: OK, go ahead Jeffrey.
LORD: You know, if I could say something about the taco bowl business.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LORD: If you go -- if you go to the White House site right now and take a look, there's a picture of President Obama in a bar having a drink on St. Patrick's day. Now, is that what's the message is here? That Irish -- I'm Irish on my mother's side. That we're all a bunch of alcoholics and the way to celebrate St. Patrick's day is to go to a bar and have a drink?
I mean in other words, if we're going to talk about that kind of insensitivity and identity politics, the President -- the President himself plays the game. I don't think that's where we should be. I think we're all Americans. I think we should stop this nonsense, and Donald Trump is part of that revolution, if you will.
WHITFIELD: And so, Ryan, is that a fair comparison to make?
LIZZA: Well, look, every politician does try to appeal to various ethnic groups, sometimes in slightly more ham handed ways than others. And I think there's a grain of truth to that, whether, you know, in New York politics, you go to Little Italy and you have some pasta, or if you go, you know, appealing to the Irish American community and you do things like drink a Guinness.
I think the taco --
WHITFIELD: Oh, wait, and Jeffrey, remember President Obama, there are some Irish roots in his heritage.
LIZZA: He's Obama, of course.
WHITFIELD: OK.
LORD: You know, I had forgotten that, Fred. Good point.
WHITFIELD: Forgot about that, yes? It just came to me.
OK, go ahead, Ryan.
LORD: Good point, but even though -- even then the whole --
LIZZA: But just -- but just --
LORD: -- bar thing I felt was a little much.
LIZZA: But I think Jeffrey will agree that there was something maybe like a little bit politically off on the whole taco bell pander. Taco bell -- excuse me. Taco bowl pander. It was sort of, you know, Trump sitting there.
I just sometimes when Trump tries to appeal to certain groups --
LORD: I think he was (inaudible) --
(CROSSTALK) LIZZA: -- when he appeals to certain -- or he tries to appeal to
certain groups, it just comes off as if sometimes he maybe hasn't done his homework with what works with certain groups. And it sounds like, Jeffrey, you disagree and think it's no different than Obama having a beer. Fair enough.
I will say that in the Hispanic community, it was roundly panned and mocked. I don't think --
LORD: But I would suggest that's because they're into identity politics.
LIZZA: I'm partly Irish. I've never had a problem with someone drinking, you know, a Guinness on that holiday.
BERG: And it's --
LIZZA: But I think it's the -- you know, I'd look to the leaders in those groups to see if it's offensive or not or --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LIZZA: -- successful or not. And based on that, it didn't look like it went over so well.
BERG: And it's important to remember, of course, that this also comes back to policy. And when we're talking about the approval ratings among demographic groups for these candidates and their approval of any specific tone that the candidate takes, like this taco bowl tweet that we're discussing now, part of the reason that that came off as sort of tone deaf to many Hispanics, based on what I have seen is because Donald Trump's policy to this point has been seen -- and his rhetoric and his tone -- has been seen as unfavorable to many Hispanics in this country.
And that's why his unfavorability with them is what it is. And so we need to remember that it's not just about what your say. It's also the message behind it and the policies that you are pressing for as a candidate.
LIZZA: But can I -- could I just agree with Jeffrey on one point? Before Trump came along, there really was a debate in the Republican Party about how you appeal to Hispanics. Do you do it with immigration reform as the starting point?
BERG: It's a growth and opportunity project.
LIZZA: Right. Do you deal with immigration reform as the -- as the -- as the main message --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LIZZA: -- or do you challenge the Republicans' traditional economic agenda?
And I do think, as Jeffrey pointed out, it is interesting that Trump -- obviously he's not going towards immigration reform, but he is challenging in some ways the Republican Party's traditional economic agenda as a way to reach that community. And if that is successful, that will be fascinating and will have long term consequences.
WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there.
LORD: Where Hispanic votes are located is also important, Fred. You know, there are a lot of them in California and Texas. Texas one assumes will vote for Trump. California conceivably will be voting for Hillary Clinton.
WHITFIELD: Right.
LORD: So the battle ground states with Hispanics are places like Florida and Colorado. And I think he's going to do --
WHITFIELD: They voted very differently.
LORD: -- very well in both of those places.
WHITFIELD: Right. It's not monolithic at all. I mean it boils down to region as well.
All right, thanks so much, Jeffrey Lord, Ryan Lizza and Rebecca Berg.
LORD: Thanks, Fred.
LIZZA: Thanks, Fred. See you all.
WHITFIELD: All right, the Democrats are on the campaign trail hard today. Bernie Sanders is in Vado, New Mexico -- or is it Vado, New Mexico -- before heading -- probably Vado -- before heading to California later today. Sanders believes if he can win California on June 7th, he might be able to clench the nomination.
Bill Clinton, meantime, is hitting the trail for Hillary today. He'll be speaking soon in Chula Vista, California, just one of two stops today in the Golden State. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So we're following the news on the EgyptAir investigation. We have new audio now from air traffic controllers and pilots trying to reach that EgyptAir flight after it stopped communicating.
Meanwhile, life vests, suitcases and airplane seats from the plane have been found in the Mediterranean Sea. Egyptian officials are pointing to terror as the likely cause of the crash, but no official determination has been made. We'll continue to follow this breaking story.
I'm Fredrick Whitfield. Thanks for being with us today.
"VITAL SIGNS" starts right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
