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E.U. Leaders Reject Latest U.K. Brexit Proposal; Kavanaugh Nomination Fight; Pilots Avert Crisis on September 11 Air India Flight; Jet Airways Plane Turns Back After Cabin Pressure Drop. Aired 12m-1a ET
Aired September 21, 2018 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. To head this hour, ambush, EU Leaders United, and taking a hard line on Brexit, telling the British Prime Minister her Chequers plan won't work giving her a month to come back with a better deal.
Also Brett Kavanaughs confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court may have just (ph) after the women accusing him of sexual assault says she will testify before a Senate committee under certain conditions.
And a new director for what will likely be Daniel Craig's final James Bond film, for the first time an American will lead the next installment of the British spy thriller.
Hello everybody, great to have you with us for our second hour. I'm John Vause, and this is NEWSROOM L.A.
It was a shellacking in Salzburg, and ambush in Austria, a Brexit break blunder, which is expect to have far reaching consequences for the British Prime Minister, the U.K., as well as Europe.
Theresa May arrived at an informal submit with EU leaders expecting words of encouragement and total compromise on her so called Chequers plan for the U.K. to leave the European Union.
That would've gone a long way to make her political life at home a little easier, but instead European leaders took a united, hard line and bluntly told her that the Chequers plan wouldn't work and come back next month with a better plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TUSK, PRESIDENT OF EUROPEAN COUNCIL: Everybody shared their view that was the positive element in the Chequers proposal. The suggested framework for economic cooperation will not work, mostly because it risks undermining the EU single market.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Various reports say the British Prime Minister was either visibly shaken, or down right furious insisting her plan is the only credible one on the table. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THERESA MAY, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There is no counterproposal on the table at the moment that actually deals, delivers on what we need to do and respect the integrity of the United Kingdom and respect the result of the referendum. That's what we've put forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We're now joined by Dominic Thomas, CNN's European Affairs Commentator and chair of the French and Francophone Studies at the Department of University of California and here in Los Angeles it's a big title.
OK, let's get to Brexit, the most important meal of the day.
If there is one thing with (ph) that's perfectly clear after what happened in Austria is that European leader want it to be known that leaving the EU comes with a very high price. It's not meant to be easy.
Listen to the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE: The bricks that teach us something and I completely respect British somerty (ph) when I say that, it shows that those who say we can easily live without Europe, that everything is going to be alright, and that its going to bring in a lot money home, are liars. So it's even more true since they left the day after so as not to have to deal with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP):
VAUSE: Here's Macron, he's calling out Boris Johnson (ph) a bunch of lies he called them. The irony here though, is that this tough line that the EU leaders are taking will most likely involved those Brexit back in London and they're challenged to Theresa May (ph).
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well she's caught between a rock and a hard place. There are 27 of them and she's now standing alone, and you're absolutely right by denouncing the check is dealt in this certain way (ph), it forces her now to go back to the United Kingdom where she's poised to go the conservative party conference and was hoping that she would come with good news from the European Union.
Now on one hand we're talking about applying Brexit now as the alternative to this, but in fact for her to walk into those discussions with the European union and not expect this kind of position, was a little bit naive, of course.
VAUSE: Yes. I guess maybe there's this feeling she would get this support ahead of that Tory conference which is in a couple weeks.
One of the biggest problems though that they haven't really managed to get a handle on is the border between issue between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is on the EU side, and Northern Ireland is on the UK side.
Here's CNN Nic Robertson reporting live (ph) to explain exactly what we're talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This is right here is the border between the North of Ireland on this side of the road, and the South of Ireland on this side of the road. The road here is quite literally the border, there's no razor wire, there's no check post, there's no customs post here. There is in total between North and South, about 310 miles of border and it is crisscrossed by about 300 to 400 different roads, but Brexit could bring a change to all of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And it's specifically done that way under the Good Friday peace agreement. There is no border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
So what was May proposing to try and win over the EU with this border issue?
[00:05:00]
THOMAS: Well the border issue is really a metaphor for the broader discussion that are taking place. It's all about alignment, rules, regulations, and the obligations, right? To what extent are you willing to maintain, as she proposes with Chequers, a degree of a relationship with some common rules and regulations with the European Union?
That's completely unacceptable to the Brexiteers versus the European Union and they're saying you cant just cherry pick, you cant have your deal on goods, access our markets, expect us to give you relief on tariffs, when you want to also control immigration and so on.
So the situation with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is really sort of irreconcilable and if you open up the border and conduct trade, you've got to think about ways in which the European Union is going to respond to that, but same would go with any kind of deal.
If you want to trade with the European Union, you can't cherry pick one country. You have to go with the whole package; you have no say in it and do this (ph), so the European Union has been proposing a broad set of measures that involved offshore checking and so on. But if you bring products into the Republic of Ireland from the European Union and you want to cross over into Northern Ireland, then there's no boundary there, or the other way around there's a fundamental problem there, too.
VAUSE: And this seems to have to have its - the seeds for this kind of stem out - seemed to planted back at the general election when May lost the conservative majority of the house and had to reply on the Unionist by 10 votes (ph) to basically stay in power.
They were never going to agree to a separate deal, which excludes them from the rest of the U.K.
THOMAS: Right, and so once again on her party, there's a lack of unity, the labor party has been unwilling to take an unambiguous position on being opposed to leaving the European Union and so this allows her to remain in power, even with this just small amount of DUP votes that are keeping her place.
And this leaves them with this final option which is this EU withdraw bill, which they need to get through parliament (ph).
VAUSE: But with no deal (ph).
THOMAS: With no deal, and in some way the less specific it is the less chance there is of there being an kind argument over it.
VAUSE: So seriously where does she go from here because if she waters down Cherquers she'll face the latest challenge most likely, and a party revolt, and if she does blind Brexit deal with no deal exit (ph), that still has to be approved by parliament and 80 percent of the parliamentarians say they're opposed to a no deal.
THOMAS: Yes and no. We've done from a hard Brexit, a soft Brexit, blind Brexit, the Canada deal, the Norway deal, excreta excreta. So for her to come back from that conference either escaping a leadership challenge, and its hard to imagine who would take over that moment and where the consensus would be because they're so divided within, they're terrified about the prospect of the a snap election (ph) and the unpredictability of that.
So the likelihood is that she returns to the European Union with some kind of other deal that looks a bit more like what we're calling the Canada plus deal, which is a level of engagement with the European Union that while as the same time, maintaining that autonomy of a jurisdiction and so on. But it's hard to imagine really with Boris Johnson and others, to them even agreeing to anything.
VAUSE: It seems she only has the job of Prime Minister because no one else wants it right now and she's got the heart of a lion to continue.
THOMAS: And the fear of an alternative, which is they're out of power and the labor government comes in.
VAUSE: Yes. Dominic, I look forward to next time (ph) because there's a lot more to get to.
THOMAS: Thank you.
VAUSE: Toby on the battle (ph) nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme court. Lawyers for a women that claims Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school says she's now willing to testify next week before the Senates judiciary committee. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, yet even so, the US President Donald Trump who nominated (ph) Kavanaugh says he wants to hear what Christine Blasey Ford has to say.
Fords legal team is currently working up the details for her to tell the story. We have more details now from CNN, Jeff Zeleny.
JEFF ZELENY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The Supreme Court confirmation battle of Brett Kavanaugh dramatically intensified today, with the women accusing his of sexual assault now saying she's willing to tell her story to the Senate Judiciary committee. She wishes to testify provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety, lawyers for Christina Blasey Ford sent in a letter to top senators today.
As protest broke out on capital hill, senators will now meet to determine the next steps.
Senator Charles Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary committee, hope to schedule a public hearing on Monday, but Ford's lawyers said today that was too soon. A hearing on Monday is not possible, and the committee insistence that it occur then is arbitrary in any event, Ford's lawyers wrote.
The Supreme Court fight is now awash in uncertainty as demonstrators made their voices heard and were arrested today outside the offices of key Republican senators.
Kavanaugh has categorically denied Ford's claims that he penned her to a bed and groped her at a high school party more than three decades ago.
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As he prepared for a possible Monday hearing, a friend of his told CNN, he is disappointed and frustrated but wants to testify.
Democratic senator said today that Ford deserves an impartial (ph) investigation and protection.
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D), H.I.: She is being threatened, death threats, et cetera. This call I would say intimidation of a witness, and I call upon the FBI on their own to investigate this occurs that all of the threats that she's undergoing.
ZELENY: They accused Republicans of not taking her complaint seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've already decided they don't want the facts. They don't want this investigation done.
ZELENY: Republicans said Democrats were posturing and pushed back at the notion of calling additional witnesses beyond Ford and Kavanaugh. Senator John Cornyn, the number two Republican in the Senate accused Democrats today of hijacking the process to accommodate political interest. President Trump is standing firmly behind Kavanaugh.
TRUMP: He is such an outstanding man. Very hard for me to imagine that anything happened.
ZELENY: Now, the White House still expressing confidence that Judge Kavanaugh will ultimately be confirmed, but the question is when and whether he will have to sit at a public hearing on Monday either alone or potentially back-to-back with Ford.
As for Judge Kavanaugh, he's spent the fourth straight day preparing here at the White House going through every chapter of his life, I'm told, in a question and answer session. There's no doubt his confirmation still in jeopardy.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now for more on this political column hater (ph) Democrat Wendy Greuel, Republican Deanna Lorraine, and CNN's Legal Analyst and Civil Rights Attorney, Areva Martin.
OK, here's a little more reporting from CNN about the issues which were raised by Professor Ford's attorney. The biggest concerns raised by Christine Blasey Ford's lawyer in a conference call with the Judiciary Committee was hearing. The Monday hearing date and the use of outside counsel or lawyer.
According to a senior congressional source with knowledge of the call, Ford's lawyer made clear that at no point during any potential hearing could Ford be in the same room as Kavanaugh.
So Deanna, first to you. Are those conditions unreasonable? Are they especially ownerous or demanding in any way?
DEANNA LORRAINE: I think they're odd. I think they're a bit unreasonable. I mean, if she's wanting to testify against him and she has said that she wants to share her story, why not face him? Why not face him in court? It doesn't really make sense to me, and I think someone who's telling the truth would want to face them.
VAUSE: Areva, just from a legal point of view if there is - I know this isn't a legal - this isn't a court of law, but I guess the (inaudible) can be made if there was like a victim of sexual assault. Would there be sort of special dispensation or conditions put in place for someone at, you know, at a trial who would not want to see the person who attacked them?
AREVA MARTIN: Well, let's be clear, John, this is not a court and I think, you know, we have to be very careful the way we choose our words because people are conflating this Senate hearing with a trial that would happen in a federal or state court.
The Senate rules are dictated by who's in charged of the Senate as we see. So Senator Grassley is making up each and every rules as we go about this process. So he can determine if Kavanaugh sits in the room or if Kavanaugh is not in the room.
So the rules are, you know, essentially left up to the controlling party, and I think it's completely fair and reasonable for Dr. Ford to ask that she not have to face the man that she says attempted to rape here.
The Republicans run the risk. They can handle this hearing however they choose to, but we already see they are running scared, they're on the ropes. They're now talking about bringing in an outside counsel, a female lawyer because they know the optics of 11 white men questioning Dr. Ford, a woman who at this point seems to be above reproach as it relates to her credibility, will be so harmful and so damaging to the GOP party that they are seeking this unusual - incredibly unusual method of going forward with this hearing, which is bringing in a female that is not a senator.
VAUSE: The Republicans have said that maybe the outside counsel could bring fresh eyes and a fresh perspective to the questioning and to the issue at hand, but for now this - for the Republican senators at least who control the procedure, they're sticking to their time table of Monday. Here we are. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), K.Y: We want to give the accuser and opportunity to be heard, and that opportunity will occur next Monday.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), S.C.: I want to have a hearing Monday. If she does not want to come Monday publically or privately, we're going to move on and vote Wednesday.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
VAUSE: OK, we get it, Monday. Wendy, but you know, let's say for degree all the conditions are met and Ford says, "OK, I can do it Thursday." Why wouldn't Republicans do that? Why not just a couple of days.
WENDY GREUEL: I don't understand.
VAUSE: Yes.
GREUEL: What a magical Monday. They have rushed through this confirmation. They have not allowed all of the materials that normally you would see for a nominee for the Supreme Court, and there is no reason.
You suddenly say we know someone who is now suggesting that she was potentially - that accusing of potentially raping her and they -
VAUSE: Attempted rape, yes.
GREUEL: Excuse me, attempted rape. And the fact is that they said on Monday, "well, she's got to come next week."
[00:15:00]
They haven't even spoken to her yet. And I think this is - there's no upside for Dr. Ford. I mean she is doing this in a very personal way and what she feels is important to tell her story. And a few days when they let 400 days between--
VAUSE: More than 400, yeas-
GREUEL: (Inaudible) not appointing somebody. I - I think that a few days to see the truth is a really important thing.
VAUSE: DeAnna, a couple of days, what's going to hurt?
LORRAINE: Well, I think that a coupe of days is going to turn in to maybe a couple of weeks and it seems like-
VAUSE: Well, I don't know, we're talking maybe a couple of days.
LORRAINE: I think he might be not confirmed until after midterms potentially. And these just feel like they're stall tactics over and over. No, they keep moving the target. First they say she says I want to have my time in court, and I want to be heard. And they say great, have your time in court.
And then she kind of keeps moving the target and says well, I'm feeling like I'm being bullied. If you're asking me questions, I'm feeling like this is sexist. And it's like they can't win no matter what they do, they keep moving the target.
And I think that's what the republicans are worried about. Are they going to keep moving the target or is this going to be a fair trial. And there's also no reason-
VAUSE: Well, here anyways.
LORRAINE: For the F.B.I. investigation, right?
VAUSE: Well, we've known about the F.B.I. background check.
GREUEL: I feels like this is-
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Every F.B.I. person you speak to, everyone in the (inaudible) says, the F.B.I. could do this as part of the background check procedure.
GREUEL: Absolutely. I mean they -- you know, they're-
VAUSE: It's a president (inaudible)-
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Yes, but Al Capon got (inaudible) on a budget times--
GREUEL: Yes-
VAUSE: And he eventually got (inaudible). GREUEL: And new information comes in when someone accused, you go after-
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Because the U.S. president was in Los Vegas a couple of hours ago, continuing to show his support publically for Brett Kavanaugh.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
TRUMP: A great gentleman and impeccable reputation. Went to Yale, top student, went to Yale law school, top student. So we got to let it play out. But I want to tell you, he is a fine, fine person.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
VAUSE: Areva, just (inaudible) by president, someone to go to Yale, they can be really smart, they get good grades. That does not mean they cannot be guilty of sexual assault.
AREVA MARTIN, AUTHOR: Yes so, a nonsensical argument, John. And I just have to say again, word smatter so much in this entire debate. And we have to stop using the incorrect words. This is not a court of law and there is no trial.
This is a Senate conformation hearing. And there is a huge distinction. There are laws, there are rules, there are procedures that are well established that govern what happens in a court room and what happens in a trial.
Neither of those elements are in play as it relates to the Senate confirmation hearing. And the notion that someone whose well educated, that goes to an (inaudible) school can't be responsible for a heinous act of attempted rape is nonsensical.
VAUSE: And Wendy, as Areva says, words matter. And we're hearing a lot of words from the president supporting Brett Kavanaugh. But we don't hear all the words showing any empathy towards Professor Ford. And there are two parties to this. We don't know who is the agree victim.
We don't know if Brett Kavanaugh is the victim of a false allegation, we don't know is Professor Ford is the victim of attempted rape. And who is regardless going to kill her (ph).
So, as president of the country, shouldn't - I knew we say he shouldn't but he does. But there is a responsibility to at least be even handed, at least publically.
GREUEL: He has had a very difficult time as president-
VAUSE: Yes.
GREUEL: Having any kind of empathy or compassion or understanding of someone else's situation. And I think he also is concerned about some of the positions that he has been in and some of the women that have accused him of different acts. So, I think it's a slippery slope for him, but he should as you said, we just want to find out the truth.
VAUSE: Right.
GREUEL: That should e his response. And that this woman who had this incident that occurred to her that he should also show some kind of compassion and empathy.
VAUSE: One of the elements that fall by Brett Kavanaugh's defenders is that this all took place three decades ago. Who can remember what took place. Listen to a couple of republicans on this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
CHUCK GRASSLEY, U.S. SENATOR: I'd hate to ask - have somebody ask me what I did 35 years ago.
LINDSEY GRAHAM, U.S. SENATOR: It's a 36 year old allegation. They can't tell us when it happened and where it happened.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO PRES.: She said she simply can't remember. I was 15 the same summer, I don't remember a lot about that summer either.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
VAUSE: DeAnna, isn't this one of the reasons why there should be an F.B.I. investigation. Because people's memories fade and this is what the F.B.I. does. They go in there and they investigate old crimes and they find stuff.
LORRAINE: 36 years old, crimes in high school-
VAUSE: Yes-
LORRAINE: It seems like every time she gets back, there's conflicting stories. She's has several different conflicting stories. And - and honestly, I feel that peole grow from boys to men in a - in a quite a lot from age 16 or 17 to 30s before you're going to get-
VAUSE: You're not going to get there, are you?
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LORRAINE: You know, I'm just saying that...
GREUEL: It doesn't matter what age you are, you cannot attempt rape...
LORRAINE: You know, where -- where do we draw the line? I'm not -- I'm not saying that -- whether this happened or not...
VAUSE: Right.
LORRAINE: ...that I -- that I don't feel empathy for them (ph), but I think that, you know, for -- for them to investigating something where she doesn't even have the -- the facts right, she has conflicting stories all the time.
VAUSE: Right.
GREUEL: So she should be able to testify (ph).
LORRAINE: And -- and all of the witnesses say that it -- that she's called out (ph) say that they haven't been there, it just -- it reeks of a desperate ploy to me, and it...
VAUSE: OK.
LORRAINE: ...it seems like they're politicizing something to stall time. And it seems to be working (ph).
VAUSE: OK, we have another -- we're going to come back next hour (ph), because clearly there's a lot more to get to with this.
FEMALE: OK.
VAUSE: I know that Areva is probably itching, so Areva, first question to you when we come back in the next hour. So thank you all, appreciate you being with us.
We'll take a short break here. When we come back, the mother of a 7- year old rape victim speaks out to CNN about this incredibly horrible incident, and she wants the alleged suspect now to pay for the crime.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
To India now, where the mother of a 7-year old rape victim says her daughter's attacker should receive the death penalty. The girl is in a critical condition in a New Delhi hospital. A 21-year old man has been arrested. Apparently he's known to the family and this is just another reminder of a long string of attacks on young girls and women in India.
CNN's Anna Coren is in New Delhi. She's spoken to the girl's mother. Anna, this must be an horrendous experience for -- for any parent.
ANNA COREN, CNN: Yes, absolutely. This is something this mother thought would never happen to her. But as we know, John, tragically this is an all-too-familiar story here in India, where little girls are being brutally raped.
Now the mother, who obviously must remain anonymous for the safety of her daughter, said she wanted to speak to CNN because this must stop happening to India's children.
After three days by her daughter's hospital bedside, this 26-year-old mother returns to her home in its poor neighborhood in New Delhi to bathe and change her clothes.
She walks past the rubbish and stray dogs, as she has done every day of her life. But this time her heart is heavy, filled with sorrow for her 7-year old child who has suffered what too many girls in India have already endured. UNKNOWN FEMALE, MOTHER OF RAPE VICTIM (ph): (TRANSLATION) Never in
my life had I thought this would happen to me or my child. But what can you do? Our fate turned on us.
COREN: On Monday night, her daughter was rushed to this hospital bleeding profusely after being brutally raped. Her mother says she had been at a temple playing with friends when a man, who collects the rubbish in their neighborhood, took her to a park.
[00:25:00]
She told police he jumped on her tiny body, tied a hose around her neck to stop her from screaming while he raped her and then inserted the hose inside her. A 21 year old man has been arrested and is now in police custody.
UNKNOWN FEMALE, SPEAKING THROUGH A TRANSLATION: When I saw the blood coming out of there was no strength left in my body. I thought she was going to die.
COREN: The girl underwent emergency surgery and is recovering in hospital. But it's a case that has clearly shocked the doctors now caring for her.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: (inaudible) and she's crying. She's clearly traumatized and it's a terrible thing. It's something that we don't sleep when we see such things, we - it's difficult for even us.
COREN: This is the latest in a string of brutal rape attacks on young girls and women in India, where according to the National Crime Records Bureau more than 100 rapes occur on average every day. And while the government has toughened laws against rape, and has just set up a national registry of sex offender's one prominent minister believes sexual violence is a social problem. And a real challenge for the country.
UNKNOWN MALE: It's shameful for all society. It's not a question of how many incidents. More incidents mean more shameful. But I'm saying even one incident of the brutal case of rape is a shameful for all of us.
COREN: So, John we put the question to the mother as to what she wants to happen to her attacker and she said a life sentence that is just not enough. She wants to see him hanged. And that is a general feeling here in India. Obviously the death penalty was introduced last month for the rape of a girl under the age of 12.
The government minister that we spoke to, he said that this was the demand of the people and believes that it's the only deterrent to this heinous crime John. He also believes that this is not a cultural problem or a socio economic problem here in India. He believes that this is a social issue. That India is really struggling with it, it's a mentality these regressive thoughts, views of woman and girls that has no place here in this country John.
VAUSE: Yes, some horrendous details in that story Anna thank you. It's a thing that should be made public so thank you. Potential break in next up on "Newsroom LA" there was only (ph) cool and calm in the cockpit as multiple interests fell on the Air India flight. We'll have all the details on the crash though, that never happened.
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
[00:30:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause, with the headlines this hour.
European leaders have rejected U.K.'s latest proposal on Brexit, this after a summit in Austria with British Prime Minister Theresa May. The main hurdles remain how to handle the single market and how to manage trade on the Northern Ireland border.
Lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford say she is willing to testify before a Senate committee about being sexually assaulted in high school allegedly by Brett Kavanaugh if her safety can be guaranteed. Kavanaugh denies the allegation but has cast some doubt on his confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
At least 44 people died after a passenger ferry capsized in Lake Victoria in Tanzania. Rescue workers are searching for survivors, but not sure how many people are actually missing. The boat was overcrowded. local media reports up to 500 people were packed on to the boat.
About a week ago, Air India Flight 101 from New Delhi to New York made an unscheduled landing at Newark Airport in New Jersey. We normally don't report when a plane lands safely, but the fact this one did, is incredible. After 15 hours in the air, the Boeing 777 was on final approach to JFK.
The weather was bad, at 300 feet. The pilot reported an unstable approach, aborted the landing, and initiated a go-round, but will also be called a do-over. Once the plane reached 2,000 feet, the cockpit crew radio JFK tower and advised of multiple instrument failure.
Erratic part of that conversation, but first, an explanation of some of the jargon, ILS refers to the Instrument Landing System. TCAS, Traffic Collision Avoidance System. The Windshear system measures changes in wind speed relative to altitude, which is needed for landing, and APU is Auxiliary Power Unit.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KJFK DEP: Air India 101, other than both ILSs, both radio altimeters, what other things have failed on the airplane?
AIR INDIA 101: Basically, here we've got a single cross radio altimeter, we've got TCAS failure, no Autoland, Windshears systems, Autospeed brake and the APU unserviceable as well.
KJFK DEP: OK. Air India 101, just so when you get chance give me the people onboard and the fuel onboard please.
AIR INDIA 101: We have total of 370 and fuel is 7200 kilograms Air India 101.
KJFK DEP: Seven thousand two hundred kilograms you said?
AIR INDIA 101: Affirm Air India 101.
KJFK DEP: Air India 101 OK. So you have one operational navigational radio that you're going to shoot the ILS4R at Newark, is that correct?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joining me now, for more on this, CNN Safety Analyst, David Soucie. He is also a Former Safety Inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration. David, it's been a while, so good to see you.
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Good to see you, John.
VAUSE: You know, when you listen to these guys in the cockpit, it really stands out, just, they're cool and they're calm. I want you to listen to one more clip here. This is the handoff from JFK Tower, as the Air India Flight heads off to Newark. Some reports say, at this point, they had about 10 minutes of fuel left. Here it is.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KJFK DEP: Air India 101 is there anything else that you need from me?
AIR INDIA 101: We're good sir. Air India 101. Thank you for this approach. And thank you very much.
KJFK DEP: You're welcome. I wish there was more I could do for you.
AIR INDIA 101: Thanks. Thanks.
(END OF AUDIO CLIP)
VAUSE: Coolest fonzie. How common, though, is it, you know, for a, you know, a Boeing and passenger airline like this to lose multiple instruments on final approach?
SOUCIE: Extremely rare. There is only a few incidents I can even think of in the last 20 years or so, of something like this happening. It's really fascinating to me just how calm everybody stayed during this incident. When they said they had 7,200 kilograms of fuel left, and you can hear the air traffic controller saying, did you say 7,200?
And he goes yes, he knew he only had a few minutes left in the air. So it was really amazing how they kept their cool.
VAUSE: you know, so add into the mix here that there's bad weather at JFK. There's bad weather in the region. The plane is running low on fuel. You know, the instruments are failing. There are, what, 370 people on board. This could have ended very differently.
SOUCIE: Oh, most definitely. They -- if the weather hadn't lifted in Newark, as it did, it went from 300 feet to 400 feet, they didn't have any instrument, they only had one radio to do this instrument landing approach with, which most Cessna 150s have.
I mean, it's not like -- this is not a high-tech landing, at this point. It's just basically get it to the airport and land that thing because there's not a lot of instruments.
VAUSE: So one of the reasons for actually getting to Newark, as you said, was the better weather, the better visibility, for they call a non-precision landing. So, a little bit more on that. What is actually involved? And is that something which pilots would actually be trained to do?
[00:35:10] SOUCIE: Yes, they are actually trained to do that, because they'll learn on non-precision before they learn precision. So, it's something that's a skill set they have. It's not something they often do. If it's a visual landing, they'll do it. But, you know, without instruments, without a very precise landing equipment, that's a lot of airplane and a lot of lives in the back.
To stay that calm, there's, you know, 300 and some people in the back of that airplane, relying on your ability to recall how you do this approach without relying on -- really without relying on any automation or autopilot or even brakes.
They didn't -- their brakes typically, what happens is those brakes are on when they land, and they figure out how much to put on, much like your anti-skid that you have on your cars when you hit the brakes on water or ice.
It's much like that, but they didn't have that. They had to put their own brakes on. They had to do everything as though this airplane was, you know, an airplane from 30 years ago.
VAUSE: Yes. And you mentioned the 7,200 kilograms of fuel. Clearly, that's not a lot. India -- Air India has been reported as saying that fuel reserves were adequate. Can fuel reserves be both adequate and low at the same time?
SOUCIE: Well, they can. So, what you're looking for is when you plan your flight, you have an alternate airport in mind. So, if you have enough fuel on there to make it to your primary airport, if you're diverted from there, you have to have enough fuel to get to your secondary landing spot.
And they did have enough fuel for that. Clearly, they did. They landed where they needed to. The problem was, they spent many, many critical minutes circling around trying to find out which airport they should go into, because as they said, the weather was changing.
And without the instruments, if they had had all their instruments, they could have selected their alternative airport and landed there. But because the weather was so severe at each of those other airports, they had to literally wait until the airport cleared just a little bit so that they could meet those landing minimums and make that landing in Newark.
VAUSE: Yes, so, you know, a shout out to these pilots. You know, obviously, cool under pressure, did a great job, you know, everyone survived, you know. And this story has barely registered, you know, because everything went right.
So, to the other extreme now, doing the wrong thing, Jet Airways, this flight was forced to return to Mumbai on Wednesday. Thirty passengers started to actually bleed from their nose and their ears because the cabin crew failed to pressurize the actual cabin.
The airline is investigating. The crew has been suspended. How hard is it to pressurize the cabin? It's like a switch.
SOUCIE: Yes, it's a switch. And it's part of their checklist. When you -- before you take off, before you taxi to the runway, before you take off, before you apply power to the aircraft, these are checklists that you go through. You say as this pressurization switch in the right position, it is armed? Yes.
And you just automatically -- he must have just said yes without looking at it, is all I can -- I can think about.
VAUSE: OK. So, 30 people were, you know, taken to the hospital with the nosebleeds and ear bleeds and temporary deafness. But a lack of cabin pressure can actually be catastrophic, and it has been in the past.
SOUCIE: Oh, most definitely it has. We've had Learjets where the windshields pop out of the aircraft. Payne Stewart is another example of that one, being Stewart's aircraft went down. It was because of pressurization had failed. There was a part installed incorrectly.
And in that case, the aircraft was already in the air and everyone went unconscious and the airplane continued on autopilot for many, many miles before it finally ran out of fuel.
So, this is definitely something that could have been much more damaging, and if it had disabled the pilots, then that aircraft would have most certainly crashed.
VAUSE: If I'm not mistaken, I think Payne Stewart's plane crashed in Minot, North Dakota, back in the day.
SOUCIE: That's correct.
VAUSE: Running out of fuel, yes. I reported that one. It was a bizarre story at the time. David, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
SOUCIE: You bet. Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Next up here on NEWSROOM L.A., a surprise choice as the new James Bond director leaves some fans shaken and stirred. The new guy revealed in just a moment.
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[00:40:00] VAUSE: Well, a first and possibly a last for the 25th James Bond film, set to be released in 2020. For the first time, an American will direct the film, and this will likely be Daniel Craig's last role as Bond. Here's CNN's Hala Gorani.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The name is Fukunaga, Cary Fukunaga. After weeks of speculation, the new Bond director is revealed. Best known for directing HBO crime drama, True Detective.
CARY FUKUNAGA, DIRECTOR: Good evening, everyone.
GORANI: Fukunaga will be the first American director of that most quintessentially British of film franchises.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 007.
GORANI: Brought in to direct Daniel Craig in what will be his fifth and likely final stint as James Bond, the as yet unnamed movie will be the 25th in the franchise. It was supposed to be directed by Danny Boyle, but he quit last month, the producer siting, creative differences.
Taking his place, Cary Fukunaga brings a wealth of experience directing action-packed drama, like this ground-breaking feat of cinematography. A six-minute long scene from True Detective, filmed on a single tracking shot.
Fukunaga's latest project drops on Netflix tomorrow, Dark Comedy Maniac starring Emma Stone. He also directed the movie Beasts of No Nation which cast Idris Elba as an African war lord.
IDRIS ELBA, ACTOR: Mark this victory.
GORANI: That connection fuelling further speculation that Elba could be the next Bond.
REPORTER: If you were James Bond, would you be allowed to say anything?
GORANI: While Elba might never say never again, one thing the producers have revealed, the next film's release date, Bond fans, mark your diaries, for Valentine's Day 2020. Hala Gorani, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" is up after the break.
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[00:45:00] (WORLD SPORT)
