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Boeing Holds First Shareholder Meeting Since 737 Max Crashes; CNN Speaks with Sir Lanka's President About Attacks; Victims' Family Talk to CNN After Easter Attacks; Spanish Far-Right Party to Enter Parliament in Decades; Boeing CEO Says Safety is Boeing's Top Priority; Spanish Socialist Party Wins Closely Contested Election; Interview Bernardino Leon, Director General, Emirates Diplomatic Academy, Spanish Elections; At Least 38 People Dead in Mozambique and Comoros; "Avengers: Endgame" Shatters Box Office Records. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired April 29, 2019 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAITHRIPALA SIRISENA, SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I was not informed of the information pertaining to this attack prior to the
occurrence of the incident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: The Sri Lankan President speaking exclusively to CNN about what he knew and didn't know of the Easter bombings in his
country.
Hello and welcome. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, live from Abu Dhabi. That is just one of a number of people
shaping our world as we connect you this hour.
Right now, we turn to another, Boeing's chief executive. It is a company dealing with the aftermath of two deadly commercial plane crashes in recent
months. Boeing's CEO coming face-to-face with shareholders as we speak for the first time since two of his company's planes, the exact same model,
crashed within months of each other. Collectively killing almost 350 people.
Well, just outside that meeting, the families of people who lost their lives held a silent protest. A silence speaking volumes as they demand
answers. Some held signs calling for the company's executives to be held responsible for their loved ones' deaths.
I want to dig deeper into this and what it means for Boeing. Our business anchor Julia Chatterley's standing by in New York to help connect the dots
for you. And Boeing's CEO will speak to the press shortly. He's just wound up with the company's shareholders. What has he said so far?
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: Well, it's interesting, Becky. He's been reiterating -- and I think he will continue to do so --
that safety remains the company's top priority, and he's been peppered with all sorts of questions about how this could have happened from those in the
audience as well.
One in particular, an engineer, saying look, what changes have been made here, given the suggestion that the 747 Max jet was rushed to market? The
CEO of Boeing pushing back on that and saying, look, this involved six years' worth of development, 600 test flights, 3,700 hours' worth of flying
hours. So, he's being cautious to answer the questions very carefully, but at the same time, reiterating that, look, this wasn't a rush job.
One woman in particular stood up and said look, when you do get these jets back up into the air, are you willing to put yourself in the line here as
well and take one of those flights and go along with customers and show that you now trust your own company's planes? And he said, look, I've been
up twice already with this new software design that we're still working on. In the last three weeks, I've been up twice.
So, he really is taking great efforts, I think, to try to reassure not only shareholders, but also customers going forward, which I think is the
critical thing, that the software update that they're working on right now has, indeed, been fixed. And this is what it's going to come down to,
Becky.
As far as pushback is concerned, there are going to be votes today later on. The suggestion that perhaps oversight slipped, there was too much
opacity, that Boeing has too much control as far as the regulators here in the United States are concerned. Would separating the role of CEO and
chairman perhaps help with that in some way going forward? And say it's not a new resolution. It was voted on last year. 25 percent of
shareholders said they'd like to see separation, and they didn't vote for it, clearly. 75 percent said they were happy.
So, I think looking at that ratio in this vote today will be interesting just to see how much pushback there is. But so far, I think the share
price tells the story. Yes, it's down 10 percent since the Ethiopian Airlines crash, but Becky, it's still up 17 percent year to date, and this
has been ultimately a real winner for shareholders over the last three years. And so far, I think they're willing to stick with it. I think
Boeing's too big to fail, but a lot of work has to be done to convince people, when these jets go back up in the air, that they are ultimately
safe.
ANDERSON: Yes. You make a very good point. Share price actually up by about 0.75 percent as we speak. And as the CEO of Boeing speaks to
shareholders, and, as we said, will address the press shortly.
Well, moving on, Sri Lanka is a nation on edge. Authorities say they are still hunting for extremists who may be bent on carrying out more terror
attacks. The country's President has issued a ban on any kind of face covering.
[11:05:00] Now, that ban would include religious garb like burkas as well as masks or helmets. Authorities want to have an easier time identifying
people's faces. Well, Sri Lanka's government has come under fire for the intelligence failures that played a role in the Easter Sunday attack.
CNN's Sam Kiley sat down exclusively with the President just a short time ago. He joins us now. What did the President have to say -- Sam?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, on that matter of intelligence failures, or if you'd like, a failure to react to
perfectly good intelligence that pointed to, from a number of sources, an imminent attack. I put it to the President, who is both minister of
defense and the man in charge of Sri Lanka's police force over the last four months, why it was he felt he shouldn't resign. This is how he
responded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIRISENA (through translator): I was not informed of information pertaining to this attack prior to the occurrence of the incident. The
state security services had informed the defense minister, who informed the inspector general of police for an intelligence provided information to the
Sri Lankan intelligence services on the fourth of April.
Between the fourth and twelfth April, letters were exchanged between offices, but no one reported this to me. On 16th April, I left the country
on a personal holiday. I departed the country 12 days after the information was received. I was not informed of this information, so it is
not me, but the IG of police and the defense secretary who should be resigning. Therefore, I have taken necessary actions to review them, as
they were negligent in their duties.
KILEY: You seem, therefore, to be suggesting that the intelligence agencies were deliberate in keeping you uninformed of this?
SIRISENA (through translator): I do not think this was intentionally done. I feel they were being responsible and negligent in their duties. When the
incident occurred, I asked him, why didn't inform me of the matter? And their response was that, even though they received the information, they
didn't think an incident of this nature would occur. I think they were careless and negligent in their duties.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY: Now, Becky, Sri Lanka has a pretty dysfunctional government anyway, with the President and the Prime Minister really at political war with each
other. And there's no real question, although he, the President, batted this away, that this did at least provide an accidental opportunity at the
very least for this terrorist group to strike, killing more than 250 people -- Becky.
ANDERSON: The big question now, of course, Sam, is have they got this situation under control?
KILEY: Well, it's extremely difficult to get control over an ideology that produces such fanaticism that, as we found when we were in the east of the
country, people are prepared to kill their own children, rather than face capture. This is our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY (voice-over): Their plots foiled three terrorists' rant. Bombs primed and on the brink of annihilation, they boast of taking their
families with them.
(on camera): They made that video as the police and army were closing in on their position, and then they took the final option -- self-emulation,
suicide, and the murder of their children and wives. Two brothers and the father of Zahran Hashim, the alleged mastermind of Sri Lanka's Easter
massacres, killed themselves, their three wives and six children with three bombs. The Hashim brothers were identified by the police and their sister,
who spoke to CNN. We have hidden her identity for her own security.
MOHAMED HASHIM MATHANIYA, SISTER OF ALLEGED ATTACK RINGLEADER (through translator): I have a suspicion that the six children who died are from
our family.
KILEY (voice-over): Hashim's daughter and wife somehow survived and are stable in hospital.
While they recovered, families of people his gang murdered in nearby Batticaloa, were unable to attend services on Sunday. There are government
warnings of more attacks, like this. Where last week a Hashim follower is filmed on CCTV idling outside the Zion Church, waiting for the end of
Sunday school. Then he heads down the alley, sets up his bomb. The blast is felt by worshippers. And then they are struck with incredulous terror.
He killed 26 people, 14 of them children. The Santhakumar family lost Sharon, 12, and Sarah, 10. He loved art. She was sporty and mischievous.
Salisha, their little sister, is now an only child. How do you feel towards the people who did this to you?
VAIRAPERUMAL SANTHAKUMAR, VICTIMS' FATHER (through translator): Because we are Christians, we are not supposed to retaliate. We didn't expect this to
happen. But still, we can't do anything to them.
KILEY (on camera): Do you agree?
KAOWSALYA SANTHAKUMAR, VICTIMS' MOTHER (through translator): Yes, the Lord has taught us about love.
[11:10:00] We cannot do anything, but they will reap what they sow.
KILEY (voice-over) Terror has now been sown here, but Sri Lankans are determined that it won't produce a harvest of poison.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KILEY: It may not produce a harvest of poison, Becky, but there is still chaos really in the ranks of the government. Only in the last couple
hours, for example, have they got it together to produce and nominate a commanding officer for this counterterrorism operation.
ANDERSON: Sam Kiley is in Colombo in Sri Lanka. Sam, thank you.
Well, the terror attacks in Sri Lanka did not just cost lives, of course. They could have a significant impact on the country's economy. The island
nation is a major tourist destination. A at a conference on Monday, one Sri Lankan official says he expects tourism to drop by 30 percent due now
to terrorism concerns. That translates to about $1.5 billion this year alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KISHU GOMES, CHAIRMAN, SRI LANKA TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: You know, you can't take things for granted. Say first country today could be the
most wonderful country tomorrow. This is global terrorism, and we were the target this time. It can be some other country someday. Surely, we need
to stand together and fight against global terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, to Spain, where the ruling Socialist Party is celebrating a victory at the polls, even though it fell short of an outright majority.
Incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says he'll form a pro-European government, but it's still unclear which parties he may recruit to build a
coalition.
Well, the deputy Prime Minister says, for now, at least, the Socialists will try to govern alone. Well, that is the picture as things stand at
present. One of the biggest stories from this election, though, is the party projected to come in fifth for the first time since the days of
dictator Francisco Franco. A far-right party will be taking seats in the Spanish Parliament.
CNN's Isa Soares covering all of these developments for you now there. Are a few big-picture themes emerging from these results. What is your
assessment of what happened?
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, very clearly, Becky, the Socialists have won. You've cleared out -- you've laid out, really,
the Vox has actually got the foothold being the first far-right party, but they only won 24 seats. Yes, it's significant, the first far-right party
since Francisco Franco that dictatorship actually entered. That they've again a foothold in these parliamentary elections and they will have a say,
24 strong voices I may add in Parliament.
But at the end of the day, Socialists have won. And they have won because they have won an election that was basically out of fear. Fear that Spain
may go to the far right. That fear was so big in many parts of Spain. In fact, Becky, the people decided I'd much rather vote for the Socialists and
back them, than go towards the right. And by voting for the Socialists, many people went against Vox, and it splintered the right, Becky. This is
what the Vox presence has done, splintering the right completely.
So, the challenge now is for Sanchez, Pedro Sanchez, to try and find a coalition government, although he says -- his vice President said today
they will govern alone. How exactly that will be done, probably for a lot of horse trading, remains to be seen. Because at the end of the day, he's
going to need a lot of support from these minor parties in order to pass legislation. And the fear is that if he doesn't have their support, we'll
be looking at our fourth election in four years -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes. Fascinating. Even though the far-right or ultra- nationalist Vox Party did win these 24 seats, it was, as you rightly suggest, a far cry from the sort of political tsunami that they had hoped
for and that many pollsters had suggested they might get. Prime Minister Sanchez saying the message to the world is Spain can win over
authoritarianism, but the Vox Party leader says, Isa, says this is only the beginning. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANTIAGO ABASCAL, VOX PARTY LEADER (through translator): 24 lawmakers in Parliament will take on their responsibility to serve Spain in freedom. 24
nationalist lawmakers in Parliament will represent the pride of being Spanish, and they will not remain silent when a lawmaker breaks the
constitution, laughs at our flag, or tries to destroy national unity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And their narrative, Isa, a familiar one during the campaign -- make Spain great again. Clamping down on immigration and on Islam.
[11:15:00] How will their presence in Parliament affect the political landscape and decision-making in Spain going forward, do you think?
SOARES: Well, already we've seen a very fragmented political landscape, partly because of Vox. We've seen landscape of going towards the left.
Many people turning their back on the right because of the fear of the Vox, because the fear that Vox can align themselves with any other parties on
the right. But what he said is something that I've heard throughout. I was in Spain all last week. I was in southern Spain in Catalonia --
DENNIS MUILENBURG, BOEING CEO: Join us here at our Boeing annual shareholders meeting. Before I take your questions, I'd like to share --
ANDERSON: All right, and we are now listening to the CEO of Boeing addressing the press for the first time since the terrible, terrible news
of the plane going down in Ethiopia. Let's have a listen.
MUILENBURG: -- we feel the immense gravity of these events, and we recognize the devastation to the families and friends of the loved ones who
have perished.
There is nothing more important to us than the safety of the people who fly on our airplanes. Every day, 5.3 million people fly safely on Boeing
airplanes. On average, more than 2,900 737 airplanes are in the air with nearly half a million passengers on board at any given time. And a 737
takes off around the world or lands roughly every 1.5 seconds.
Through the work we are doing now in partnership with our customers and regulators to certify and implement the software update, the 737 Max will
be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly. We've been in constant contact with our customers and listening to their needs to ensure that the fleet is
maintained appropriately and positioned for an efficient return to service once cleared for passenger flights.
Our teams will take an entry into service approach with every plane returning to service, which includes deploying teams to all of our Max
operators and providing dedicated, realtime, operational support. We also will be providing enhanced training and supplemental education materials
for our airline customers' pilots.
Boeing has an important role to play in advancing training efforts that support safe operations. In addition to the software upgrade that we are
working on, we're also committed to going above and beyond on training. And while we focus on the safe return to service of the Max, the
fundamentals of our market and our business remain strong. I want to thank our team for their ongoing focus on safety, quality and integrity. With
that, I'll be happy to take your questions.
DAVID KERLEY, ABC NEWS: David Kerley from ABC news. Dennis you've said a couple of times, "we own it." What mistakes do you own? You've also
mentioned that you will earn and re-earn trust. There are a lot of passengers who are afraid of the Max. Why should they trust Boeing that it
will be safe with this upgrade?
MUILENBURG: David, first of all, again, our commitment to safety is unwavering, and we do regret the impact that this has had to the
passengers. We know we do have work to do to earn and re-earn that trust, and we will.
I will say to the first part of your question, as we've been part of both investigations, we've been very diligent about respecting the integrity of
the investigation process throughout and providing technical support. We know that in both accidents, there was a chain of events that occurred.
One of the links in that chain was the activation of the MCAS system because of erroneous angle attack data. That was a common link in both
accidents.
We know that we can break that link in the chain. That is a link that we own. It's our responsibility to eliminate that risk, and the software
update does exactly that. So, we're focused on taking care of that and getting the Max back up and flying safely.
We're going to be working very closely with our airline customers and with the FAA and with regulatory authorities around the world as we finish up
the certification process on the software update and have safe re-entry into service. We're going to be diligently doing that, airplane by
airplane, with our customers. I think getting it back up and flying is obviously a key step in rebuilding confidence. And then we'll be working
with our airline customers over time to ensure they have the support they need and that we rebuild public confidence as the fleet gets back up and
operating.
KERLEY: Was that link a mistake, a design mistake?
MUILENBURG: Well, what we've seen is we've looked at the MCAS activation, this erroneous angle attack information that came into the airplane --
we've also gone back and taken a look at the design of the MCAS system itself, the original design. We've confirmed that it was designed per our
standards, certified per our standards, and we're confident in that process. So it operated, according to those design and certification
standards.
[11:20:00] So, we haven't seen a technical slip or gap in terms of the fundamental design and certification of the approach. That said, we know
this is a link in both accidents that we can break. That's a software update that we know how to do. We own it and we will make that update, and
this will make the airplane even safer going forward. And I'm confident with that change, it will be one of the safest airplanes ever to fly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.
MUILENBURG: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the light of the crisis facing your company and in the interests of re-earning the trust of the flying public, have you
considered resigning?
MUILENBURG: Well, I think the important thing here, again, is we are very focused on safety. And I can tell you that both of these accidents weigh
heavily on us as a company. I've had the privilege of working for the Boeing company for 34 years. And we know that lives depend on what we do.
We take that very, very seriously. And I've had the privilege of doing that for my entire career and I can tell you that our Boeing employees as
well take that very seriously. And so, I'm very focused on safety going forward.
It's important that as a company, we have those clear priorities, that we're taking the right actions, that we have the right culture. I am
strongly vested in that, and my clear intent is to continue to lead on the front of safety and quality and integrity. That's who we are as a company.
And I think it's really important to continue to stress that. We deeply regret what happened with these accidents. It gets to the core of our
company. I've had the chance to walk the factory floors in Renton, where we've built the Max airplanes over the last couple weeks. I've had a
chance to talk with our test pilots. I've had the opportunity to talk with our engineers, to the core of our people. They care about this business
and the safety of our airplanes. That's what I'm focused on.
TOM COSTELLO, NBC NEWS: Tom Costello. Mr. Muhlenberg, this is the first opportunity we've had to talk to you since this unfolded. Why did you put
an MCAS system in place in the planes without notifying the airplanes or the pilots? And why did you not tell the pilots that the angle of attack
disagree warning light was deactivated?
MUILENBURG: Well, let me take those two questions on in two answers here.
First of all, when we take a look at the original design of the MCAS system, I think in some cases, in the media it's been reported or described
as an anti-stall system, which it is not. It's a system that's designed to provide handling qualities for the pilot that meet pilot preferences. We
want the airplane to behave in the air similar to the previous generation of 737s. That's a preferred pilot feel for the airplane, how it feels as
they're flying it. And MCAS is designed to provide those kind of handling qualities at high angle of attack.
So it's a purposeful design. It's something that is designed to be part of how the airplanes fly, so as part of the certification process. It's not
something that's a separate procedure or something that needs to be trained on separately. It is fundamentally embedded in the handling qualities of
the airplane. And so, when we train on the airplane, you're being trained on MCAS. It's not a separate system to be trained on.
To your second question on angle of attack sensor information. Certainly, we've been taking a look at some of the reports that are out, even again
today, taking a look at the design of that original system. Again, I can confirm for you that going forward, that angle of attack disagree signal is
something that will be standard on all of the 737 Maxes. We'll also be looking at retrofitting that on all of the airplanes, and that will be
provided at no cost. I think that's an important step forward.
It's also important to understand that that angle of attack disagree signal in the cockpit is not something that drives pilot action. It's not
something that we design in as a primary flight display. In the flight deck of a commercial airplane, what pilots care about are things like
altitude, air speed, heading, pitch, and roll. That's what they fly. Those indicators are in the flight deck today. Air speed and altitude in
particular are the relevant items around these two cases. Those are signals that are in the cockpit today. Those are things that provide
audible warnings to the pilot as well, including things like stick shaker. And so, that's where we focus on the training effort going forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, if I can, you have said that the MCAS system, the angle of attack, connecting it to just one sensor, that met your process.
And yet, the fact that it's only plugged into one sensor and could fail seems really like something that should have been foreseen. When you talk
about reestablishing credibility with fliers -- you know, they are reading about reports that whistleblower after whistleblower have come forward to
the FAA and to Congress to say that there were problems with the certification process, there were concerns about MCAS.
[11:25:00] You have stopped short of saying that there was a mistake made in the process. How do you win back trust when there are some that feel
you have a real credibility issue, when Boeing has not come out and said, you know, we didn't do this right?
MUILENBURG: Yes, I think those are very fair questions. Again, we've probed on those same questions ourselves. We've gone back and looked at
both accidents. We've done deep assessments of our airplane and the design, and we've confirmed that the MCAS system as originally designed did
meet our design and safety analysis criteria and our certification criteria. Those are standard processes that have worked for decades and
will continue to work.
Now, that said, when we design a system, understand that these airplanes are flown in the hands of pilots. And in some cases, our system safety
analysis includes not only the engineering design, but also the actions that pilots would take as part of a failure scenario, right? That's all
baked into a system end-to-end analysis.
Now, that all said, going forward, we've identified a way to improve this, as to make it a dual sensor feed. That is a change that we're making with
the software update, and I'm confident that, again, we'll create an airplane that's one of the safest to fly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said it's operated as designed. You couldn't have possibly designed a system that would activate 21 times, pushing the nose
of the plane down to the point of an unrecoverable dive.
MUILENBURG: Again, if you take a look at the end-to-end system procedure that's assigned with this. So, in the case of an MCAS failure scenario,
there's something called a runaway stabilizer procedure, which is a memory item in the cockpit. If that kind of scenario occurs and you go through
the checklist -- and again, that checklist was published as part of the recent Ethiopian preliminary report. If you look through that checklist,
it calls out actions that would be taken around power management and pitch management of the airplane. It also refers to the cutout switches that
after an activation that was not pilot-induced, that you would hit the cutoff switches. And in some cases, those procedures were not completely
followed, so --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In three cases, though, the pilot struggled with that process, either recognizing what was happening or implementing those steps.
The first Lion Air flight, there was a jump seat captain who told the flight crew what to do. In the second one, it doesn't appear they did that
at all. The Ethiopian folks generally followed that checklist, were not able to recover. Does that mean that -- were you overly confident in
pilots' abilities, given this circumstance, particularly when they didn't know MCAS was there in the first place?
MUILENBURG: Again, I'll go back to my previous comment. As we look at both accidents -- and this is common most airplane accidents that have
occurred over history -- there is a chain of events. There are multiple contributing factors. There are factors that we can control in the design,
and in this case, that common link related to the MCAS system and its activation, we're going to break that link, and this will prevent accidents
like this from happening again. That's an important statement --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would the accident have happened without MCAS, though? You called it a link.
MUILENBURG: It is a chain of events, right. There is no singular item. It's a chain of events. And I think it's really important that we all
focus on letting the investigation process run its due course. Our job is to focus on safety, not on speculation. We're going to continue to support
the investigation process. And I would suggest that that is the right way to handle this in the long run.
This industry is safe because of the integrity of the safety process and the way these investigations are done. It's a continuous improvement
process that over the last couple of decades has continued to dramatically improve air safety. It is the safest form of transportation in the world
because of the integrity of the process. And we're going to support the integrity of that process, and we're going to make sure the Max is the
safest airplane out there to fly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you say anything about, a lot of airlines have lost a lot of money because of the grounding of the Max. Can you say
anything about how you're going to compensate them for that?
MUILENBURG: We're actively engaged with all of our airline customers. And again, we deeply regret the impact to their operations and customers. I
know it's difficult. I've personally talked to many of our customers, and I can tell you, our team is out deployed with the customers on a daily
basis. I won't comment on individual discussions by airline, but we understand the difficulties that this has caused. I will say, our
partnerships with our airline customers are strong, and we're going to be working together on recovery efforts. The first focus here is safely
getting the Max back up and flying, and then we'll address the follow-on issues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last question to Dominic Gates, "Seattle Times."
DOMINIC GATES, SEATTLE TIMES: Dennis, today, again, you've repeated this message that the certification process and the design process for MCAS was
followed as per usual, consistent with what you've done. But forget about the process. The final design of MCAS was deeply flawed, and your
engineers are fixing it and testing the fix today, fixing very specific flaws, which are clear in the flights. So, can you admit that the design
was flawed?
[11:30:00] Never mind the processes -- you went through it and you did the best you could -- but what you came up with in the end was flawed, was it
not?
MUILENBURG: Dominic, I'll go again back to when I said earlier. We've designed the MAX to have the flying qualities that were desired in the
hands of the pilots. The MCAS system is part of that design effort. We have gone back and confirmed, again, as we do the safety analysis, the
engineering analysis, that we followed exactly the steps in our design and certification processes that consistently produce safe airplanes.
Now, in this case, again, as in most accidents, there are a chain of events that occur. It's not correct to attribute that to any single item. We
know there are some improvements that we can make to MCAS, and we will make those improvements. But the reason this industry is safe is that we never
stop on making safety improvements. We never claim that we have reached the end point. We are continuously, across all of our airplane programs,
improving safety every day.
We always look for opportunities to improve. That culture that's unafraid to go make safety improvements over time, that culture is what has driven
this to be an incredibly safe industry. That is our commitment. We're not going to waver from that. We're not going to step back from that. We will
continually look for opportunities to improve safety. That's our responsibility. And that's part of re-earning that trust that I talked
about earlier.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you all very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, wasn't it --?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quality singular training?
MUILENBURG: Thank you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, can we have a few more questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait a minute, 346 people died. Can you answer a few questions here about that?
ANDERSON: Well, CNN's business anchor, Julia Chatterley, is still with us in New York. Julia, thanks for coming back to us. We heard a number of
things there from the CEO of Boeing. This the first time, of course, that we have had an opportunity as the press to cross examine Boeing's CEO. And
he said that this -- the problem with the 737 MAX was a link that Boeing owns, and therefore, they can fix it. He says that the 737 MAX will be one
of the safest airplanes in the world. And, I have to say, he swerved pretty much a question from one of the journalists who asked whether he had
considered resigning over all of this. Your thoughts?
CHATTERLEY: Yes, Becky. I mean, he sort of avoided answering that, about whether he'd thought about resigning in light of this. But as you pointed
out, he said that the two aircraft crashes that we saw were a result of a chain of events and a weak link in the chain. The weak link here being
erroneous angle of attack data. It's important, because that angle measures the direction that the plane's traveling in, the direction of the
wind, let's say, the air that it's traveling through. That is your angle of attack.
Very important when we're talking about this MCAS system and the fact that we were talking about what we were calling an anti-stall system. He said
it was a handling system. He was very, very keen to point out the difference there, that then forced the nose of the planes down in what we
believe both examples here.
The point here is that he's reiterating that this is a software fix only required. This is not a hardware fix. It's not, as you heard people
flying back at him there -- is this a problem with the MCAS system, the handling system? Was it right that you put this into the plane and you
didn't warn pilots that this was something new? And he says look, it was just a handling system, we didn't need to.
And you could sense there that he was better pressure, being very careful in light of the ongoing investigations that are going on, that he didn't
want to say too much. But clearly, the journalists in the room there were saying, are you sure that this MCAS system, one, is safe. Two, that you
should have made pilots aware that it was new. And remember, he reiterated at the beginning of that, look, there will be training. There's going to
be a dual safety system, dual sensors on this system going forward. And look, we will reiterate that this plane will be safe.
But as far as I'm concerned, there was a reason, I think, why he walked off there. And there were more questions being raised than perhaps he could
answer. The bottom line is Boeing is sticking to the fact that this is a software fix, and they're working on it, but there were really valued
questions, I think, here about Boeing's handling, whether there was enough safety information attached to this for the airlines and for the pilots.
And ultimately, I think whether this is a software fix that can be achieved or whether the positioning of the engine and this MCAS system are right in
this plane going forward, and that will be critical. This is 80 percent of the ordering book for Boeing in the future going forward. This is the
workhorse. They have to ensure confidence, critical for Boeing going forward.
[11:35:00] ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. And you're right to bring up that he gave the press about, I guess about 12 to 15 minutes. And as those
questions began to come, he did seem to wind that up pretty quickly. There were certainly some outstanding questions from members of the press in that
room.
CHATTERLEY: Absolutely.
ANDERSON: Lest we forget hundreds of people lost their lives over those two crashes. Investors, though, it has to be said, and he addressed
shareholders before this press conference -- investors do seem to have moved on.
CHATTERLEY: It's a great point, Becky. We saw the vote, as I was discussing with you earlier, shareholders deciding to keep Dennis
Muilenburg there as the CEO and chairman. So no changes there. This stock is up 17 percent year to date, even with the 10 percent drop that we saw in
light of the second crash, of course, on March 10th. 95 percent of the cash that's generated by this company was pushed back to shareholders.
Obviously, what we heard last week was they were spending their stock buybacks. But ultimately, I think investors believe that they will fix
this program, that it is a software problem, that they will get back on board. And ultimately, the importance is a U.S. manufacturer going toward
will mean that, actually, I think Boeing too big to fail here, and that's the judgment call investors are making. Consumers, on the other hand, are
a different issue.
ANDERSON: Yes, no, that is a very, very good point. Will people be prepared to fly these planes going forward? Julia, always a pleasure.
Thank you very much, indeed.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you.
ANDERSON: All right, viewers, going it get you back to one of our top story this hour. For the first time since democracy itself was restored,
the far-right about to return to Spanish politics. Vox, a party that opposes multiculturalism and what it calls radical feminism, has just won
24 seats in Spain's Parliament. It comes just weeks before a shake-up at another major Parliament, the European one. That's something that's not
gone unnoticed by the party that actually won Spain's election, albeit without a majority.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPAINISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The only tradition we are going to put is respecting the constitution and promoting
social justice towards co-existence and political transparency. Because they are also watching us and listening to us outside Spain, particularly
in Europe, and we will form a pro-European government to strengthen and not debilitate Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Right. So, Europe is watching. And so is our next guest, Bernardino Leon, Spanish diplomat, former Spanish politician and director
general these days of the Emirates Diplomatic Academy. You are well placed to assess exactly what happened in Spain's election. We certainly didn't
have the political tsunami that some pollsters had suggested. That of the ultra-nationalist Vox Party. Although as we've suggested, they do now have
seats in the Parliament for the first time since Franco. A hard-fought victory by your own party who had a disaster in the last national election.
What happened?
BERNARDINO LEON, DIRECTOR GENERAL, EMIRATES DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY: Absolutely. Becky, it is a pleasure to be with you. And let me start
saying that there is a sense of relief. Polls have been accurate this time, but there was a panic in some sectors about Vox arriving. Anything
for Vox could have been a huge victory because they were coming from zero. But they are far from previous estimations. Bannon and other people --
ANDERSON: Steve Bannon, you mean.
LEON: Steve Bannon were expecting 15 percent. Some polls, we're talking about 45, 50 seats. They have 24. It's a wake-up call. It's something
that we'll have to take into consideration, but it's not a serious threat for the system at the moment. And you have to bear in mind that part of
this vote is protest vote. It's not necessarily that 10 percent of the Spanish people are far-right voters.
ANDERSON: You name-checked Steve Bannon there. I want to you about the wider European context and how this election fits into that. But just
explain why you even brought up Steve Bannon's name. This is the former chief of staff for Donald Trump, the former chief of Breitbart, the far-
right news organization, perhaps we might describe it. And somebody who we know has been involved, really involved in European politics since he left
the Trump White House.
[11:40:00] How do you believe he was involved in the Spanish elections?
LEON: Well, let me say, first of all, that I think that this is an outstanding victory for stability, for moderate politics, for constructive
politics and inclusive politics. So, all of these parties in Spain and elsewhere in Europe proposing disruption, proposing anti-immigration,
antiwomen --
ANDERSON: And anti-Islam.
LEON: Anti-Islam -- have a lesson, I think, in this election, which I hope will be replicated in other European countries. I mentioned Bannon because
it's not a secret, he's been a strategist supporting Vox and promoting these as a part of our European network with some Italian parties, with Le
Pen, with other European parties. So, that's the reason. But I think also this kind of supremacist, wide antimigration, anti-Islam messages are well
represented by Bannon, but of course, there are other names that we could mention or even countries, because we know there's been a lot of interest
in this populist surge in --
ANDERSON: And it's important we talk about this wider European context here. This is the first time a far-right party has made it into Spain's
government, as I said, since dictator General Franco's tyrannical roll back which ended in 1975. It's just the latest European country, as you rightly
point out, to see this spike. The far-right seems to be having a resurgence. Austria and Switzerland were a fourth of voters turning to the
hard right, Hungary maybe 70 percent. You've within in politics long enough. You've certainly been in the world of diplomacy for long enough.
Do the liberal-minded leaders of the European Union itself have a strategy, do you think, to counter this trend in the upcoming European elections, end
of May?
LEON: Well, I think just trying to forge a majority of pro-European countries will not be enough. And at the moment, the three mainstream,
pro-European forces -- socialist, social Democrats, center-right, and liberals -- are competing for supremacy in the European Parliament. But
then, of course, as you say, we need to cope with a number of issues, and we have to elaborate strategies on that.
First of all, it's a change of the economic model. Second is the demographic trends in Europe is a county -- is actually a continent. There
is aging. We need to replace the workforce with someone. So, these antimigration and populist policies, on the one hand, they have a lot of
traction, but on the other hand, they are useless. So, we need to come to terms with these elements and propose an economic and social model that
makes sense without proposing a self-destructive policy, which is what these populist movements are doing.
ANDERSON: I would do more with you tonight, but we've been held up slightly by the Boeing press conference. So we've run out of time on this
segment of the show specifically but you make a lot of sense and let's have you back.
The European elections, of course folks, at the end of May. The impact of social media as we saw it back in 2016 in U.K. and the U.S. Something that
the social media organizations say they' are doing something about. We'll see. We'll see, as the time goes on. For the time being, thank you very
much indeed for joining us. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD live from Abu Dhabi.
Right now, roads washed into waterfalls in Mozambique. We're going to get you the very latest images after yet another massive cyclone there. That
is just ahead.
[11:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Mozambique reeling in the aftermath of cyclone Kenneth, the strongest storm to ever make landfall there. People are seen here wading
through knee-high floodwaters and bailing out buckets at a time, trying to bide time as more rain falls. The death toll there has now climbed to 38
at this time. Well our David McKenzie live in Johannesburg. David, there are still areas as we understand that haven't been reached.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Becky, and the fear could be that that death toll could rise, because north of the provincial
capital of Pemba -- I've been speaking to people today -- they say that their relief teams, helicopters, and the road teams are there waiting, but
the roads are flooded. They can't get through to those worst-affected areas, and they can't get there by air either to drop off or to remove
people from any possible floodwaters.
This was, as you say, the strongest storm to ever hit that region on paper, but it's a complex story. There are some people in Pemba, Becky, who feel
relieved that the storm didn't come directly through that major population center and nearby Montepuesh, but went through the relatively less
populated, rural areas to the north.
Now, it's obviously devastating for those people who got hit by it, but it is possibly a case of not as bad as it could have been. The problem,
though, is the rain that has set in after those more than 200-kilometer-an- hour winds is the real worry now, it could flood population centers further. And so, this story is by no means over as the relief teams try to
get in -- Becky.
ANDERSON: David McKenzie following the story for you from South Africa today. Thank you. We'll take a very short break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, host of my own show, and now -- caped hero. Check it out, my very own comic book. Cool, hey? My name, my alias, my nom de guerre.
[11:50:00] I'm Becky. I should work on that, shouldn't I? Well, it's the end of my short-lived super harrowing adventures for the mega stars of the
new mega flick "Avengers: Endgame." Things are just getting going.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, AVENGERS; ENDGAME, MARVEL STUDIOS: We're in the end game now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No fears, no regrets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of the journey is the end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the grand finale of the Marvel movie series smashing -- smashing -- box office records, like "The Hulk," pulverizing a tank,
pulling in a gargantuan $1.2 billion, billion. To get us up to date on all the whiz, bang and pops here. The Captain America of media reporting,
CNN's Mr. Frank Pallotta in the House from New York City. Frank, $1.2 billion on this, the opening weekend. Did you expect that?
FRANK PALLOTTA, CNN BUSINESS MEDIA REPORTER: No. Like, I mean, no one did. This is completely unprecedented. I remember a few weeks ago, I was
talking to some of my sources at the studios, at multiple different studios, and I heard someone say that there was a chance in that it could
make $300 million domestically, and I laughed. I laughed out loud. Because I thought it to be, you know, mathematically impossible.
But "The Avengers," they pull it off. They pulled it off this time, $1.2 billion around the world, more than $855 million internationally, more than
$330 million in China, and $350 million in north America. All of those are records. All of those are unheard of. For example, the domestic record
almost broke "Infinity War's" record from last year by a $100 million. This is just unheard of. I don't know if we're ever going to see something
like this again for the sheer scale of it. You've got to understand that in the United States, theaters are running around the clock. It just isn't
necessarily feasible that this can happen again. It's amazing.
ANDERSON: I mean, this is remarkable, these numbers, sort of sloshing around. That's an awful lot of cash. But more love than anything else.
It has to be said. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cried I would say the second half of the movie, and all the men around me were crying, too. It was beautifully done, poetic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only reason I'm giving this interview is so you understand that the tears will come and you cannot stop them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the tears will come and you cannot stop them. Not talking about the birth of a baby here, Frank, just a movie. No spoilers, then,
sir. What is so good about it?
PALLOTTA: It's a conclusion. It's a finale. And it's an epic finale. You think, this has been -- Marvel's been doing this for the last ten
years, over 22 movies. This was the 22nd movie. And all the other movies kind of led into the next one. Each had a post-credit season. This one
doesn't have a post-credit seen. They all kind of set up to the next one. They all really don't end. There were really no stakes. This one has
stakes. People's -- there's conclusions. People die. People stay dead. It's very -- it's a very entertaining film and a really satisfying
conclusion. That's the word I keep hearing over and over again is satisfying. And in this day in age, with a major movie franchise, I can't
think of a better way to kind of end it than how this one did.
ANDERSON: I'm going to put you on the spot, sir. If you were a superhero, what would your name be and what power or powers would you have?
PALLOTTA: What name would I have? I don't know what name, but I would probably have the power to regrow my hair. I miss my hair sometimes. So,
I feel like that's not really going to help the world at all, but it will help my world, which is the most important.
ANDERSON: Listen --
PALLOTTA: Hairy man, hairy man.
Despite the fact that your folic-ly challenged, we love you. "Avengers" isn't the only fantasy universe in town. There is also, of course, on my
team let me tell you, it's all, yep, yep, about "Game of Thrones," people melting into emotional wrecks over the series. It's kind of like a weekly
blockbuster, a real pop culture sensation. Is there an overlap then in the formulas between these?
PALLOTTA: I mean, in seriousness, when you think about it, this isn't anything new than what we've seen for thousands of years. They're both
really good stories. They're both huge mythologies that really talk to us about our worlds. They help us explain our worlds through fantasy.
And both of them are connected in one major way, which is characters. They're all character-driven. Everybody has their favorite characters,
either Captain America or Jon Snow or Scarlet Witch or Danny or any of these characters. Everyone kind of watches and sees themselves in these
situations, and they're just great escapism.
[11:55:00] Which is right now with the world and so many things going on, it's kind of a great way to spend three hours of your time, if you're going
to go see "Endgame," or last night's episode of "Game of Thrones" was an hour and a half.
Personally, though, I am exhausted. This week has emotionally drained me. I have seen so many beloved characters die. I am just exhausted. I just
feel like I need to, like, take a break, maybe read a book, I don't know, something like that.
ANDERSON: Well, you've been a pleasure and delight, as you always are. Permission to go off and read a book, sir. I don't believe you're going to
do that. I know they'll be something else you're going to watch and flick on your laptop when you get home. But absolutely fab having you on. Thank
you, sir.
I'm Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD. If you have seen any of these amazing productions, let us know, what do you think? Thank you for
watching from the team working with us here and those around the world. It is a very good evening.
[12:00:00]
END
