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Bowe Bergdahl Charged with Desertion; NYT: Pilot Locked Out of Cockpit Before Crash; Saudi Arabia Launches Airstrikes in Yemen. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 26, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:22] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We have significant developments in the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 for you. According to "The New York Times", one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit and is heard on the voice recorder trying to break down the door just moments before the plane crashes into the French Alps.

The big question -- was the plane crash intentional? And why such a slow and controlled descent? Was it a medical problem? Then, why was the door locked from the inside?

We have questions and answers ahead.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Other news: Saudi Arabia launching airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen with help from Gulf allies Jordan and Egypt. The Saudi saying the first round of strikes hit military targets, knocking out Houthi air defenses. The U.S. says it will provide support, but not in the form of military assistance.

Meanwhile, Iran now condemning the Saudi intervention, and calling for an immediate end to the airstrikes.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Nuclear talks with Iran coming down to the wire. Secretary of State John Kerry back in Switzerland this morning for the final round of negotiations. The deadline for an agreement on just the framework of a deal is now five days away.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond sounding a warning ahead of today's talks, claiming we could see a nuclear arms race in the Middle East if negotiations fail, though some have warned of the same fate if they succeed.

CUOMO: A public apology from the fraternity student at the center of that racist chant. Levi Pettit, he's been expelled. He says he waited to speak not out of shame, but fear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEVI PETTIT, FORMER MEMBER OF SAE: There are no excuses for my behavior. I never thought of myself as a racist and I never considered it a possibility. But the bottom line is that the words that were said in that chant were mean, hateful and racist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Parker Price, the other student expelled, issued a written apology.

PEREIRA: Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, held prisoner in Afghanistan for five years, is now being charged with desertion. This raises new questions about the controversial prisoner exchange that brought Bergdahl home last year in exchange for five Taliban commanders. Also this morning, for the first time, we're hearing Bergdahl describe his time in captivity.

CNN's Martin Savidge has that live from San Antonio -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

There's been no official reaction from Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl himself regarding the charges that have now been laid out against him. He has an office job here at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, and today, the Army says for him, it's going to be another typical day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLONEL DANIEL KING, U.S. ARMY: Sergeant Bergdahl is charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice --

SAVIDGE (voice-over): This morning, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl awaits a possible court-martial unconfined. At the U.S. Army north headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. Bergdahl, a prisoner of war, captured by the Taliban in 2009, and now charged by the Army with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Accused of, quote, "shamefully abandoning his unit".

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: Desertion would imply he would be working with the enemy, and that he had a preconceived plan to go and join enemy forces.

SAVIDGE: Speaker of the House John Boehner critical since the beginning of President Obama's polarizing prisoner swap 10 months ago.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The more troubling part of this is the fact that we transferred five prisoners from Gitmo in this trade. And there's news reports that one of them is already back on the battlefield.

SAVIDGE: Meanwhile, Bergdahl for the first time publicly describing his brutal five years in captivity. In a statement, he says he was chained to a bed spread-eagle and blind-folded, later chained inside a cage.

[06:35:00] One guard tried to rip his beard and hair out. And he claims he was beaten with a copper cable. The sergeant also says he tried to escape 12 times.

Still in question, though, why he disappeared from his post in the summer of 2009?

Some from his unit say he was a deserter and a traitor.

FMR. ARMY SGT. JOSH KORDER, SERVED WITH BERGDAHL IN AFGHANISTAN: We found all of his stuff and when you leave all of your things like that behind, your weapon and your body armor, it's pretty clear what your intentions are.

SAVIDGE: Sandra Andrews says her son, Darren, as well as several other soldiers, died while searching for Bergdahl.

SANDRA ANDREWS, SON WAS KILLED SEARCHING FOR BERGDAHL: Whatever his motivation was, he did not consider his fellow soldiers.

SAVIDGE: Bergdahl's attorney says there's no evidence any soldier died looking for the sergeant, and is surprised by the charges.

EUGENE FIDELL, ATTORNEY FOR SGT. BOWE BERGDAHL: I think this is an example of military prosecutors getting clever about how many ways they can charge the same conduct.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Now, what comes next is an Article 32 hearing, some equate it to a grand jury hearing in the civilian world to try to weigh whether there is enough sufficient evidence to move forward with a court-martial -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right. We'll be getting more analysis on this later in the show. Martin, thanks so much for all of that.

There's devastation in the Midwest as a pair of tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma. At least one person died Wednesday and crews are still searching for other possible victims. Schools closed today in Tulsa and the town of Moore, you'll remember that's a community all too familiar with deadly storms.

For the latest, let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers.

What's the latest, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alisyn, we had warm and muggy air, combining with cold and dry air right along a cold front or a warm front. Depending on what side of the storm you were on.

Seven tornado reports yesterday, three across Oklahoma, the rest into parts of Arkansas, maybe even into Missouri. But the town of Moore, I was in Moore last year when the tornado went through it, again in 2013, now 2015, I don't think you can really put your mind around what the people of Moore think about when they see 2003, 2013, and 1999, all over the same area, all within one mile crossing over that I-35.

Here's what it looked like though up in Tulsa about an hour before the storm went through Moore. What an impressive, we call this a stovepipe tornado. You have the unfortunate part is this hit a mobile home park. People there were taking cover, but not everyone got out alive. What an impressive, tornado we're so lucky that that tornado did not get into Tulsa before it finally died off.

Another storm did reappear on the other side of Tulsa and caused a little bit of damage there on the east side. But we should be far, far ahead of where we are tornadoes right now. We should be well over 130.

So far as of yesterday, we were only 28. But that's seven more, now we're up to 35.

Guys, back to you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Chad.

CUOMO: Chad and I were there in Oklahoma, in 2013 and we saw how that community had to come together, they are some strong, faith-based people there, and they need it with what they have to deal with.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. Look at the skies, those skies are so dramatic.

CUOMO: That community came back, but the resolve has to be consistent.

We're going to take a break.

Now, we've got a lot of developments in the flight 9525. The crews still have the dignity of the dead, that's their priority as they search. It's a task that involves looking through debris, some pieces officials say as small as pieces of snow.

How do you find anything in that kind of debris field? We have information for you, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:43] PEREIRA: New this morning, "The New York Times" reporting one of the pilots on Germanwings Flight 9525 was locked out of the cockpit before Tuesday's crash. Based on data, they were able to glean from the cockpit voice recorder.

Meanwhile, investigators on the ground in the French Alps are focused on a long debris field to see what they can salvage from what little is left of that plane.

We want to turn to Miles O'Brien, our CNN aviation analyst.

Good morning to you, Miles.

Let's talk about this debris field. First off, I'm curious what you or maybe what you think investigators can glean from the way this debris field is laid out.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, one of the most important things about any debris field, Michaela, is the size of it. If you have an aircraft that for whatever reason breaks up in flight, what you look for is you match the trajectory of the airplane with where the pieces are. What are the first pieces that fall off, that can tell you a lot about any sort of structural or mechanical failure, or if there was some foul play, which caused an explosion let's say, and which, where the bomb might have been located, we have some indication in the debris field itself.

In this case, you have a very concentrated debris field and evidently an aircraft that was going very fast as it hit the mountains. So, believe it or not, that's actually unusual. Most crashes are at lower speeds. So, this makes it harder for investigators.

PEREIRA: Well, it does make it harder. We're hearing from some of the rescuers and searchers on the ground that the debris field is very, very tiny debris. The biggest piece they found is about the size of a car door. And I can't help but think of what a challenge that will be for investigators that are trying to piece together what happened.

We've seen before, well they'll essentially reassemble parts of the plane. That can't be done here.

O'BRIEN: No, and that, that is the exception. You can go back to TWA flight 800 that exploded over Long Island sound. They were at wit's end because the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, were cut off so abruptly. They didn't have the kind of information they would have like to have had. They piece it together literally, and found that there were some problems with the center fuel tank.

In this case, obviously, that's not going to happen. And that's why it's so crucial to have the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder intact and readable.

[06:45:03] It brings me back to a point that myself and David Soucie and other safety experts have been harping on. There should be some way when there is a distress situation, a nonresponsive crew to have streaming data from the aircraft. It's totally possible, totally technically possible. The airlines just don't want to pay for it without regulatory enforcement.

PEREIRA: It's what we've discussed each time unfortunately when there's been a crash. We know the cockpit voice recorder has been found. It's been downloaded. They've been accessing the information, that's how we learned one of the pilots was outside of the cockpit.

But, again, that elusive data recorder -- flight data recorder, we don't believe it's been located yet.

So, let's talk about where this is around your image in our big wall. We can see the French Alps, very high terrain, very high altitude. We know the weather there can be and is often inclement. That is a challenge not just for getting the remains of the people that are there, but also in terms of the investigation. Your crime scene, if you will, is compromised.

O'BRIEN: Well, that's true and the way this investigation is headed is worth pointing out if you had to pick one of the black boxes to locate, cockpit voice recorder is the more important one. PEREIRA: OK.

O'BRIEN: If the reports are true, about this scenario where one of the crew members was locked out and something deliberate occurred, what you want to find out is what was going on in that cockpit as far as voices. The flight data recorder would probably indicate you had a perfectly good, functioning aircraft that was flown straight into a mountain at high speed.

PEREIRA: But that's one of the pieces we don't have. We know these things are built to with stand a certain amount of impact. But there is a chance it could have been destroyed, the flight data recorder.

In the absence of that, do you think we're looking at another mysterious aviation mystery, like we saw with MH370, or do you feel confident they're going to find answers?

O'BRIEN: I think the cockpit voice recorder is going to tell us a lot and I think this will you know, there's no black box for the human being, and what's going on inside the mind of a pilot or whomever is unknown to all of us. However, I think we're going to have some idea on this one.

PEREIRA: That's a very good point. Miles, thank you for your expertise. We'll be talking to you a little later in the broadcast.

Chris?

CUOMO: Yes, we're going to stay on this, Mick, a lot of new information in this investigation.

But, first, we also have chaos in the Middle East to deal with. Saudi Arabia is now pounding Houthi targets with airstrikes in Yemen. Egypt and Jordan are going to join the fight. Iran infuriated by this.

Is this the beginning of a major Middle East conflict?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:47] CUOMO: There is breaking information about Flight 9525, but there's also breaking information in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is now joining the fight in Yemen, launching airstrikes against Houthi rebels, with help from allies Jordan and Egypt, and support from Turkey.

This is a new twist this morning. Iran is coming out against that operation.

What does this mean for the volatile region? It's really not just about Yemen and it's certainly about much more for the United States, especially as these nuclear talks with Iran are going down to the wire.

Let's get some perspective. We have CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of "Quartz," Mr. Bobby Ghosh, and Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst and former commanding general of the U.S. Europe and 7th Army.

Gentlemen, thank you.

Let's put up the map. Let's take a look at Yemen and see how it's divided right now. This is the country and these are the different parts.

Bobby, take it through -- take me through the complexities here.

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, what you have inside going on inside Yemen is a civil war and ordinarily, the rest of the world wouldn't care. It's a civil war taking place, there are grievances, the Shiite community, which makes 30 percent of the population has grievances against the majority.

We shouldn't care. Except for two things, one is that there's a very large al Qaeda presence as you see there, that orange belt, and has been for a while. This is the most dangerous al Qaeda franchise. And all the other Arab countries worry because there's an Iranian presence. The Iranians are supporting with men, materiel, money, the Houthis.

So these outsiders, if you like, are bringing this conflict into a kind of geopolitical stage. What happened overnight was not just Saudi Arabia, 10 countries participated in this campaign, entirely from the air, with a little naval exercise as well. The United States, it would appear, is offering support and intelligence.

So, a lot of people are suddenly interested in this tiny, deeply, deeply poor country that only a month ago nobody was paying any attention to.

CUOMO: Now, everybody is paying attention to it, and Bobby, as you raised with good reason.

So, General, when we look at the situation from a military perspective and why it matters so much to the U.S., you have coached us in the past saying this could become a devil's playground. It could become an open field for terrorist organizations to come, combine and organize.

And put up the next map, its proximity to other areas of interest. It's obviously contiguous to Saudi Arabia. You have Iran right there, Egypt within reach, Israel within reach.

So, militarily, what is the challenge to secure U.S. interests?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, two factors, Chris, and yes, it does become a devil's playground with the number of different forces involved here. You have, as Bobby said, the Al Qaeda, ISIS potentially, Shia militias.

But more importantly, the geopolitical aspect of this, Yemen has an 1,100-mile border with Saudi Arabia. They are extremely concerned about the expanding influence of Iran in their neighborhood. They've seen it in other countries, and they don't want that southern border in Saudi Arabia to be threatened by first of all a destabilized Yemeni government, but also by a bunch of Shia rebels that are getting reinforced from Iran.

[06:55:06] So, this is becoming not only increasingly important to Saudi Arabia, but as they've exercised the attempt to get other Gulf cooperation council members, six other members that are part of that one, Oman is staying out of this. But the Saudis claimed that they have 10 countries contributing to this operation. Most of them countries with Sunni populations.

CUOMO: Now, to stay with you, General. Is this one of the reasons that the White House keeps saying you know these talks with Iran are about nukes, but they're about a lot more, too? And Congress with their letter, they were ignoring that. People who are just being completely open to the Israeli position are ignoring that. Do you believe that's legitimate?

HERTLING: Chris, absolutely. I mean, this is critically important.

And, you know, we look at the talks with Iran as being part of this five-nation engagement with Iran to try to get rid of nuclear weapons. What other countries in the Middle East are saying is that an increasingly, an increasingly important role being played by regional power and that is Iran. They're very concerned. And they're watching very closely.

There are a lot of countries -- I mean Israel, Mr. Netanyahu has captured the attention of the world by saying he's concerned about what's happening in our negotiations with Iran. But I guarantee you, knowing this area very well, there are many other countries that are watching what we're doing with Iran and they're afraid that we're giving away the farm.

CUOMO: Or, on the other side, Bobby, is it a reason to be at the table with Iran? If they are funding the Houthi rebels, if they are certainly when they had their last president, the most outspoken and desirous of destroying Israel -- if they are driving what's going on in Iraq against ISIS, isn't it good to be at the table?

GHOSH: Yes, it is, but none of those issues are on the table.

CUOMO: Do we know that?

GHOSH: The only issue on the table -- well, the framework off the discussion is to discuss the nukes, it's not to discuss Iran's role in all of these other sort of destabilizing things going on in the Middle East. It's not there to discuss Iran's support of Hezbollah, Iran's support of Hamas, Iran's support of Shiite militias in Yemen, in Iraq, in Syria, Iran's support of Bashar al-Assad.

Iran is sort of has its fingers in a lot of pies, but the conversation that's taking place in Switzerland is only about nukes. That is what all the other Arab states are very concerned about. They're saying that what you're doing is you're offering Iran a get out of jail free pass. If they just give up their nukes. You're not putting them to the test for all of these other things. You're offering them the opportunity to get their hands on more money, if all of these economic sanctions are lifted.

What are they going to do with that money? They're going to turn that money against us. They're going to finance all of this activity.

CUOMO: General, final beat, how urgent to U.S. interests is the situation in Yemen? And how urgent is the situation we're seeing develop where the Iraqi militias are asking for U.S. help less and less, presumably because they're getting more and more help from Iraq?

HERTLING: Well, to answer the first question, Yemen is critically important, it's a lynchpin, Chris. It's not only linked to our allies, the Saudis, but it's also critical to the rest of the region as we've just explained.

I think you're beginning to see and this will be of gathering importance in the next few days, the Iraqis are now coming back to us after what has happened in Tikrit. They are now saying hey, we can't finish the deal without the help from the U.S. and we're increasingly now being asked for airstrikes within the Tikrit area.

So, I think that's fading a little bit. The early proclamations of victory by the Shia militias, especially the ones backed by Iran, they realize they can't get it done without our help completely. Without precision strikes, so that's going to be teetering for a while.

But all of this is extremely important. And Chris, what I'd say is I'm an amateur historian. This reminds me a lot of what happened in World War I, about 100 years ago, to this day, where there were small things that all contributed to a much bigger thing. We're seeing the same kind of activity now in the Middle East that we saw in Sarajevo, and it will take a small element to torch all this off.

CUOMO: Well, let's hope that we learn from the lessons of the past.

General Hertling, thank you very much. Bobby Ghosh, as always.

This is a big story for you this morning. There's a lot of news, though. So, let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: One of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit, according to the "New York Times."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There should have been two people in the cockpit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The security measures work too well if it protected the cockpit to keep the bad guy in and the good guys out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why wasn't there two people in the cockpit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saudi Arabia launching airstrikes against Houthi rebels.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The decision by Saudi Arabia to intervene like this with 100 warplanes they say. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Formally charge Sergeant Bergdahl with desertion

and misbehavior before the enemy.

CUOMO: Were the five Taliban prisoners we swapped worth it for a deserter?

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. We want to welcome our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. This is NEW DAY.