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New Day

NYT: Pilot Locked Out of Cockpit Before Crash; Three Americans on Doomed French Alps Flight; Saudi Arabia Launches Military Operations in Yemen; U.S. Launches Airstrikes Over Tikrit. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired March 26, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:09] ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY, with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

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

And we begin with breaking news. "The New York Times" reporting that one of the pilots on Germanwings Flight 9525 got locked out of the cockpit and can be heard trying to break back in during the critical minutes before the plane slammed into a mountain in the French Alps.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: How do they know? This was all captured on the voice recorder as the plane was descending rapidly. This stunning development comes as investigators are still trying to piece together clues from the debris. Families of the victims preparing to board a plane in Barcelona and head to the crash site in France.

CNN is covering this story from every angle. Let's begin with Erin McLaughlin near the crash site in the French Alps.

Erin, what's the latest?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Chris. Well, here are more questions than answers as work continues here in the French Alps. All morning choppers full of investigators have been leaving the staging area you see just behind me for the crash site. There, they're working to recover human remains, as well as to try to figure out what happened to Flight 9525, after all the reports out of what they found on the cockpit voice recorders are chilling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Stunning new details this morning in the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. According to media reports, one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit when the plane crashed into the side of this mountain high in the French Alps. All of the 150 people on board, including school-aged children and two infants, presumed dead.

"The New York Times" cites a senior military official involved in examining audio evidence from the cockpit voice recorder. This official says, before the plane's rapid descent, one of the pilots left the cockpit and was unable to get back in.

The paper quotes this investigator as saying, "The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door, and there is no answer. And then he hits the door, stronger. No answer. There is never an answer." He says, "You can hear he is trying to smash the door down." The chilling report deepening the mystery of why this plane crashed.

MATTHEW L. WALD, FORMER "NEW YORK TIMES" AVIATION SAFETY EXPERT: This is likely to become clearer when we have the other black box.

MCLAUGHLIN: The lock on the cockpit door is controlled by a lever on the pilot's dashboard. In order to lock the door, someone would have to intentionally move the lever from the normal position into the locked position. The question is who.

MCLAUGHLIN: Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, told CNN they did not have any information about the "Times" report but are looking into it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN: And this morning we are getting more information about the pilots of Flight 9525. According to Lufthansa, the captain had 6,000 hours of flight experience. The co-pilot, less experience with 630 hours. It's not clear who was the one that was locked out of the cockpit.

But authorities here in France not commenting so far on those media reports, though we are expecting a press conference from the French prosecutor in Marseille this hour -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We sure hope that press conference brings to light some of this incredible mystery. Erin, thanks so much for that.

Now, Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, claims to know nothing about those reports of a pilot being locked out of the cockpit. This, as more details of the pilot's experience and history come to light.

So let's get right to Diana Magnay. She's in Germany with more for us -- Diana.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do not today know much about the identities of the pilots and the co-pilot. Germanwings and Lufthansa, both for obvious reasons, really, being tight-lipped about their identities and nationalities.

But we do know that both were men. The pilot had 6,000 hours of flight time behind him. He has been with Germanwings since May of 2014. And prior to that, had flown with Lufthansa and Condor. And we know that the co-pilot had 630 hours of flight time behind him and had trained at the Lufthansa Aviation Center in Bremen, which is where Lufthansa trains most of its pilots. The company's also unwilling to speculate on the arguments, the lines that are coming out from media reports about what went on in the cockpit. But there will be a Germanwings press conference at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Back to you.

CUOMO: Very important press conference indeed. CNN will cover it, of course. Now this is all about the dignity of those who died, 150 people on board Flight 9525. And now we know it went from thinking there were no Americans, to two Americans and now at least three Americans involved. Two of them have been identified by the State Department as a mother and daughter from Virginia.

For the latest on that, let's get to CNN's Erin McPike. She is live in Virginia where that family lives -- Erin.

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, those two women are Yvonne and Emily Selke. And here's how their family friend, Haley Holmes, remembered them on "AC 360" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Is there anything else you want people to know about Emily?

HALEY HOLMES, FRIEND OF EMILY: I think what people need to know about them and what people should know about them is that they were two -- not two Americans on the plane, not a mother and daughter on a plane. But two -- Yvonne and Emily, two amazing, loving people who left behind friends and family who love and miss them a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: Now, Yvonne was a long-time government contractor for Booz Allen. Her daughter, Emily, was a community manager just outside Washington, D.C. Both of their employers issued very heartfelt statements about these two just yesterday.

The family understandably doesn't want to talk. But we do have a brief written statement. I want to read part of that statement to you now. It says, "Our entire family is deeply saddened by the losses of Yvonne and Emily Selke, two wonderful, caring, amazing people who meant so much to so many."

Now, we don't have the identity of the third American just yet.

Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: OK, Erin. Thanks so much for all that.

So what are we to make of all of the mysterious developments overnight? Let's ask Richard Quest. He's our CNN aviation correspondent.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Good morning. And Tom Fuentes, CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director.

OK, Richard, I want to start with you. QUEST: yes.

CAMEROTA: We were operating under the assumption yesterday that the pilots had become incapacitated somehow. Now that you've heard this "New York Times" report, which has not been confirmed by the airlines, by the way. This is from an unnamed senior investigator, we're told, that one of the pilots, it sounds like, from the cockpit voice recorder, got outside of the cockpit and couldn't get back in. Now what's your theory?

QUEST: Well, the theory really falls into one of two categories: either a medical emergency inside, which meant that the pilot who was remaining inside the cockpit was incapacitated and the other one couldn't get back in again because the door had been locked, either intentionally or otherwise.

Or a nefarious, that one inside the cockpit had locked the door and was determined to keep the other one outside.

There is an override procedure. The problem with the medical theory, which I -- which I went for initially, is that -- is the descent. To actually initiate that smooth descent, that smooth regular descent, but to do it because you'd fallen on the controls, is somewhat extraordinary.

CAMEROTA: Because the plane would be...

QUEST: It would have been -- if he'd fallen on the controls and pushed the side stick forward, the descent would have been much greater than a -- than a steep, but consistent 3,000 foot a minute.

CAMEROTA: And theoretically, the plane would have been in autopilot and that would have kept it level, Richard?

QUEST: The plane was always on auto pilot. Even if you manage to change the configuration, it can remain in autopilot. There are ways in which you would come out of autopilot we don't need to get into.

But the gist of it is, looking at "The New York Times" article, as it stands, it would suggest it either -- leans more towards the nefarious option.

CAMEROTA: OK. Tom, do you agree with that theory, that given what we know now, you have to -- it raises the specter, at least, of terrorism or something intentional?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I agree, Alisyn, that it's something intentional. I think the medical explanation requires too many other coincidences, as well. That you simultaneously have somebody have a medical problem as the captain or the co-pilot leaves the cockpit. And also disengage the lock mechanism so the person can't get back in. Also change the trajectory of the plane to start descending. All three at one time, I think, is a pretty spectacular number of coincidences to happen.

So it does sound like, if the article is true, you know -- and we don't know that yet for sure. But if it turns out to be true, that somebody locked the other person out of the cockpit and intended to crash that plane.

CAMEROTA: Richard.

QUEST: Tom raises such a good point, if the article is true. And that is why I suspect, in the next few hours, it's going -- you know, in the old days they wouldn't bother to tell you. They'd say wait for the report. But if this cat is now out of the bag, and we don't know, then they're going to have to address it sooner rather than later.

CAMEROTA: Why? Doesn't did become a criminal investigation? If, in fact this was intentional, it becomes a criminal investigation, and then they don't release any information after that.

QUEST: No, no, no, no. The police even in criminal investigations will have to give you some basic facts. The man was shot, the man fell off the roof, the man, whatever happened. Someone was there. You know, this becomes a completely different environment.

If this story is true, we are dealing with a case that -- the like of which we've never seen before. Yes, there's Silk Air, and yes, there's Egypt Air. And in both of those cases the reports said one thing and everybody else said something else. Or that there were two conflicting views.

But in this case, for a major European carrier to have had something like this happen, this is out of all league.

CAMEROTA: Tom, do we know anything so far about the pilots and their background? And how will investigators go about figuring out their mindset?

FUENTES: Well, the investigators will be talking to everybody that knows them, talked to them. The emails that they sent. Any social media. Often, if someone is suicidal, they'll stop caring for themselves; they'll stop grooming themselves correctly in the preceding two or three days, kind of give up caring how they look or how they act.

So there are some signs of that. But you know, I'd like to create or correct the misperception, the criminal investigation or the possibility of terrorism or crime or suicide is something that the authorities start with right at the beginning. They don't wait until other things are ruled out. Because other things might not be ruled out for months or even years.

So that goes on simultaneously until the facts determine that it shouldn't be. And then they can rule it out and say, OK, for sure, now we know this was a mechanical problem. But they can't wait to start the criminal investigation until that's a certainty.

CAMEROTA: Richard, there seems to be a discrepancy, not a discrepancy, a big difference between the amount of experience the pilot had and the co-pilot had. One had 6,000 hours of flight experience. The other had 600 hours of flight experience. Does that mean anything?

QUEST: No, no, it means nothing. I mean, you know, everybody has to start somewhere. And you would expect to see a junior -- you would expect to see a very junior -- and it is, 650 hours, that's at the lower end of expectations, but everybody starts somewhere. A very junior first officer sitting next to a senior, more experienced captain. And as the first officer is raising up his number of hours. So I'm not concerned by that disparity.

But it is a junior first officer, working for a low-cost carrier, which is exactly what you see in aviation these days. They get their experience, because they're paid less in low-cost carriers.

CAMEROTA: Last, it would sure be helpful to find the flight data recorder. Now that the voice recorder has come out and apparently reportedly shows this conversation or attempt at a conversation between one of the pilots and the other one who was unresponsive. If the data recorder could get information, couldn't that -- wouldn't that hold the clues?

QUEST: Completely. First of all we would need to know much more about what's on the cockpit voice recorder. We've been given a snippet. We need to know what was before, after and in the middle. But the flight data recorder will tell us how that descent was initiated.

CAMEROTA: Will it tell us if the cockpit was locked?

QUEST: That, I don't know. I'll be quite up front about that. I do not know whether the parameters of the cockpit door are part of those of the A-320. No doubt, somebody will be telling me even before we're off air.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, intentionally locked, by the way. Richard Quest, Tom Fuentes, thanks so much for helping us navigate through this mystery. Nice to see you. We'll check back in with you.

Let's get over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to turn to breaking developments out of Yemen. Saudi Arabia launching airstrikes against Houthi rebels there with help from Gulf Arab allies, Egypt and Jordan. The U.S. is also providing some support. Meanwhile, Iran is demanding a stop to the Saudi action, which comes at a very delicate time for Iran on the world stage.

CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins us live with the latest -- Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, the chaos that's been engulfing Yemen for months has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, on a regional scale, in just the last few hours.

The Houthi rebels, who are predominantly Shia, backed by Iran, have swept across the country. They kicked President Hadi out of Sanaa, the capital. He fled to the south, to Aden, the port city there. There are reports, unconfirmed, he may have fled the country.

But at this stage, the Saudis have taken it upon themselves to militarily intervene, worried about a pro-Iranian group taking control of a long country along their southern border.

Their airstrikes, they say, involve 100 warplanes, three or four other nations in the Gulf, suggestions the Egyptians may militarily be involved, as well. It's a stark moment. There are suggestions that civilian casualties from the strikes. And there are, of course, the United States providing intelligence and even targeting information, we understand, towards their key ally, Saudi Arabia.

This does potentially drag Saudi into a proxy war with that Houthi, pro-Iranian group in Yemen right now. It has a severe consequence for what's happening in the Middle East right now. The Shia-Sunni conflict we see in so many countries now. And for the U.S., this is highly significant, because Yemen, enswirled in chaos now, is a key hotbed of al Qaeda, who have sworn to attack the United States and potentially ISIS, as well. A very troubling development for the region as a whole -- Michaela.

CUOMO: I'll take it, Nick. So many tentacles reaching out of the situation in Yemen. Certainly, for the U.S., right to where Nick is now in Afghanistan.

And what else do we know about the U.S. situation right now? They are going to get involved in the fight to retake Tikrit from ISIS. President Obama says the U.S. will launch airstrikes there in an effort to aid Iraqi forces. We have CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon live in Baghdad with the latest -- Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Chris, those airstrikes have begun. A dozen or so launched overnight, these happening at the request of the Iraqi government, Tikrit a battlefield that America has by and large stayed out of.

Why? Because the flight there is being led by this predominantly Shia force made up of militias, volunteers. Sure, there are Iraqi security forces there. But the Iranian-backed force definitely at the forefront.

This request coming specifically from the Iraqi government due to we are being told, the dynamics on the ground. The realities that that fighting force faced as they tried to recapture Tikrit from ISIS, finding the ISIS fighters deeply entrenched within buildings and the Iraqi air force capabilities lacking when it comes to the precision airstrikes that are needed to allow the ground troops to advance.

This, however, does further complicate an already very murky situation, because you do have Iranian advisers on the ground, Iranian military commanders fighting alongside, advising those Iraqi troops as they advance, as well. And now you have American airstrikes taking place.

Apparently, the U.S. has received a promise from the Iraqis that the sensitive intelligence being used will not be shared with the Iranians, but there is the potential to even further complicate and enhance tensions on the ground at this stage, because that predominantly Shia Iranian-backed militia has said it does not want or need U.S. support.

CAMEROTA: OK. Arwa, thanks so much for that update. So many things happening around the world.

CUOMO: That's actually a good development there, though, because Arwa is right: because of the Iranian influence, there had been less requests for U.S. help. That's dangerous to the relationship. Now with these renewed airstrikes, that emboldens the U.S. position there.

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, stick around for more on that.

Plus, much more ahead on these stunning reports that one of the pilots on Flight 9525 was locked out of the cockpit as the plane went down in the French Alps. Three Americans were on board that doomed flight. So we will speak to a good friend of one of those victims next.

CUOMO: And to help understand this, we're also going to go inside a flight simulator to see what such a terrifying descent into the mountains would look like from the plane.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:21:19] PEREIRA: New -- new levels of uncertainty today in the Flight 9525 crash, as "The New York Times" reports one of the pilots was apparently locked out of the cockpit during the deadly descent.

This is just another blow to family and friends hoping for answers about what brought down that jet, taking the lives of their loved ones.

We're going to turn to one of them now. Shawn Wilson is a friend and business colleague of Emily Selke, one of the Americans who lost her life aboard that flight.

First of all, Shawn, thank you for being here. I know this is difficult, but we desperately wanted to talk to you about one of these people that were on the plane. And they're not just a statistic. This is somebody that was known and loved and part of a community and part of a workplace. She was your work colleague, correct?

SHAWN WILSON, FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE OF EMILY SELKE: She was, absolutely. She started working with us back in 2014, the very beginning of the year, and it's been an amazing year and a half so far.

PEREIRA: She works at a community manager at Carwork Places there in Alexandria, Virginia, where you join us from. How you did you learn the news?

WILSON: Well, I mean, it truly brings to light the power of social media. One of our team members who worked very closely every single day, Mary Leslie, was able to bring it to Britney and my attention yesterday morning, that she saw the information on social media, on Emily's Facebook page. And so, it was a difficult way to learn about such a tragedy. But it really does show the power of social media.

PEREIRA: A difficult way. But then again, I don't know how you can ever receive this news well.

Talk to me about your office. Obviously, a small office, you often become like family to one another. She was a new-ish employee there, worked there for about a year and a half. How did you all manage to get together around this news? I imagine the boss had something to say. What did he say to you?

WILSON: Well, obviously, this is something that you can never prepare for. As you said, we are a small office right there in Alexandria. There are three team members, and I being the regional manager. We worked very closely on a daily basis together. But on a bigger scale, we have 18 locations just in the D.C. metro area alone, outside of Old Town, as well as 35 across the country.

PEREIRA: So a lot of people knew her?

WILSON: Yes. A lot of people knew her, and she made a big impression, even though she didn't always deal with everybody on a daily basis.

PEREIRA: Do you know what took Emily and her mom Yvonne to Europe?

WILSON: They were on a personal trip.

PEREIRA: And had -- they were midway through their travels? Or do you know anything about their itinerary?

WILSON: I don't know their itinerary. But I do believe that they were almost halfway through the trip.

PEREIRA: You know, I was thinking about the fact that there's really no manual or set way or perfect way to handle this kind of news and handle the loss of somebody so young taken in such an instant, in such a devastating and violent fashion. Talk to me about how you're processing this. Because it's hard to reckon with, is it not?

WILSON: It -- very. I mean, you hear about these things on the news, unfortunately, more regularly than we would ever hope for. But it -- it finally is real, and you actually know somebody that this has happened to.

And I think for us, it was all about making sure that we come together as a family, not only within our team members at Car Workplaces, but also the community that we establish with our clients. And the outpouring of love has been amazing. And we just want to remember Emily for everything that she offered to us and every person and life that she touched on a daily basis.

PEREIRA: Go ahead and tell me a little bit about your friend.

WILSON: She literally was the light in the room. One of the things when I talked with Britney and Mary Leslie in great detail yesterday about how wonderful she was, was the idea that we literally laughed every single day. She was amazing at creating personal relationships, not only with her team members, but also with the community that we have at Car Workplaces within her center.

[07:25:18] And I think that, you know, she came to us to grow with us. But we have grown with her, as well.

PEREIRA: Yes.

WILSON: And so she taught us many, many things. But most importantly, just that life is short, so why not smile and laugh and make the most of it?

PEREIRA: It sounds like we lost a little bit more light in the world with her passing. Let me ask you, are you watching the news or do you find that you can't bear it?

WILSON: I will watch only a couple minutes, and then I just have to turn it off. It's something where you want to get the information, but at the same time, it creates even more real.

So for me, it's really been about staying focused on, you know, the true mission, which is commemorating Emily and her life. And so, you know, as these pieces continue to unfold, we will just continue to memorialize her and the great person that she was.

PEREIRA: Not to be maudlin, but I can imagine it feels very empty when you walk by her desk and see that it's unoccupied.

WILSON: Yes. And again, the outpouring that we have received from clients has been amazing.

PEREIRA: I'm so glad.

WILSON: And they are grieving, as well.

PEREIRA: They are. And again, you know, this is -- this is one face, an American face. Her mother, Yvonne, was lost in this tragedy. There was another American that was lost. And we know in total 150 people lost their lives on that flight in the French Alps in this flight. So this story has been repeated, sadly, in many locations, 15 different nations.

We want to say thank you to you, Shawn, for doing this. It's brave and it's difficult, but I know that maybe this will help you mourn your friend.

WILSON: Thank you for having me.

PEREIRA: Our pleasure. Chris.

CUOMO: Finding out who they were, finding out what happened on that plane, all part of maintaining the dignity of the dead. Mick, you are right to point that out.

So what exactly do we know about what happened inside the cockpit of Flight 9525? It has been reported things that were heard, things that were said, and that information is raising questions. Some make sense; some don't. We have answers ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)