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New Day

Aircraft Debris and Missing Malaysian Airliner Discussed; Trump Campaign Examined. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 30, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's been an agonizing ordeal for the families aboard MH-370 filled with false alarms, poor communication. The families today understandably anxious but weary about this new major development that could finally give them some answers. We're to speak with a woman whose partner was on board that flight, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: The breaking news investigators racing to Reunion Island near Madagascar to see if a piece of debris that washed up could be from missing Malaysian Airline Flight 370. An Australian official told "New Day" we could find out in the next 24 to 48 hours if the debris is from MH370. The discovery is a significant development. Robyn Kriel is live all the way to Reunion Island with the very latest, Robyn?

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, it is a considerable distance from where the initial search area is just off the coast of Australia. More than 2,000 miles, really, off the coast of western Australia is Reunion Island where we are now where the supposed debris was found. Many people saying that it could be, could, in fact, be the missing MH370 flight that has been one of the biggest aviation mysteries in history.

[07:35:00] Just to give you a bit of detail about that. Australian transport safety officials say it's not inconsistent with drift modeling. That's gyres and currents, so that's what they are expecting. It is within their search area and not inconsistent with the search area they are covering. But it is not an exact science. It has a lot to do with surface currents, wind direction and how an object floats in the water. Here's what we know so far, John.

MH370, the wreckage found, we do not know for sure at this point. The prime minister of Malaysia stating that it is very likely to be the Boeing 777 that's missing. However, it is not confirmed at this stage. The Boeing 777 wing component found. It's the same model as the MH370. Only one Boeing 777 has crashed over water and is still unaccounted for. And that is MH370. Boeing conducting initial assessment of the debris.

Australians analyzing the barnacles on the wing. And France is leading the investigation and it's coordinated by France. That piece of debris is going to be flown to the central - where basically the civil aviation authority of France, BEA, will conduct the tests and inviting Malaysia and Australia to be a part of that. Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robyn, thank you for all the latest from Reunion Island. We appreciate it. The families of those aboard Flight MH370 are looking for answers of what happened to their family members more than 16 months ago.

Sarah Bajc's partner Phillip Wood was among the 239 aboard MH370 and Sarah is joins us now. Sarah, after 500 days to get this news of a likely piece of debris, what was your initial reaction?

SARAH BAJC, PARTNER OF PHILIP WOOD AMERICAN ON BOARD MH370: Well, on the one hand, I really don't want it to be part of 370 because that way we can still keep hope out that it wasn't an ocean crash. But on the other hand, I think we're all pretty exhausted by the process and need a little bit of closure at this point.

PEREIRA: Yes, I can imagine. This is a very trying time. And there have been so many false starts and false claims along the way. I can imagine that you probably want to say or stay cautiously optimistic but somewhat skeptical.

BAJC: Yes, skeptical would be the better word because how can you be optimistic about such confirmation of bad news. But I'm very glad that it's in French territory because at least an independent country without too much skin in the game is looking at it. And they have a set of experience in looking at air crashes as well.

PEREIRA: That's a very good point and want to dig deeper with that. In terms of how you are being updated, I know you have been quite critical over the past year, almost 16 months as we have been saying of how the investigation has been handled. How are they updating you or are they updating you at all? Did you receive news of this possible debris?

BAJC: I did receive an e-mail update from the JACC, that's the Australia investigative group saying that there was an unconfirmed sighting of debris. It came within the last couple of hours. Since the Australians took over, they have done a good job with that kind of paper. Or e-mail format update. But it's usually about a day behind what we see in the news. So I'm not sure how useful it is.

PEREIRA: Well, and I know you've had great concerns about the Malaysian handling of all of this. Just a short time ago the Malaysian prime minister said, and I quote, I promised the families of those lost that whatever happens we won't give up. What is your reaction to that statement from him?

BAJC: I remember Mary Poppins saying that's the pie crust promise, easily made, easily broken. The prime minister of Malaysia has lied about so many things, including money he takes from his own people, that I don't think we should put any credence there. They are the responsible parties for allowing this plane to go missing to start with. They were sleeping on the job and not doing what they should have done. So my hope is that if they do find the crash site ultimately that

there might be evidence to point back and be held accountable.

PEREIRA: They are saying it is very likely it is a Boeing 777 and because of through the process of elimination it's likely because there are no other planes unaccounted for in that area. Confirmation could come we are told here at CNN between 24 to 48 hours. How will you process that time, Sarah, the next 48 hours?

[07:40:00] BAJC: I'm here with - in Atlanta with friends and family. So I can't even answer that other than just to say that at least some news. I mean, this is literally the first thing, the first thing that is of any substance in almost a year and a half. You know, it's astounding to me in this day and age.

PEREIRA: You're not alone in that. You're not alone in that. We feel very much the same way. And I'm really glad you're there with your family. You have some support with you during this time. I almost hate to ask this, Sarah, do you still hold out hope that your partner, Phillip, the love of your life, is still alive?

BAJC: Well, I know it sounds crazy, especially for somebody as logical as me, but you know, in the absence of a body and the absence of even confirmation of a crash, how do you not hold out hope? I mean - how could you just walk away from the potential, however small it is, that some miracle has happened? Stranger things have happened in this world. So, you know, at least a crash confirmation would let us know that the plane was in the water and highly unlikely there would be survivors. So that would give a point of closure. But we still need to find the wreckage and still need to have DNA confirmation.

PEREIRA: And I understand the mixed emotion about that debris. Whether it is wonderful to know that finally there could be closure and wonderful is such a horrible word to use, but I understand the mixed emotions and many of the viewers will, too. Thank you so much on such a hard day. Thank you for joining us today.

BAJC: You're welcome.

PEREIRA: We're going to keep asking those questions. All right, John.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Michaela. Our heart goes out to her. A new poll gives a clear sign that Donald Trump's dominance in the field is changing the race. John King has the latest numbers and new numbers. He'll dig deep, that's coming up "Inside Politics."

[07:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Very busy morning here. So let's get right to "Inside Politics" on "New Day" with John King. Good morning John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alisyn. Let's get right to it to discuss the Trump candidacy. Julie Base and Ron Fournier with the national journal. Donald Trump is driving the republican national race. This is a national poll, 20 percent. Scott walker, 13 percent. Jeb bush at 10 percent. Without a doubt, a lot of us said, come on, is he a serious candidate? At the moment with the first debate a week away, Donald Trump is the driving force in this race. Now I want to get to something. We keep asking controversial statements about immigrants and John McCain. Will something put a dent in his armor?

This is about a real estate case in Florida. Donald Trump was involved in a deposition and the attorney involved was on "New Day" yesterday morning. Donald Trump reacted in an interview with Dana Bash. He's the he said/she said.

ELIZABETH BECK, ATTORNEY WHO DEPOSED DONALD TRUMP: When I said that I needed the break, and it was for breast pumping purposes, he got up, his face got red, he shook his finger at me and he screamed, you're disgusting, you're disgusting, and he ran out of there.

TRUMP: She wanted to breast pump in front of me. And I may have said that's disgusting. I may have said something else. I thought it was terrible. She's a horrible person. Knows nothing about me.

KING: Again, she said/he said. We'll see if there's a stenographer in the room to come out to give their account of what happened here.

RON FOURNIER, NATIONAL JOURNALIST: He confirmed her account.

KING: He confirmed to a degree. He said he didn't blow up or storm out of the room.

FOURNIER: He said I may have said that.

KING: He said, I may have said she's disgusting. But can Donald Trump afford this? Again, we always ask, do the rules apply to him? If the national poll among women, 29 percent view him favorable. 61 percent unfavorable. That's off the charts compared to any other candidate, period. If you look at the two swing States of Iowa and New Hampshire, favorable among women in New Hampshire, 22 percent. 69 percent. unfavorable. It's all voters, not republicans. In Iowa, 27 percent to 63 percent. Very hard to see him, if you look at match-ups against Hillary Clinton right now, he's the weakest. He says he'll beat her, but at the moment on paper he's the weakest republican candidate because of the gender gap.

JULIE PACE, AP WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The short answer is no, he cannot afford that. But yet again, it gets to this idea that the regular rules don't seem to be applying to him in this summer. Now, if you play this out long term, he can possibly win the nomination or presidency if his numbers are like that with women. If his numbers are down with Hispanics, then definitely not.

But this summer he is saying things on other issues that are appealing to a big portion of the republican electorate. And I don't think in the next couple of weeks you're going to see that change much.

FOURNIER: I have a problem in the media. We'll ask if this will have an effect. If it does not have an effect, we say the voters don't care. It's our responsibility to make sure the voters care. If a man looked at a woman, he confirmed it, in a room something that is very natural, he called her a horrible person. He called a respectable lawyer a horrible person. That suggests to me that he's a horrible person and need to hold him accountable because he could be president.

KING: Well, part of his rise in these polls, we saw the conservative base that thinks their leadership has not done anything about this issue of immigration. Listen to this interview with Dana Bash. For a long time he refused to say what he would do with the 11 million undocumented ill gray end immigrants in the United States. Listen to this answer.

TRUMP: I would have an expedited way to get them back into the country so they could be legal.

KING: To the conservative republican base, that's foolish amnesty. You're going to spend millions of dollars to round them up and throw them out and put them at the front of the line to come back in? Can he sell that to the conservative base that right now is his point of support in expedited - just the word, expedited, they say the people round them up and throw them out.

[07:50:00] PACE: Don't let them back in or throw them to the back would be of his position, it's exactly the same as what President Obama and the gang of eight in the senate were pushing, which is if you're here legally now and you don't have a criminal record, you can get back in the country and gain legal status.

FOURNIER: It's a lot more expensive. It's gold plated amnesty. How do you sell that to the right?

KING: This issue of immigration has been quicksand in republican politics for years.

BERMAN: Policy on the fly. Interesting to see. John King, thanks so much.

The mystery surrounding Flight 370 took a significant financial toll on Malaysia airlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Malaysia airlines watched its business really suffer following two major tragedies. With all the news today, where does the airlines stand?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have been in a downward spiral for years now. That was quickly followed by the downing of flight 17 over Ukraine. The airline was pulled from the stock market. Then the company launched a $1.8 billion restructuring plan. That incorporated new routes, putting in new management. Even before the tragedies, Malaysia airlines was really in trouble and had been through several restructures and received billions of dollars from the government. What's next for the company? Well the new CEO says he expects the airline will go public again eventually. The focus is on bringing cost down. And despite the increasing brand loyalty inside Malaysia, there's actually talk of changing the name, which is associated with disaster and tragedy.

[07:55:00] CAMEROTA: We are following major developments in the search for Flight 370. Experts say the debris found is very likely that of a triple 7 airplane.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. It is Thursday July 30th. We begin with breaking news the it is being called a very significant development in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. It appears to be the same type of plane that went missing last March.

PEREIRA: The Malaysian government has dispatched a team to investigate. An Australian official telling CNN she's live in Reunion Island. The only correspondent at the

debris site. Robyn?

KRIEL: Hi there. Yes, from what we understand at the scene there has been a police helicopter flying up and down the surrounding beaches as well as St. Andre where the debris was found yesterday by passersby. Police have been telling locals to please go and look and see if they can find any debris themselves. They are aware of this piece of debris that was washed up to shore yesterday. It was found by people who were cleaning the beach. Let's figure out exactly how that happened.

A possible crucial clue and major lead in the 17 month old mystery of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

TRUSS: This is obviously a very significant development. It's the first real evidence that there is a possibility that a part of the aircraft may have been found.