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Time Running Out as Oxygen Dwindles on Lost Sub; Indian Prime Minister Modi Arrives at White House for State Visit; Biden Rolls Out Red Carpet for Far-Right Indian Prime Minister Modi for a Visit Fraught with Trade-Offs. Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired June 22, 2023 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:00:00]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this is a live look at the White House right now, the red carpet rolling out. A historic state visit happening this hour, President Biden welcoming India's prime minister to the White House. You see Mark Milley right there. You see other members of the cabinet and the president's -- and the White House. Well, you also see vice president there. I saw the secretary of state, Tony Blinken, there as well.
Very interesting because they are rolling out the red carpet as India's prime minister is about to arrive at the White House at the very same time, there is controversy around it. Some members of the president's own party are boycotting this visit.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We are also watching for significant rulings from the Supreme Court. This morning's decisions could be made on anything from affirmative action to LGBTQ rights to immigration rules. We're expecting two to three rulings. The justices expected to issue some opinions on some of those key cases. We are following all of this right here on CNN News Central.
BOLDUAN: So, it has become a massive search effort that we've been covering, obviously out in the North Atlantic Ocean for that lost Titan sub. Right now, at least one remote operated vehicle, known as an ROV, has reached the ocean floor, says the Coast Guard, and has begun its search. That search is growing more desperate, as, of course, experts believe that the men on board will likely run out of oxygen today.
SIDNER: Several vessels are playing a major role in this urgent search. We just learned that medical personnel are moving to the search site now. They're joining a group of Coast Guard and research vessels that are already there in the area.
BOLDUAN: CNN has also learned that there were numerous safety concerns raised about the OceanGate vessel years ago, including questions about the thickness of the sub's hull and also some previous battery issues. Industry leaders had previously voiced unease about what's been described as the company's experimental approach. One travel firm accused OceanGate of not having a seaworthy vessel. SIDNER: So what would it be like for the passengers on board? Officials believe the five people inside the sub have limited food and water as well as limited oxygen. A former submarine captain says there is likely frost on the inside of the sub and there is no heating device. So, it's going to be a very uncomfortable situation for the five.
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RYAN RAMSEY, FORMER ROYAL NAVY CAPTAIN: It's not so much the oxygen that everybody talks about that's running out, but it's actually the carbon dioxide that ends up being the killer. You're breathing out carbon dioxide in a small -- five people in a small submersible, all breathing out carbon dioxide with no ability to remove that carbon dioxide for this length of time becomes the problem.
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BOLDUAN: CNN's Miguel Marquez is in St. John's, Newfoundland, with the very latest. Miguel, what is the latest that you're picking up about the search effort underway?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, the window of opportunity to find them is closing and the urgency, the amount of gear and the amount of activity is picking up to a very high degree. There are two ROVs in the water now, one U.S. ROV at the seafloor, looking physically to try to find this submersible.
The concern is, or the problem is, is that one would expect an emergency beacon on the submersible to be indicating its location. They are not hearing that, and that is of great concern. They have heard these sounds, perhaps banging, perhaps something else, but it sounds manmade that they're trying to zero in on. That little sliver of hope is where they have focused most of their resource right now. There is a second submersible that is about three or four hours into a dive. It takes about 8 hours to get down to that depth. It is going there now.
Behind me is the Atlantic Kingfisher, another ship that will take -- we believe will take a deep water salvage gear that's sitting at the airport on a C-17 right now, a very big U.S. military cargo plane. They're going to get it down here and then that will go out to the search area as well. But keep in mind it takes a good 20 hours or so to get out there.
With regard to the oxygen, yes, there's concerns about carbon dioxide. They do have scrubbers on board that if they can operate them, they can keep enough oxygen going if they have the oxygen. P.H. Nargeolet, who's a very experienced oceanographer, is also on board. Everybody who knows him and knows how he operates says his first instinct would be to conserve oxygen, would have had everybody either sleeping or very, very calm, as calm as possible.
It is dark. If they are alive, it is dark. It is cold. They are facing enormous odds. But there is still hope among search and rescuers that this is a search and rescue and they will not stop until they definitively figure out what has happened to the Titan. Back to you.
SIDNER: Have they given any indication of how long that ROV can stay on the ocean floor there looking for this vessel?
[10:05:02]
MARQUEZ: It's a remotely-operated vehicle. So, many hours, it can be down there. And, presumably, what they will do is once they get down to this area, it's not clear how close this is to the Titanic wreck site. There's always the possibility that the Titan got tied up in Titanic wreckage as well, which may complicate things. But they would establish a pattern, a grid to search. Then the second sub would come down. It would then take over for the first sub, and they would basically do that.
It's the same thing they've been doing from the air with the C-130s and the Poseidon aircraft. One goes out, searches, comes back, the other one goes out, searches, and they have just searched massive areas. There is the possibility that this sub is still bobbing on the surface somewhere. So, all of this trying to get to it, because they are running out of time. Back to you.
SIDNER: Thank you so much, Miguel Marquez.
Joining us now is oceanographer marine policy specialist and retired U.S. Navy Captain Don Walsh. Don, thank you for being here.
I have a question for you. I know that there is some sort of beacon, but why isn't there something like a black box on this kind of vehicle that might help find the submersible?
DON WALSH, OCEANOGRAPHER: Well, normally what we carry aboard manned submersibles are acoustic beacons, which can be activated by the crew inside, or an emergency situation will self-activate under certain circumstances. For example, when the main batteries, the main electrical power on the sub goes below a certain level, indicating a discharge, it will activate the beacon.
And other submersibles have a beacon that can be released from the sub and it floats to the surface and it will have a radio electronic link to satellite through the mothership strobe light on it so you can see it flashing at sea. But my understanding is that the Triton had none of that -- the Titan, I'm sorry, the Titan had none of that. And so it's problematic how they're going to find it.
Now, your previously reporter indicated that there is an ROV on the bottom searching. ROVs are a lousy search platform. Once you have a chart and know where something is or you're very close to it, then the ROV is the thing you want, because you can leave it down there almost indefinitely because it's powered up from the surface. They have sonars on board. They can detect the target if you're close enough.
So, you do what you've got. But right now, it isn't optimal. And, of course, if the life support is scheduled to run out sometime this morning, then that's an additional problem. BOLDUAN: Tim Taylor, a deepwater search expert, he told me earlier in the show that he thought the ROVs should have been on site four days ago. Of course, he says they should have been on standby support kind of vessel and should have been in a perfect world, it would have been, four days ago, when the sub first went missing. What do you think about that? What difference could that have made in this regard?
WALSH: Well, I know Tim, and he's a real expert on all of this, and he's right. But it's a cost factor. Remember, it's a private business. Having an ROV of that capability, 12,000 feet, on site, standing by with the ship available would be extremely costly. And I think what comes through is OceanGate was trying to do everything in the most economical way possible. So, they just would not pay for that kind of standby.
BOLDUAN: Don, thank you so much. I just have to jump in because we -- I am so sorry to interrupt, but we need to head back to Washington, back to the White House, as you're seeing live pictures right now of President Biden and the first lady welcoming the prime minister of India to the White House as the state visit kicks off. Let's just listen in for just a moment, though we likely won't hear much other than cheers, but let's listen in.
SIDNER (voice over): You can hear people chanting, Modi, Modi, Modi. That's for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is there shaking Tony Blinken's hand, the secretary of state --
BOLDUAN (voice over): (INAUDIBLE) his wife, who's a high ranking official within the administration as well, and the secretary of defense. You can just see the whole gathering, kind of the show of force in the welcoming party for the prime minister as this begins, Sara.
[10:10:03]
SIDNER (voice over): You also get a sense of how popular he is. You can see some Indian-Americans prominent there who are taking pictures and chanting his name. This is a really important visit, a very significant visit. And they are literally pulling out all of the stops.
BOLDUAN (voice over): And it's just showing how significant this visit is. You don't normally have them, the leaders, making remark marks upon the arrival at the White House, but let's listen in because it does look like that's exactly -- first, they're going to take pictures and then that's exactly what we were going to see. Let's listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- of India, followed by the national anthem of the United States.
SIDNER (voice over): Okay. So, they're going to play the national anthem of India and then they will play the U.S. national anthem. I just want to remark on the large crowd that is there, many of those folks in Saris as traditional clothing in India. I want to go now to Arlette Saenz who is there listening to all this and watching the spectacle that is happening. Tell us the significance of this. This does not happen for every visit from a foreign power.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): No. And this is only the third state visit that President Biden has hosted since he is in office. And it comes as the president is really trying to bolster the relationship with India, even as this trip does have some fraught issues around it. There are concerns about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's human rights record and also this drift towards authoritarianism that has been seen in his country.
But on the other hand, the president and this White House really view Modi as a key ally, especially in their strategy regarding Asia and when you think of their efforts to try to counter Russia's aggressive moves and also the influence of China in the region.
Now, the president has faced some criticism for giving Modi such a lavish state visit a ceremony. There are some within his own party who have pressed the president to make sure that he speaks out about human rights. There are other members of Congress who will actually be boycotting Modi's address when he speaks to them a bit later today.
But, ultimately, the White House views this visit as an effort to try to deepen their ties with one of the major relationships that they believe will be a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy in the coming century.
BOLDUAN (voice over): Let's listen in.
SIDNER (voice over): All right. We are going to -- as we listen to the music, we're going to bring in David Chalian. As we continue to look at these remarkable pictures of the visit of prime minister from India, Narendra Modi, and President Biden, David, can you give us a sense of why this is so significant and what you're seeing here compared to other visits of other leaders of other countries who have come to the U.S.?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR (voice over): Well, this visit, Sara, is clearly every box is being checked. Literally, the red carpet was rolled out. You saw there as they emerged out of the diplomatic reception room there onto the South Lawn of the White House.
But in addition to this, all the pomp and circumstance you see here on the south lawn of an official welcome ceremony, they had a private dinner last night at the White House, the two leaders did. The Indian Prime Minister is going to be addressing a joint meeting of Congress later today.
[10:15:02]
That's not afforded to every visiting world leader. We'll see the two leaders, Biden and Modi, in a joint press conference. And that clearly was a key demand on the White House side because, as Arlette was explaining, Joe Biden finds himself in a position that many U.S. presidents have found themselves in, which is, you are the champion for democracy on the world stage.
Joe Biden has talked about this battle between autocracy and democracy. And yet, because of strategic, necessary reasons, you need this relationship with somebody who is under great criticism for not leaning into democratic principles, but leaning a little bit more to the autocratic side in terms of how they are dealing with opponents in India, how they deal with the press, with Muslim Indians.
And so while Joe Biden portrays himself as this champion of democracy and arguing against the backsliding that we see globally in democratic principles, it's this necessary relationship, as Arlette was explaining, because of its position with Russia, its position with China, and the U.S. wants India's involvement to help aid its causes there, that sometimes you get strange bedfellows here, and this is one of those days.
BOLDUAN (voice over): Absolutely. And Ivan Watson is joining us as well. And, Ivan, the president's national security adviser said that the relationship with India is one of the defining relationships of the 21st century. But the history between of Modi and the United States is a fascinating one in and of itself, I mean, denied entry back in 2005 to the United States over his alleged role in anti-Muslim violence in India. Talk to me more about that relationship.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Right. I mean, well, it's incredible what a difference a decade makes because Modi was denied a visa to the U.S. by the State Department.
SIDNER (voice over): Ivan Watson, I'm so sorry to interrupt you. I know you have great information but let's listen to the president of the United States speaking right now.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: -- 21st century, two proud nations, two proud nations whose love of freedom secured our independence bound by the same words in our Constitution. The first three words, we the people, the enduring ties and shared values between our people and the shared responsibility as global leaders to tackle the great issues of our time together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: I'm honored to be the first to have you here in 15 years. The United States is honoring and hosting an official visit to the Republic of India. Prime Minister Modi. Welcome back to the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: We spent a lot of time we spent a lot of time together going back to when I was vice president and you had just become prime minister. And since and since I've become president, we've continued a relationship built on mutual trust, candor and respect. The challenges and opportunities facing the world in this century require that India and the United States work and lead together, and we are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE). BIDEN: With your partnership, we've invigorated and elevated the quad between the United States, India, Australia and Japan to advance our vision of a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
[10:20:09]
Decades from now, people will look back and say the quad bent the arc of history toward global good, as the prime minister describes it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: Together, India and the United States are working closely on everything, from ending poverty and expanding access to health care, to addressing climate change, to tackling food and energy insecurity stoked by Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: We made critical and emerging technologies the pillar of our next generation partnership to ensure that these technologies promote and protect our values, remain open, accessible and trusted and secure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: All this matters for America, for India, and for the world. We face an inflection, one of those moments that only come around every several generations. When so much is changing technologically, politically, socially and environmentally, that the decisions we make today are going to determine our future for decades to come.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: And as democracies, we can better tap into the full talent of all of our people and attract investments as true and trusted partners as leading nations with our great greatest export being the power of our example, equity under the law, freedom of expression, religious pluralism and diversity of our people. These core principles have endured and evolved even as they have faced challenges throughout each of our nation's histories and will fuel our strength, depth and future.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: And they form a special bond among our nations forged by the special bond among our people based on values that are universal, a duty to family and elders, treating all people with respect and dignity, a premium on education and creativity, self-discipline, hard work, entrepreneurship, faith and service to community, courage and resilience and tolerance and opportunity for all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
[10:25:07]
BIDEN: I've seen this dynamism of my visits to India. I see it in Indian-American Diaspora that reflects every part of American life and remains a bridge between our nations and only grows stronger with each generation. We see it with record numbers of Indian-Americans serving in the United States Congress. We see it here at the White House, where proud Americans and Indians heritage serve our country every day, including our Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: The granddaughter, the proud granddaughter of Indian civil servant, daughter of an Indian student turned American scientist who came to the United States when she's only 19 years old to pursue her dream of curing cancer, a family like so many of ours in our nation that speaks to the thousand stories of determination, courage and hope.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
BIDEN: Stories that define the relationship and the limitless possibilities between the United States and India, two great nations, two great friends, two great powers that can define the course of the 21st century.
Mr. Prime. Minister, thank you for your partnership and I'll turn it over to you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Distinguished guests, the prime minister of the Republic of India.
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: (INAUDIBLE) Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, distinguished guests (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
Thank you, President Biden, for your friendship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Biden. First lady Dr. Jill Biden, distinguished guests, friends from the Indian-American community filled with energy and excitement, a very good morning to all of you.
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to President Biden for his warm welcome and his farsighted speech. Thank you, President Biden, for your friendship.
MODI: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
[10:30:09]
