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Malaysia May Renew Search For Missing Flight MH370; Oregon Lawmakers Vote To Recriminalize Hard Drugs Amid Rising Deaths; Wildfires Devastate Texas Cattle Ranches; NASA & SpaceX Launch New Crew To International Space Station. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired March 04, 2024 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:33:03]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Nearly 10 years after it disappeared, Malaysia may begin a new search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight M.H.370. The Boeing 777 was headed to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur back in 2014 when it mysteriously vanished. Remember, some 239 people were on board,
Since then, debris linked to the plane has washed up along the African coast and various islands. But the aircraft itself has never turned up.
Let's bring in CNN Business editor-at-large, Richard Quest.
Richard, you spent a significant amount of time covering this story. You even wrote a book about it. Why is Malaysia launching a new investigation? And what are they hoping to find?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: They're launching it because the search company, Ocean Infinity, say that they believe that new technologies can help them find it.
Now Ocean Infinity did a search back in 2017, didn't find anything. It's all done on the basis of "no find, no fee." So the financial risk is with Ocean Infinity.
What was interesting in 2017 is that the Malaysian -- the then- Malaysian government refused to renew that contract. This is a new Malaysian government, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
And now Ocean Infinity is coming back. But we don't know what, to be blunt. We don't know why and what and how and why they think they'll do a better job this time than they did in 2017.
SANCHEZ: And, Richard, obviously, this is partly such a huge story because of the mystery of what happened --
QUEST: Right.
SANCHEZ: -- to the flight. And there's also not really one singular accepted version of what actually happened to M.H.370. QUEST: Oh, Boris, don't open that kind of worms.
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QUEST: The reality is -- look, there are those who will condemn the captain. They will absolutely say he went on a suicide mission and took more than 200 people to mass murder down off the Australian coast.
[13:35:06]
And there are those, like me, that say, well, yes, there is that possibility, but the evidence is not there. It cannot yet be conclusively proven.
And so because of the deep water where the plane went down off the Australian coast, tens of thousands of feet deep, it is going to take new technologies, new search mechanisms.
We know the plane went in pretty much intact. We know that from the debris. So we sort of know where it is. Now, you've just got to go and find it.
Which is a very easy way of saying something that has bedeviled the searches and this is the fascinating part, 10 years on. I can't believe it's 10-years.
SANCHEZ: Time flies just like that.
Richard Quest, appreciate the perspective. Thanks so much.
Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: No avoiding cans of worms on that one, I will say.
Right now, the governor of Oregon is weighing whether to sign a bill that would radically transform how the state handles drugs. Some would say it's long overdue.
It was just a few years ago, in 2020, Oregon voters passed a measure that decriminalized some hard drug use. After that, and as the pandemic gripped the U.S., opioid overdose deaths have climbed steadily.
Let's bring in CNN correspondent, Josh Campbell, on this story.
Josh, you went inside enforcement efforts by Portland police as the city is facing this Fentanyl state of emergency. Tell us what you saw.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bri, well, parts of this city are in a state of crisis. We went along with Portland police. I was interacting with people who are homeless, that are addicted to Fentanyl, and they talked about this struggle.
And just look at some of the recent data from the state of Oregan itself showing this spike in overdose deaths. From 2019 to 2022, they saw an increase of 280 deaths, up to 956 deaths.
So quite a stunning spike there. That's what authorities are contending with as they've declared this state of emergency.
Now, most of the focus of the state of emergency is on outreach and getting treatment to people in need. But there is an important enforcement effort by police, particularly going after drug dealers.
Now of course, using drugs in Oregon, it's not legal. It's still -- you can be cited for it. One officer said it's essentially like writing a ticket.
And it's important to point out that Fentanyl has ravaged communities across the nation. So this isn't just a Portland issue.
But what's so interesting is, here, this is happening in a place, one of the few places where it's been decriminalized to actually possess hard substances.
This all fell under what was called Measure 110, passed by voters themselves back in 2020.
I'll read you part of what proponents put forth in that measure.
They wrote that "people suffering from addiction are more effectively treated with health care services than with criminal punishments. Law enforcement should spend more time on community safety."
But of course, in the wake of this, critics have blamed this measure for the mounting toll that Fentanyl has taken there in the city.
But nevertheless, I spoke with the police chief in Portland who said that he wants to get past the politics. He understands that this issue can get politicized very quickly.
His focus, Brianna, is on the humanity itself. Have a listen.
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CHIEF BOB DAY, PORTLAND, OREGON, POLICE DEPARTMENT: This addictive behavior is not something to be taken lightly and not to be like, oh, just get a job or just get help or whatever. There are demons there that I could never understand.
I want to get past some of the -- you know, the politics and it's get some -- get past some of the certitude about who's right and who's wrong, and really recognized that lives are in the balance here.
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CAMPBELL: Now officials just recently gave an update on the state of emergency, the crisis thus far. They say they're impressed with the number of drug dealer arrests that have taken place, also efforts by first responders there to launch a Rapid Response Task Force.
Now, it's important to point out that that bill that you mentioned at the top, which overwhelmingly passed both the House and the Senate in the state of Oregon on bipartisan lines, still awaits the governor's signature, her consideration.
I asked her office what she will do. They say that, right now, she is undecided. She will study the bill once it gets to her desk.
The main lens through which she'll be looking as she assesses this bill is what impact does it have on treatment, trying to get that balance between enforcement and treatment to those in need.
We'll wait to see, Brianna, what she does when it hits her desk.
KEILAR: All right. We sure will.
Josh Campbell, thank you for that report.
Coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, more than one million acres lost. Two people have been killed. The Smokehouse Creek Wildfire is just 15 percent contained. But today could be firefighters' best chance to get it under control in the Texas panhandle. We're heading there, live.
Plus, reports of a shark attack in Hawaii of an 11-year-old girl. We'll have details on this just ahead.
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KEILAR: A cold front moving over Texas could finally give firefighters there a much-needed boost as they're wrangling six major wildfires that are ravaging the panhandle of the state.
The Roughneck Fire, which is seen here, erupted on Sunday in Hutchinson County. This forced new evacuations.
But despite today's cooler weather, containing the deadly Smokehouse Creek Fire is going to remain a challenge. Since erupting last week, it has charred more than a million acres. It has killed at least two people.
And check this out. The European Space Agency capturing this burn scar that you can see here showing how these fires look from space.
Meanwhile, the devastating fires are also impacting the cattle industry. Ranchers fear that their losses are going to cripple the nation's beef supply.
CNN national correspondent, Camila Bernal, talked to some ranchers on if they can recover.
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SHANE PENNINGTON, RANCH MANAGER, FIELDS/MAHLER RANCH: I'm guessing we may have found 50 dead so far. We're not finding many calves, so I know they burned up.
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shane Pennington is the ranch manager at the Field/Mahler Ranch in Canadian, Texas. This is also where he lives and raises his family.
As the largest wildfire in the state's history began to encircle the ranch, Pennington was forced to evacuate.
PENNINGTON: I wasn't scared of it. I was more angry, I guess. Just 20 years of taking care of this and it could all be gone.
I wasn't really fearful for the house. I figured it would probably be OK. I was more worried about the cattle.
BERNAL (on camera): For you, the hard decision was actually leaving?
PENNINGTON: Yes, yes. And feeling like I didn't do enough to get them.
BERNAL (voice-over): Local officials estimate thousands of cattle among area ranches will be lost to the Smokehouse Creek fire, which has already scorched more than a million acres.
The state's agricultural commissioner, Sid Miller.
SID MILLER, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL COMMISSIONER: This fire was so intense, you couldn't get the fire trucks anywhere close to the fire.
BERNAL: Pennington says he did not have time or a place to move the cattle.
PENNINGTON: A lot of them have been blinded by it. It burned their eyelashes, eyelids, everything. It just burned all the hair off of them. Their feet are coming off, their hooves. They're bloody. It burned their udders.
And, you know, even if they survive it, more than likely they're going to get pneumonia, they're going to get sick. We've already had to put some down. It's better than letting them suffer and just die, you know.
This is one little calf here, I don't know if he's going to be alright. His feet are burned really bad. It's extremely hard to see them suffer. I mean, they're just -- like I say, I've raised some of them since they were babies, you know.
BERNAL: State officials call the impact to cattle and crops catastrophic.
MILLER: We've lost over 3,000 head, which is a very small number. That will double or triple easily. We've got cattle that we're going to have to euthanize because of the damage to their hooves, their udders.
BERNAL: The ranch's owner says his cows bring in anywhere from $1,800 to $2,400 each, much of it for beef sales.
PENNINGTON: It's going to hurt the business extremely bad, so. And it'll take years to recover because it takes years to put a cow herd together before they're productive in producing like they should be.
Your job is to keep them alive. It's not to destroy them. And it's tough. It's really tough.
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BERNAL: And you hear it there, it's both emotionally and financially difficult.
But everyone that I've spoken to has told me they're so grateful to the firefighters, specifically the volunteer firefighters, and the donations that have come in from all over the country.
Now in the meantime, authorities have said that the fire did spike over the weekend. There was more activity. But thankfully, they had aviation resources. So the growth of the fire was not dramatic.
So they will continue to work around the clock. But this is the key time for them to continue fighting those flames -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Yes, it is some demanding and courageous work that they do.
Camila, thank you so much for that report, live for us from Borger, Texas.
Right now, three astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut are whizzing through space on their way to the International Space Station. Coming up, when they'll arrive, and what they will be doing once they get there.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Engines full power and lift off of NASA Crew Eight. Go Falcon. Go SpaceX. And go NASA.
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SANCHEZ: Watching that never gets old.
Right now, three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut are on their way to the International Space Station.
NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the crew late last night after two earlier attempts were scrubbed because of bad weather.
There were also concerns just moments before Sunday's lift off when crews found a small crack in a door seal. Engineers ultimately determined that it was not an issue.
Let's get the latest on their mission from CNN's Tom Foreman.
Tom, the crew is set to arrive at the space station early tomorrow morning. They're spending the next six months there. What are they going to be up to?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're going to be busy, as -- as astronauts often are.
Yes, this was a beautiful, beautiful launch, just unbelievably nice.
Up at the space station, it's going to be kind of crowded. For the first time in quite a while, they're going to have 11 astronauts there for a few days before some others come back.
Now, the concern about that crack on this seal around one of the hatches there was whether or not it would present a problem on return, not on takeoff. They determined it would not.
In fact, they had a debate. No kidding. Because they were looking at this in a photograph as to whether or not it was a human hair --
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FOREMAN: -- and not actually a crack.
But nonetheless, while they're up there, one of the things are going to do is they're going to spend about six months there. They're going to do 200 different experiments for NASA here.
There are four astronauts that went up, three of them NASA astronauts, one of them a Russian cosmonaut.
They're going to work up there in about 200 different experiments, many of which will focus on the effects of space and radiation on the human body.
They'll do stem cell studies, research of microgravity and U.V. radiation. Big issue up in space when you don't have an atmosphere to protect you.
And test pressure cuffs. Pressure cuffs being around their legs to see how much it affects circulation, whether that can be helped.
Here's the real reason for all of this. You may notice more and more moving this direction. It's moving this direction because the more we talk about returning to the moon and the more we talk about possibly getting off to Mars.
We're going to have to have some more knowledge about what's happening to these people who are out there for a long period of time in terms of bone density, the flow of blood, and everything else in their body, how they're going to fare in that. Because it could be alone long time.
[13:55:09]
One thing I want to show you, Boris, I thought was really adorable in all of this, they always have a zero-gravity indicator that each crew takes with him, which is basically just something they can float around to show that they're in zero gravity. In this case, what they took as their zero-gravity indicator was a
small stuffed animal, which was a little dog, which one of the astronauts said was selected by his children --
SANCHEZ: Awe.
FOREMAN: -- because they wanted it to indicate -- you can see it right there in the video. You can just see it floating around off his hand, the tip of his hand there, just going out of sight and back.
SANCHEZ: Awe.
FOREMAN: Selected by his children. And they said it's emblematic of all the children and families who have people who have to go off and work, mothers and dads who have to be gone for a long period of time.
And honestly, the longer we're dealing with space like this, the longer they're going to have to be up there.
Although I will say, international space station, this continues for more than 20 years.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
FOREMAN: And even with 11 people on board, it's about the size of a six-room house. So they're not terribly constricted up there. But it'll feel a little crowded for a few days.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Not a bad sign either that there's a Russian cosmonaut, there are Americans, space diplomacy, even though relations on the ground not that great. Another positive.
FOREMAN: They're doing what they can do for the time being. And then -- then some will come back in a few days. And then we'll rotate the next group up there.
SANCHEZ: Tom Foreman, thanks so much for the update.
FOREMAN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come this afternoon on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, including an Air National Guardsman pleading guilty to leaking national security secrets online. The terms of his plea deal, including how much time he's serving behind bars, when we come back.
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