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NTSB Demands Detailed Explanation For Boeing's Mid-Air Blowout; Pakistani With Ties To Iran Charged In Assassination Plot Targeting U.S. Officials; CNN Speaks With Gymnastics Phenom Simone Biles In Paris. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 06, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:33:50]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Right now, Boeing's top quality control executives are being grilled by the National Transportation Safety Board about that terrifying door plug blow out that happened back in January.

That, of course, happened in the middle of a flight on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max-9.

And officials for Boeing subcontractor, Spirit AeroSystems, are also in the hot seat today.

Also the NTSB released some new interview transcripts today. One Boeing worker, quoted as saying, "We were replacing doors like we we're replacing our underwear. The planes come in, jacked up every day, every day."

CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, has been following this hearing.

That's quite the quote, Pete. What are your takeaways from this hearing?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This has been testy at times, Brianna. In fact, the NTSB chair just blasted Boeing, which is in the hot seat today.

The scope of this hearing is huge, along with the thousands of pages of documents that are coming out along with this hearing.

What is really interesting here is the headline that is emerging right now, that workers say they we're forced to work very quickly and we felt like they would make mistakes.

[14:35:01]

I want you to listen now to NTSB chair, Jennifer Homendy, who said that Boeing was essentially on a P.R. campaign here because Boeing was insisting it has made so many changes since the door plug blow out. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIR: This isn't a P.R. campaign for Boeing. What I want to know, what we want to know is what happened in March, April May, June, July, August, September, leading up to this, leading up to what happened in January.

You can talk all about where you are today. There's going to be plenty of time for that. We want to know the safety improvements. But what is very confusing for a lot of people who are watching, who are listening, is what was going on then.

This is an investigation on what happened on January 5th - understand -- for everybody? Great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Now before this hearing, the National Transportation Safety Board lead us behind the scenes into its lab, its materials lab, where they showed us the door plug itself that fell off of Alaska Airlines flight 1282, that Boeing 737 Max-9 from 16,000 feet.

You we're able to see the marks on the door plug itself that showed it shimmied out over time.

Now remember that Boeing factory workers of the Renton factory near Seattle took out the door plug but then re-installed the door plug without the four critical bolts. Then of course, the blowout took place on January 5th.

Something else that has been interesting here is that Elizabeth Lund, head of Boeing quality control, insisted so many changes have been made. She says the changes have occurred not only in trying to hire new workers with more experience.

But also trying to reduce something called traveling work. Something is that is at the center of these issues that have been on Boeing's factory floor.

Still a lot to unfold here, Brianna. We are only at the first quarter of a two-day-long hearing. Very rare that the National Transportation Safety Board does something like this.

And by the way, this is it's not about pilots or flight crew. This is not going to be pilot error. This is focusing primarily on what took place at Boeing while this airplane was still in the factory.

KEILAR: Yes, sounds like some tough questions they're getting.

Pete, thanks for following this for us. We appreciate it.

Omar?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: A lot to talk about here. Let's discuss with CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector, David Soucie. Now, David, I want to read a quote from one of the Boeing workers

saying that, "As far as the workload, I feel like we we're definitely trying to put out too much product, right?

"That's how mistakes are made. People try to work too fast. I mean, I can't speak for anybody else, but we were busy. We were working a lot," end quote.

That's from one of the workers on the Boeing 730. That's from one of the workers we've been hearing from, I should say, over the course of this hearing.

What's your reaction to hearing a little bit of that testimony?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, working on airplanes is never easy. Building airplanes isn't easy. It is a high-pressure job. It's not for everybody, that's for sure.

And so to understand that and to know that is important. But what's most important to understand is it's not that you're just working for that company, like you would in any other job.

You're working for your own reputation, your own license because you're licensed to do that work. And you're working for the FAA as a representative of the regulatory environment.

So you have to look beyond what you're doing right there and make decisions about what you do as a person, based not only on what Boeing is telling you to do, but also on what your reputation is and what you're going to do in the future.

JIMENEZ: And I want to home in on something that we just heard from Chair Homendy there, that's clearly frustrated with, at least, some portions of Boeing's testimony.

Saying this is not a P.R. campaign for Boeing. That she is more interested and what happened leading up to this, as opposed to what they've done since then.

And as a former investigator for the FAA, can you just talk about the relationship between those two periods of time, before an incident and after an incident, and maybe why one is more important than the other in certain contexts.

SOUCIE: Right. So that's a really good question. When things happen -- and the NTSBs job is to find out what happened. What is the proximate cause? The thing that went from this point to that point. And that's what this investigation is all about.

And I admire Homendy for making sure that everybody understands that. It's not about what's happening now. And that's all Boeing has been focusing on is how do we fix the problem. And what she's focusing on is her report, which says this is the proximate cause, this is what caused this to happen.

So it's important to remember that the NTSB does -- is not a regulatory body. When this is all said and done, they can't say, OK, we're going to slap sanctions on Boeing or we're going to put people in jail. That's not the purpose of the NTSB.

That goes to the FAA. They make recommendations based on their investigations, which are incredibly thorough. And they've found some very disturbing things. And those need to be reported. They need to make recommendations to the FAA.

[14:40:03]

The FAA then will make those -- either sanctions -- they'll -- they'll put fees and fines on it. They'll come back and make sure that it's fixed.

It's up to the FAA to make that regulatory compliance decision as to what needs to happen to make it safe going forward. So that's where the responsibility is going to lie after this investigation is done.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And we've been following just what's been a -- what's expected to be a two-day hearing on this particular front as well.

David Soucie, I really appreciate you being here.

We're also taking a look at some live pictures right now. That's Vice President Kamala Harris. At this point, it seems to be her husband, Doug Emhoff, behind her.

We expect her to be at a rally, of course, tonight, where we'll see the formal introduction of her vice-presidential pick, Tim Walz, as well. We're going to see if she says anything.

Let's take a quick listen in.

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JIMENEZ: Something -- for anyone who's ever been on those airstrips, it's pretty loud over there. But that question was, why did you pick Walz?

We've already seen some aspects of that come out from the campaign at this point, including how she felt, Vice President Kamala Harris, she would be able to work with Tim Walz. The team clearly felt at ease with his presence.

But of course, we are going to see the introduction of that later this evening. And we'll bring you those headlines and those pictures when we've got them.

We're going to take a quick break. More news on the other side.

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[14:46:06]

KEILAR: We do have some breaking news. The Justice Department is now charging a man after foiling assassination plots against U.S. politicians, potentially including former President Donald Trump and other current and former U.S. officials. Investigators believe the suspect has ties to Iran.

JIMENEZ: Yes, we've got CNN's Katie Bo Lillis here with the details.

So can you just tell us, what more are you learning here? What -- what do we know?

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So here's what we know right now. The Justice Department has charged a 46-year- old Pakistani man with ties to Iran for allegedly plotting to carry out a political assassination or political assassinations, plural, inside the United States.

Now, according to the Justice Department, Asif Merchant, this Pakistani man, traveled to New York City where he met with purported hitmen to discuss carrying out assassinations of American political officials, potentially in late August or early September.

Unfortunately, for Merchant, the purported hitmen that he we're meeting with was, in fact, undercover law enforcement officials and he was arrested trying to leave the United States. And he is now currently in U.S. custody and has been -- has been charged.

Now important to understand here is that the charging documents do not actually name former President Donald Trump.

But we do know from a U.S. official briefed on the matter, who spoke to CNN, that FBI investigators do believe that former President Trump and some current and former senior U.S. officials we're potentially among the targets that Merchant was interested in hiring a hitman to -- to potentially take out.

Now, the FBI was investigating this plot in the weeks leading up to the near assassination of the former president by 20-year-old man at one of his -- at one of his rallies in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The FBI has since investigated to see whether or not there are any links in between this alleged Iranian plot and the effort by Thomas Matthew Crooks to take a shot at the former president.

They -- according to a law enforcement source who spoke to CNN, they have not actually found any ties in-between those two episodes. The timing is believed to be a coincidence.

But because the FBI was investigating this Iranian plot, this alleged Iranian plot, they did warn the Secret Service that there's some threats against the former president. You should maybe up your protection of him.

And so it really underscores, I think, some of these questions that we're hearing from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill about the level of protection that the Secret Service was offering the former president on that day.

KEILAR: Yes, it certainly does.

Katie, thank you for all of those details. We do appreciate it.

And next CNN, goes one-on-one with the GOAT. Simone Biles sitting down with Coy Wire. Stay tuned for this can't-miss interview.

JIMENEZ: Jealous.

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[14:52:59]

KEILAR: What's it like to be in the presence of the GOAT of U.S. gymnastics?

JIMENEZ: Don't ask me. I wouldn't know what.

(LAUGHTER)

JIMENEZ: But Coy Wire knows.

And, Coy, you just talked to Simone Biles. How are you feeling?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I mean, I used to fan boy around you and Brianna, right?

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: But this was a whole other level. I got to interview the GOAT.

No one wants to hear me talk. So let's get right to my interview with Simone Biles, the GOAT, or is it the slaw?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Simone, you just seemed like you wanted another level of excitement, of gratitude for this moment, this time around. Why were these games so important to you?

SIMONE BILES, 11-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: What was important to me because nobody forced me to be out there on that stage. I solely did it for myself and I'm in a row really good spot mentally and physically. So doing this for just me and the world.

WIRE: And you overcame a lot to get here. We all know that.

Did you feel any of those demons start to come creeping in the mind again? And if so, how to deal with them?

BILES: Yes, I dealt with them in therapy, obviously. You always have those thoughts coming in the back of your head, but just trying to say as positive as possible, going back to what I know, thinking think about my therapy tactics and it worked.

WIRE: That's so important.

BILES: Yes.

WIRE: An iconic moment, the podium, bowing down to make that. The young girls out there today are getting torn down. How important was it for you to show the world it's OK to adjust each other's crowns?

BILES: No, absolutely. I think it was really important for that moment. Obviously, it was just me and Jordan being me and Jordan.

But I know it was really special and it was very impactful for kids to see that. You win with grace, you lose with grace.

WIRE: Yes. Now this iconic moment out of these games, in my opinion, was when you clapped back to some people talking about your appearance. And young girls deal with that all the time.

BILES: Yes.

WIRE: The stress to fit in. What is your message to those young girls out there who might be feeling like they're not enough or they're not fitting in?

BILES: You guys are beautiful, confident. You guys are so smart. Stand in your power, believe in yourself, and you guys are going to be just fine. I'll be here to support you every step of the way.

I know it's hard, but you guys are going to do it. And you're going to do big things.

WIRE: Incredible.

[14:55:00]

All right, does time stop when you're 12 feet in the air, flipping through the air?

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: For us mortals, can we just close our eyes --

BILES: Yes.

WIRE: -- and you walk me through what you're feeling, what's your sense is as you're flipping through these wild maneuvers?

BILES: Honestly, sometimes it feels like time goes really fast, like the floor comes sooner than it should.

But most of the time it does feel like you're up there for a while and you're just waiting they come back down.

(LAUGHTER)

BILES: But it's very exciting. WIRE: What would you say your spirit animal is or your spirit

character, that switch that flips when you have to go out there and dominate --

(CROSSTALK)

WIRE: -- and that has allowed you to win Olympic medals?

BILES: OK, I would actually be a honey badger. A honey badger in the gym, a slough outside.

WIRE: Oh, god.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: Sloppy Simone.

BILES: Yes.

WIRE: I think you need a new chain. Now that was -

(CROSSTALK)

WIRE: All right, now you've got some time to enjoy your family, especially your husband, Jonathan.

BILES: Yes.

WIRE: Always you get to enjoy some football.

BILES: Yes.

WIRE: He's been here supporting you. Are you going to be at his game being a hype woman for him?

BILES: Yes, absolutely. I feel like I'm his biggest supporter besides some of our other family that we have. But it's always exciting watching him play on that field.

WIRE: OK, they played the Falcons and my Bills this year. Please don't show up. We don't need any more juice for them.

BILES: They actually play the Bills this weekend. And good luck.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: Good luck.

BILES: OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Yes. We're done.

Yes, sorry, Buffalo. Love you.

Well, Simone was going to be the first lookout.

Listen, what I love about this, Brianna and Omar, is that Simone called this a redemption tour with all the adversity she's been through, which only made her stronger.

And now she's not only an Olympic champion, multiple times over again, she's become this incredible champion for mental health, lifting up everyone around her.

Redemption tour, complete. And my Olympics is complete. Whatever happens from here, we're good. We've got the interview with the GOAT.

KEILAR: Oh, Coy, that was amazing.

Thank you so much for bringing that to us. We appreciate it.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: And we are following the latest from the campaign trail where Vice President Harris is about to appear with her new running mate. Stay with CNN.

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