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Soon: NTSB Gives Update On Midair Disaster That Killed 67; Pope Francis Hospitalized For Bronchitis; Kennedy Center For The Arts Cancels Tour Of Acclaimed Children's Musical "Finn". Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired February 14, 2025 - 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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[13:32:20]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Minutes from now, the National Transportation Safety Board will give an update on the deadly midair disaster near Reagan National Airport a little over two weeks ago.

An Army Blackhawk helicopter collided with American Airlines flight 5342, killing all 67 people on the two aircraft.

CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, is standing by at NTSB headquarters.

Pete, what are we expecting here from this update?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, this is the first NTSB briefing that's being held since the week of this crash.

And this is going to be pretty significant because, not only will we get new details from the black box recorders onboard American Airlines flight 5342, but also significant new details from the black box recorder of combined function onboard that U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter.

Those details from the helicopter have been delayed, not only because the NTSB tells me they had to wait until pulling out the wreckage from the Potomac River, but also, they needed to manually line up the time stamps from that data recorder with the time stamps on the data recorder from American 5342.

So we are going to get some headlines for the first time from the black box flight data recorder. And that is key because we know from the early data that this collision occurred at 325 feet plus or minus 25 feet. That's from the data onboard American 5342.

That is significantly higher, a few hundred feet higher than the 200 foot altitude limitation on that corridor that goes through the airspace for helicopters, through Reagan National Airport airspace.

There has been so much work that has also been taking place behind the scenes by the NTSB, not only here at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., but also, they've been doing interviews with the five air traffic controllers who were in the control tower at National Airport at the time of this collision.

They did those interviews away from the airport, and they did that actually at nearby Dulles International Airport.

We also know that there have been interviews taking place with NTSB investigators and representatives from the United States Army and their Aviation Division.

Also, there have been aerial surveys using Lidar of the bed of the Potomac River to be able to find other significant parts that the main portions of wreckage that were pulled out during the salvage operation apparently missed.

It seems like there were a few additional parts that we're found in those aerial surveys.

So much has been taking place here, Brianna, behind the scenes by the National Transportation Safety Board. And representatives from the NTSB tell me we'll get a very clear, very new narrative in this 30- to 40- minute briefing here, the first time we have had one since the week of that collision about 10 days ago.

[13:35:04]

KEILAR: Very interesting.

Pete Muntean, thank you so much for that update.

And when we come back, we just got a new update on Pope Francis, who is in the hospital right now. We'll have the latest from the Vatican, next.

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Pope Francis is back in the hospital. This time, receiving treatment for an upper respiratory infection. This is only the latest in a string of ailments, raising concerns about his overall health.

CNN Vatican correspondent, Christopher Lamb, is live for us in Rome.

And, Christopher, the Vatican just released an update. What did they say?

[13:40:01]

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm in front of the hospital, the Gemelli Hospital in Rome where Pope Francis has been admitted for treatment for bronchitis on the 10th floor in a special suite of rooms for him.

And the Vatican has recently updated us with his condition. They say that the tests that were carried out on the pope have revealed a respiratory tract infection that the pope is undergoing drug therapy for that infection. And the Vatican spokesman saying that the pope is serene, is in good

humor and has been reading some newspapers. So those details just coming in from the Vatican about the pope's health.

Now, the pope was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital earlier today. He did hold meetings in the Vatican. And I was among some of those who met him. I was there with Mark Thompson, the chief executive of CNN, who saw the pope in a private audience.

I met the pope briefly. Francis seemed alert mentally but clearly was having difficulty speaking for sustained periods because of the breathing difficulties caused by this bronchitis, which he's been suffering from for several days.

Yet, despite having this bronchitis, he's been keeping up a hectic schedule of meetings and events.

Now, Francis is 88 years old. He's suffered from respiratory infections in the past. He's quite susceptible to them. He's been hospitalized for bronchitis in recent years as well.

But what we're seeing now is obviously a new bout of this infection that he does seem to be susceptible to. As a young man, he had part of his right lung removed due to pneumonia.

So obviously, we're monitoring this situation closely and obviously expecting more updates from the Vatican in the coming days.

The pope has canceled his meetings for the next three days as he undergoes the treatment in the hospital -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Christian (sic), how are senior officials at the Vatican viewing these latest health issues?

LAMB: Well, I think people in the Vatican are actually quite relieved that the pope has gone into hospital. It's understood that he was encouraged to go in to get properly checked out and treated, because he was having such difficulty with his breathing.

He was asking aides to read his speeches. He wasn't able to speak for sustained periods of time.

So I think, in the Vatican, there's a feeling that it is right for him to be in hospital so that he can be properly treated for what is clearly quite a serious bout of bronchitis -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Christopher Lamb, live for us outside the hospital where the pope is staying, thank you so much.

When we come back, just as President Trump becomes chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, it's commissioned tour of an acclaimed children's musical, "Finn," gets canceled. We're going to speak to the show's creators about that next.

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KEILAR: The creators of an acclaimed musical at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts say they won't be silenced after a planned tour of their play was canceled, just as President Trump and his allies assert their control over the cultural institution.

The musical is about a young shark who doesn't feel like he fits in with the other sharks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In a social media post, the creators said, "At its heart, it has a universal message of love and acceptance. The fact that that extends to sparkly boys seems to be controversial."

Creators Chris Nee and Michael Kooman are with me now.

Full disclosure, I took my 6-year-old to see the show. I thought it was great.

And I wonder --

CHRIS NEE, CO-CREATOR, THE MUSICAL "FINN": Great.

KEILAR: -- you know, Chris, starting with you, why do you think this show was canceled?

NEE: Look, I think, right now, we have to do a lot of critical thinking when we hear news coming out of this administration. They have officially said that it was for financial reasons.

We we're told in a last minute phone call a few hours before Donald Trump took over as the chairman of the Kennedy Center. The show had been a commercial success. We had a long planned tour that was not only supposed to be one season there, their normal length of time, but two seasons.

And suddenly, it wasn't financially viable, on the same day we got a Helen Hayes Award nomination for best new play. You decide.

KEILAR: And, Michael, so we received a statement from the Kennedy Center, Michael. It read in total, quote, "I can confirm that the cancellation of the "Finn" tour was purely a financial decision. And the authors were notified prior to the ambassadors appointment as interim president."

They mean Ric Grenell there.

We should be clear that appointment was Monday. It became clear from President Trump last Friday, sort of what he wanted to do with the Kennedy Center. When did you learn about the cancellation?

MICHAEL KOOMAN, CO-CREATOR, THE MUSICAL "FINN": We learned, I believe, Wednesday. I mean, the last 48 hours --

NEE: Wednesday.

KOOMAN: -- of Wednesday. Not -- so I think Wednesday.

[13:50:01]

And, you know, this is a show about inclusivity. It's about acceptance. And some of its themes might not work with the new people in charge. And so it's not hard to draw a line as to why the show was canceled.

KEILAR: Yes. It's also -- there's to tell people -- I don't want to -- you know, spoiler alert. But Finn also has a best friend. You see her right there. She's a fish. She kind of thinks outside the box as far as other fish do.

She's just a little more -- you know, she doesn't sort of paint inside the lines, I think is the best way. She wants to do a different kind of dance than the really sort of buttoned up way that her fish folk do. And that's part of the message to kids.

Chris, who -- who made this decision here?

NEE: Look, we don't know exactly who made the decision. We believe that the people that we've worked within the -- within the Kennedy Center have been so supportive of this show.

We had incredible reviews, an incredible run while we were at the Kennedy Center. And suddenly, things have changed.

You know, the question that I would ask everyone to -- to sort of contemplate in these moments is, what does this have to do with the price of eggs, right?

So what -- what -- what is the need in the first two weeks of coming into a presidency to be in a micro level of -- of controlling what the arts are saying.

KEILAR: And, Chris, I mean, they're saying this was a financial decision. What -- what financial issues did the show have?

NEE: To be honest, we know that it was a success financially when it ran at the Kennedy Center. And the tour was scheduled for in the future.

So it's very hard to understand how, in the three hours after -- it was after the ambassador had already taken over and before the president became the chairman, there was suddenly a financial issue.

We -- we don't really understand it.

KEILAR: Yes, you feel like you're getting some mixed messages here.

And, Michael, to you, do you think it -- do you think this -- you -- you think this is clearly a result of the change in leadership?

Do you think this is a directive about this particular play coming from this administration, or do you think this is some self-editing that may be going on? Well, I mean, how are you reading this?

KOOMAN: Well, there's no doubt that this show is meant for -- for people who don't feel like they fit in with the people that are raising them. And again, it's about inclusivity. It's about acceptance.

And a two-year tour would mean the Kennedy Center would have to speak about that message during the entire -- entirety of the tour. And so I think, suddenly, a message like that might be scary to people who are involved with this kind of -- with this kind of production.

This is a show that is, again, was very well acclaimed. You could barely get a ticket towards the end of the run. We were nominated for a Helen Hayes. And so the news of this tour just came out of nowhere, and we're still sort of reeling from it all.

KEILAR: And just really quickly, Chris, will this continue to tour with some other financing? What are you going to do?

NEE: Look, we -- we are determined that we're going to service the kids who really deserve to get a chance to see themselves on stage. And that's what this show is all about.

We are -- we did not want to be a part of the resistance, but we're happy to step into that space. And we are talking to a lot of people right now to figure out ways to get this show out into the world.

KEILAR: All right. Well, we'll keep an eye on it. It was a fun show. You know, like I said, I saw it.

(CROSSTALK)

KOOMAN: Thank you.

NEE: Thank you for bringing your kids to the theater.

KEILAR: Yes, I know right. It was fun to have a reason to do it. And it was short. Little attention spans.

Chris and Michael, thank you so much to both of you. Really appreciate it.

KOOMAN: Thank you.

NEE: Thank you.

KEILAR: Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. Parts of southern California are cleaning up after a storm brought

heavy rain, mudslides and flooding to an area that's still reeling from the devastating wildfires last month.

While officials lifted flood warnings, concerns still linger over the potential for more mudslides and rockslides. These obviously can occur long after rainfall has ended.

Also, you can now download TikTok again from Apples app store and Google play. The app had been unavailable for download as of January 18th, after the Supreme Court upheld that law banning the app in the United States over concerns regarding national security.

[13:54:54]

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, fought against the ban on free speech grounds. The app briefly shut down before President Trump delayed enforcement of the ban for 75 days to allow for more negotiations for a sale to a U.S. buyer.

And CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stuck on the International Space Station since June.

As you may know, we here at CNN NEWS CENTRAL are so invested in this story, we couldn't resist playing their response to when Anderson asked them what it's like to sleep in space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNITA "SUNI" WILLIAMS, NASA ASTRONAUT: So each of us have a sleep station. So it's, you know, from the old days, like sort of like a phone booth size, a little bit bigger than a phone booth.

BUTCH WILMORE, NASA ASTRONAUT: A little larger than a coffin.

WILLIAMS: A little, yes, a little larger than a coffin. And it's interesting, though, like, it doesn't really matter once you close your eyes if you're upside down or sideways.

And so we have one sleep station on the -- on the ceiling, one on the floor and two on either side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It doesn't seem very comfortable. How do you know when it's nighttime? Right? The sun isn't going down.

Anyway, coming up, thousands of federal workers are now out of a job as the mass layoffs begin. We're going to tell you where the cuts are coming from right now.

Stay with us.

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