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GM CEO to Testify; Cockpit Transcript; Search Could Drag On; Planes Reconstructed

Aired April 01, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Wolf Blitzer.

Great to be with you here on this Tuesday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. This is CNN's special live coverage of two major stories unfolding right now.

First, as Wolf has been reporting here, time is running out in the search for Flight 370. Sources in the Malaysian government are now calling that dramatic left turn -- their words, a criminal act. We will tell you why.

Also, any moment now, on Capitol Hill, these are live pictures inside this House subcommittee room here. Families who believe their loved ones were killed because General Motors took years to announce a recall are about to hear from the company's CEO. And that is where we begin this hour here in Washington, in this room here on The Hill.

The head of GM is about to give a public apology for a recall that one Massachusetts lawmaker calls, and I'm quoting here, a decade late and dozens of lives and injuries short. Thirteen deaths, 12 in the U.S., one in Canada, linked to this problem that affects some 2.6 million GM cars. Certain year Chevy Cobalts, Pontiac G5s, Saturn Ions and more are at risk of shutdown because of this faulty ignition switch that can just totally turn the car off. Mary Barra, the CEO, just took the top job about two months ago and this could be, in a matter of minutes here, the biggest challenge of her career.

So let's go straight to Capitol Hill to CNN's Poppy Harlow, standing by just outside those doors.

And so the big question among many, why did GM, Poppy, issue this recall now when the company knew about the problem back in 2004?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the huge question. Why did they not tell anyone about it, why did regulators not catch it. To be honest, Brooke, I don't know that we're going to get an answer to that today in this hearing because we read the prepared testimony from GM's CEO, Mary Barra, and she has said, we don't know why this failed to reach the public, we don't know why, but we will find out why and we will be transparent when that happens.

You know, the key question here is, did GM knowingly cover this up from 2004 when someone at the company knew about this until 10 years later when they made it public, or was it a horrible error of stuff lost in translation, horrible communications. Another question here is, did cost have anything to do with this? Because the House has internal documents from General Motors talking about them considering a fix for this ignition switch problem, and then citing things such as cost and business case as reasons they did not move forward with a recall. So many questions are going to be thrown at her from lawmakers. Brooke, the victims' families, people believe that their loved ones died as a result of this ignition switch failure, had a big press conference here just a few hours ago. I spoke with one mother who lost her 19-year-old daughter Sarah.

BALDWIN: There she is. Sorry for jumping in.

HARLOW: She told me. Yes, she - no, go ahead. We're seeing I believe Mary Barra walk in to take this testimony. But a mother saying even though she met with the CEO last night, that it was not enough. They want to see all 2.6 million of these cars off the road. They want answers. Lawmakers want answers. This is the biggest test so far for this CEO. A woman who just took the top job at General Motors three months or so ago, Brooke. This is the first of two days of hearings. She'll face the Senate tomorrow. Many questions. What did GM know, why didn't we the public know and where were regulators on this? The head of NHTSA Will also testify.

BALDWIN: Yes.

HARLOW: We're going to go in the room and listen in.

BALDWIN: Everyone being seated. Again, the U.S. House, Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on oversight.

HARLOW: Yes.

BALDWIN: We'll be watching and waiting for that mea culpa and we'll take it live from GM's CEO Mary Barra.

Poppy, thank you.

Also we're watching this. We can finally tell you, word for word as we've been reporting what was said between the cockpit crew and air traffic control the night that Malaysian jetliner just vanished with 239 people onboard. It has taken now 25 long days, but CNN has just obtained the official flight transcript. And as far as aviation experts and officials are concerned here, what was spoken, what was communicated here is really nothing out of the ordinary. But the question now is, why did it take so long? Why did the Malaysian government initially provide this incorrect version to the final signoff from the cockpit?

We're also learning that Malaysian investigators are convinced that someone in the cockpit, or perhaps someone else onboard this plane, was responsible for that sudden and mysterious left turn off course. A government source telling CNN, authorities consider this turn, and I'm quoting, "a criminal act." And this new "Wall Street Journal" report says this, that search teams were looking in the wrong place for not one, not two, three days because of poor coordination. One group analyzing radar data, the other analyzing satellite images, both coming up with different possible crash sites. All of that, and here today, 20 planes and ships have been scouring what they hope is the right place in the southern Indian Ocean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON (RET.), JOINT AGENCY COORDINATION CENTER: This could drag on for a long time. But I think, at this stage, it's very important to pursue the leads - I'll call them leads, the evidence that is being presented to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Back to that transcript here. No indication of anything abnormal from the verbiage there. That is the ruling today from the Malaysian transport minister. But the change in wording weeks into the search for this missing plane raises all kinds of questions about how Malaysian officials have handled this whole thing. So joining me now, John Ransom, retired airline pilot and aviation safety specialist for Safety Operating Systems, and Shawn Pruchnicki here, also air safety expert at Ohio State University and accident investigator for Flight 5191.

So, gentlemen, welcome to you. And, Captain Ransom, since you're sitting right here with me, let's begin with this two, two and a half page transcript that, you know, we have finally obtained. You've looked at it. Officials say nothing sinister. Do you agree?

JOHN RANSOM, RETIRED AIRLINE PILOT: Hi, Brooke. I agree entirely.

BALDWIN: Yes.

RANSOM: It's the transcript of a very normal flight up until the time of the last transmission. There has been some discussion about maybe some nonstandard verbiage that as you by -- whoever was speaking, but -

BALDWIN: No big deal?

RANSOM: No big deal. In flying in that part of the country, quite frankly, it's the rare individual that says everything the way it's supposed to be said. And flying here in the U.S., the same thing happens, that you try to shoot for a standard of the right things to say on the radio, but it's very unusual to find a person that does it exactly right.

BALDWIN: Shawn, do you agree? Anything jump out at you when you read it?

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI, FLIGHT 5191 ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR: No, not at all, Brooke. In fact, I read it four or five times and -- really thinking about what they were saying in the environment. And I agree, a completely normal and exactly right about the verbiage. That this - that we see in this transcript is exactly the way that business is carried out, absolutely.

BALDWIN: OK. So this is the written transcript. Something else we've all discussed ad nauseam, which has yet to be released and may never be released is the actual audio, right? The -- the communication captain among what -- between pilot and copilot, between air traffic control. But why might that hold the key? What else do you hear on that?

RANSOM: On the -

BALDWIN: On the audio.

RANSOM: The audio that is in the cockpit voice recorder?

BALDWIN: Right.

RANSOM: Well, you can tell a whole bunch of what went on from that. But because it's so sensitive, it contains so many things that probably the families wouldn't want to have come out. Generally, just people close to the investigation are going to be the ones that actually hear that, assuming we find it. There will be a transcript release, but it generally - but there's no way the audio's going to reach the public domain.

BALDWIN: So, Shawn, it's only through this cockpit voice recorder, which is the other box which the TPL would ultimately listen for the ping, is that correct? There's no other way an investigator can tap into any kind of audio in the cockpit, correct?

PRUCHNICKI: That's exactly right. That data is only captured on that flight recorder, that's right.

BALDWIN: OK. Shawn, staying with you, one of our senior international correspondents, Nic Robertson, has been reporting here from Malaysian investigators that they believe that this plane was flown by someone -- this is their quote -- flown by someone with good flying knowledge of the aircraft, and that government sources told him specifically that that left turn, they're treating the turn as a criminal act either by one of the pilots or someone else onboard. Obviously, they know a lot about this investigation that they, being the investigators, that we don't know. But what could lead them to calling this turn now a criminal act?

PRUCHNICKI: I found it absolutely astounding when I heard that - when I heard that breaking news earlier. With the information that we have now, Brooke, with what we're going on, there's absolutely no indication whatsoever to support that type of a declaration. So you're exactly right, that begs the question, what is it that they know that they haven't shared with us? I found it quite astounding. I was quite surprised.

BALDWIN: But what would it be -- forgive me if I seem obtuse, but what would it be if they have this, you know, verbal transcript, they yet don't have access to that audio communication, because that's somewhere we think in the bottom of the ocean. How would that - how - what would they know, again that we don't, to come to that conclusion?

PRUCHNICKI: Well, you're exactly right, the only way they would know that is if there was some type of communication made, either via radar, via transponder, or via voice that they haven't shared with us. So, for example, another voice communication that we don't know about or a transponder code being changed to a special code that we use for -- like a hijacking procedure. Outside of those, there is no way for them to know. So I find it quite intriguing and I'm really surprised they would release such a statement without providing a little bit of something to substantiate. BALDWIN: Right, a little bit more context. Again, let's hope they know a lot more than us, right.

Shawn and John Ransom -

PRUCHNICKI: Yes.

BALDWIN: Gentlemen, stick around, because we're bringing you back. Some more viewer questions here in just a couple of minutes.

Meantime, the man in charge of the search here says it is by far the biggest challenge he has ever faced. Hear how long he says it could take to actually solve this mystery. We'll take you live to Perth.

Plus, CNN goes to the waters of the Indian Ocean to follow this ship carrying the American black box finder listening for those pings here.

And as we show you live pictures here inside this room on Capitol Hill, the CEO of General Motors will be apologizing to the families who believe their loved ones were killed because of the actions of her company. Stay right here. You're watching CNN's special coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And despite all of the high-tech equipment heading to the search zone in the southern Indian Ocean here, the man heading up that search for this plane says the hunt for the airliner will not be quick and easy. He is Angus Houston. He said the search, in his words, could drag on. That it will take a very long time. Obviously discouraging news here for families, but perhaps not surprising. Correspondent Kyung Lah joins us now from Perth in Australia.

It's 2:15 in the morning where you are, Kyung. Another day. No signs of the plane. How is the confidence level just among search crews?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're as confident as they can be because now we're hearing very bluntly what a lot of the crews have been saying to each other, that this is merely an estimate. This is based on math, on science, on those satellite images. None of it is exact. And we heard it from the man heading up this operation. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGUS HOUSTON, RETIRED AIR CHIEF MARSHAL: We are working from a very uncertain starting point. (INAUDIBLE) that, because it will take time. It's not something that's necessarily going to be resolved in the next two weeks, for example. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And two weeks, Brooke, may be slightly optimistic because it is a very large space that these crews are looking at, which is the Indian Ocean.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: We know, Kyung, Air France, that was, what, two years? I mean have you heard anything from Angus Houston or anyone else heading up this search as far as months? Are they even going there with years?

LAH: Well, there was a headline in the local newspaper here that said Perth expects to be the command post for years. That's years, plural. And remember, Air France, they knew generally where it was just within four days. They have no idea where this is, other than somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

BALDWIN: Kyung Lah in Perth. Kyung, thank you.

Coming up, after the crash of TWA 800, investigators literally pieced together parts of that plane as much as they could from the wreckage. Here are the pictures. We'll talk live with someone who actually helped with that investigation about what happens once debris is found, whenever that might be.

Plus, take a look at how rough these waters are, where crews are searching. CNN rides the waves here in the Indian Ocean.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN here.

And we have to keep in mind, we still don't know where Flight 370 ended. And not just that, but even though we've all seen pictures of floating objects, not a single one, not one has been confirmed to be part of this plane.

With that in mind, let's remember that Pan Am 103 was actually reconstructed after a terrorist bomb downed it over Scotland. And then you have TWA's Flight 800, doomed by a fuel tank explosion, also was cobbled together at this hangar here in New York. So, if Flight 370 does turn up, might we see another kind of reconstruction? For that, let's go to Bill Savage, former pilot and certified crash investigator.

And, Bill, welcome back here. I mean I know that you participated in several of these kinds of investigation (INAUDIBLE) planes back together. What's the value of doing that?

WILLIAM SAVAGE, CERTIFIED AIRLINE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR: The value is 100 percent because by putting airplane back together, we can then look at the specific areas that each investigator has an expertise in to decide whether that area had some effect on the crash of the airplane, either just it was a maintenance problem or an impact problem, a fire problem, or some system malfunction. We can go -- you know, we can backtrack that to make sure that it was either operating properly or that it was the cause or in some way contributed to the failure of the aircraft.

So as far as this current flight we're talking about, 370 goes, what part of the plane -- don't say the black box, because I know that's the obvious answer, but beyond the black box, what would you like to see the most? Where do you think the best clues could be hidden?

SAVAGE: I -- if you're asking me how much of that airplane I want, it would be 100 percent of the airplane. Just like they got in 103 and in 800, they put the airplane back together again and then started eliminating the possibilities by seeing exactly what they had.

BALDWIN: What about pieces of the cockpit?

SAVAGE: Cockpit would -

BALDWIN: Yes.

SAVAGE: Yes, cockpit would be the start point, sure. Yes. Yes.

BALDWIN: What would you be looking for?

SAVAGE: I would like -- well, if it's in the water, of course it would be hard to discover any kind of bloodstains if there had been a struggle, which would indicate an interdiction in the cockpit and then a hijacking, of course, would be the obvious answer. But any kind of damaged equipment from a -- blunt trauma, for example, where either, you know, the crash axe or some other tool or weapon was used that damaged part of the console or the equipment or, you know, preferably the bodies of the pilots, you would be able to see that. So that's where you would begin to see if there was damage to the -- in the cockpit and if some struggle ensued.

BALDWIN: I know, as I mentioned, you've worked on TWA Flight 800 and that investigation. I'm just - I'm curious if you were there when I know the families had the ability, were invited, to see some of this. I know some of them actually were able to see the seats - the seats themselves that their loved ones sat on. Were you there for that? And did the families tell you why they wanted to see that?

SAVAGE: I was not there for that at all. The people that I was consulting for, the special agents involved in that particular exercise of the families did explain and demonstrate to the families the impacts and the damage that was done to the body when that airplane came apart. But that was not an area that I was involved in and was not present for it.

BALDWIN: OK. I won't ask you anything further on that. I just know that Malaysian Air ultimately has offered these families to be able to go to Perth if and when there are pieces of the plane because a lot of those families keep wanting to see proof. And you can't blame them. Bill Savage, thank you very much.

Coming up, did you know this? We actually know more about the geography of Mars than we do about the ocean in this search area. So we'll show you some stunning images to just prove exactly that.

Plus, any moment now, as we're watching these live pictures on Capitol Hill, this House subcommittee hearing, the CEO of General Motors is in the room. She will be testifying. We know she will be apologizing to those families, here she is, who believe their loved ones were killed because of the actions of her company. So stay right here. This is CNN's special coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Here we go. We're going to pull out of commercial break a little early. Here she is. This is the CEO of General Motors. This is Mary Barra. She just sat down and introductions are over. Here she is, finally testifying. The subject is all -

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARY BARRA, CEO, GENERAL MOTORS: So because whatever mistakes were made in the past, we will not shirk from our responsibilities now or in the future. Today's GM will do the right thing.

That begins with my sincere apologies to everyone who has been affected by this recall, especially the families and friends who lost their lives or were injured. I am deeply sorry.

I've asked the former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas to conduct a thorough and unimpeded investigation of the actions of General Motors. I have received updates from him and he tells me he's well along with his work. He has free rein to go where the facts take him, regardless of outcome. The facts will be the facts. Once they are in, my leadership team and I will do what is needed to help assure this does not happen again. We will hold ourselves fully accountable.

However, I want to stress, I'm not waiting for his results to make changes. I've named a new vice president of global vehicle safety, a first for General Motors. Jeff Boyer's top priority is to quickly identify and resolve any and all product safety issues.

He is not taking on this task alone. I stand with him and my senior leadership team stands with him as well. And we will welcome input from outside of GM, from you, from NHTSA, from our customers, our dealers, and current and former employees.

The latest round of recalls demonstrates just how serious we are about the way we want to do things at today's GM. We've identified these issues, and we've brought them forward and we're fixing them. I have asked our team to keep stressing the system at GM and work with one thing in mind, the customer and their safety are at the center of everything that we do.