Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Bluefin-21 Deployed; Deadly Ebola Outbreak Worsens; 12 Million in Path of Severe Weather; Search for Flight 370 Goes Deep Under Water

Aired April 14, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me.

After 38 days, the search for Flight 370 now moves deep under water. For the first time, the 16-foot-long unmanned submarine has been launched to scan the ocean floor for any possible wreckage. But this new strategy will now drag out the search a lot longer. This Bluefin- 21 submarine takes six times as long, six times as long to search as the towed pinger locater. Each mission will take 24 hours to complete. Today it will only cover an area of about 15 square miles. That is about 7,200 football fields, meaning the scan of the entire search area could take up to two months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGUS HOUSTON, JOINT AGENCY COORDINATION CHIEF: The deployment of the autonomous under water vehicle has the potential to take us a further step towards visual identification since it offers a possible opportunity to detect debris from the aircraft on the ocean floor. I would caution you against raising hopes that the deployment of the autonomous under water vehicle will result in the detection of the aircraft wreckage. It may not. However, this is the best lead we have, and it must be pursued vigorously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Also this morning, the head of the search team says an oil slick was found in the search area, but it will take several more days to figure out where that oil came from. With me now, CNN's Will Ripley, he's in Perth Australia, CNN's safety analyst and former FAA inspector David Soucie, he's also the author of "Why Planes Crash," and Anish Patel, president of Dukane-Seacom, which makes the pingers for those black boxes.

Welcome to all of you.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Welcome.

ANISH PATEL, PRESIDENT, DUKANE-SEACOM: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being here.

Will, I want to start with you. You interviewed a professor who said something extraordinary, that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the floor of the ocean.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isn't that incredible, Carol? Yes. And there are concerns that because we know so little about what actually lies beneath, that the extreme depth that we're talking about may actually push the limits of that Bluefin-21 submersible. It is rated - which means the maximum it can go down is 4,500 meters. That's how deep the water is in this area. And if for some reason it's even deeper, if our estimates are incorrect, they might have to bring in a different submersible, which would take quite a long time. But we'll find out when this thing comes up. Maybe this time tomorrow we'll have more information about how it looks down there.

COSTELLO: So right now this tiny submarine is under water, Will, right? And tomorrow we expect to have some sort of data?

RIPLEY: Yes. So what happens is, a full mission takes about 24 hours, two hours down, it scans the bottom of the ocean using that side scan sonar for 16 hours, then it takes two hours just to get back up. Now, while that is happening, everybody on the ship is basically sitting and waiting. There's no real time data exchange. Once the submersible comes back up on the ship, it then takes about four hours to download everything. And then that's when they start poring over all that data.

COSTELLO: So, David, this unmanned sub, it's tiny, it's 16 feet long, 21 inches wide. It's been used only once before for this kind of operation, but not under these circumstances. That seems concerning to me.

SOUCIE: Well, it is, particularly in this depth because at that range you'd be about 1,500 meters off the bottom of the ocean. So that's not a very good range. And what we get back is not going to be a very detailed and specific read. So there's going to be - have to be another phase of this. And that is that when the data gets back onto the ship, they're talking about turning it back around again. I wouldn't expect that. What they'll have to do is some data analysis right off the bat before they send it back down. The reason is that they may have to change the payload from a sonar into a photography unit. And at that point, I'm not sure if they'll even be able to get close enough to get photos with that particular Bluefin.

COSTELLO: Well, let's explain that further because these -- right now it's scanning the ocean floor and it's, in essence, taking pictures. But the submarine has to come up and then the information has to be downloaded on the ship, and that takes about two hours for them to see any pictures, is that right, David?

SOUCIE: Yes, that's right. And then again, at that point, what they probably will not do -- I'm not there, but what they probably will do at that point is do some analysis on that data before they put the Bluefin back in the water again. They'll be changing batteries on it. They'll be getting it prepared for its next mission. But along with that, they have to determined, if they find something significant that they'd like to explore, they say, hey, this looks like wreckage -- it's just a black and white picture. It's not very detailed, the sonar. And, remember, rocks can be confused with other parts down there as well. So they'd have to determine that. Then they can swap out the payload if they see something interesting and send a camera down to take some more high resolution photographs.

COSTELLO: Anish, I wanted to ask you about the black boxes. We've heard no signals for nearly a week. The batteries are most likely dead, right?

PATEL: Yes, I mean, we -- we said all along that the unit's good for 30 days. We were happy that we got a few extra days. More than likely, since they haven't heard anything in over five days, our unit has done its job, but it's gone very, very quiet.

COSTELLO: And then the other question I have, the searchers said today that, don't be surprised if we go down there and if we find those black boxes there won't be any debris around them. Is that unusual in your mind?

PATEL: It would seem odd that the black boxes would be separate from some sort of debris field or something from the aircraft. These are located well inside the electronic bays of the 777. So for them to be, quote, unquote, ejected and not have anything else around them would seem very odd to me.

COSTELLO: Because the black boxes are in the tail section of the plane and is that the heaviest part of the plane?

PATEL: Well, they're designed and put there because theoretically that is the part that gets the least amount of impact depending on the type of incident or accident you have. So they specifically try to locate them away from where the brunt of the impact would be.

COSTELLO: And, Will, one last question for you. The search by air for debris, has it largely ended?

RIPLEY: It's still underway. They're still, as you see when you look at the numbers, still a considerable number of ships out there, still around a dozen planes, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the day. But you have to imagine that as we continue to go out to these search zones that keep continuously being refined and you keep not finding any debris, at some point they're going to have to make the call to scale that back. When that will happen, that is the answer only that Angus Houston knows. But he did say today that he doesn't think the chances are very good of any debris floating on the surface this far out.

COSTELLO: OK. So, David, I lied, one last question to you then. So they're losing confidence they're going to find any more debris by air. They're already telling us that, you know, there might not be any debris around those black boxes. We don't know. Are you still as hopeful as you were before?

SOUCIE: Yes. I think that Angus, as he has always done, has tried to manage expectations. And to my knowledge, granted it's very dark and it's very difficult to search down there, so it's possible they'd find the black box before they found debris. But in my estimation, since there's no debris on the surface, I speculate that there would be a more solid or substantial piece on the ocean floor retaining that floatable debris. So, yes, I'm still encouraged by it. And I've never at this - I never have read or seen anything about a black box being entirely by itself. That's just not the way it works.

COSTELLO: Will Ripley, David Soucie, Anish Patel, thanks to all of you.

SOUCIE: Thank you.

PATEL: Thank you.

RIPLEY: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Since the crash of Air France Flight 447 in 2009, inventors have spent years working on new and improved versions of those black boxes. Some of those black boxes have batteries that last longer. Others have pingers that can be detected from farther away. Versions that could have possibly helped speed up the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. So, why has the industry been so slow to embrace new technology? We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A small country in West Africa is ground zero in the urgent struggle to stop what's already become one of the deadliest Ebola outbreaks either. The fast-moving and deadly virus rarely makes it out of the remote forested areas of Africa, but now that has experts - but now that's changed. Experts want to make sure the swift killer does not go global. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is live in Guinea.

And, first of all, I don't want to appear insensitive but this is a very contagious disease and I do care about you. So, are you safe?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, we think we're safe. Obviously, Carol, we've taken that into consideration. Thanks for asking. I think it's best to describe Ebola as very infectious, but not necessarily very contagious. That means a small amount can cause an infection, but you have to spend a lot of time with somebody, sustained contact they call it, to really be at risk of infection.

Just behind me, Carol, something you've really never seen on television. This is the isolation ward here that Doctors Without Borders have set up to try and take care of these patients. And as you point out, it's made its way to this capital city, 2 million people. It's got an international airport here. And that's the big concern. But I'll tell you, Carol, just even testing for this can sometimes be challenging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): A simple blue box potentially carrying one of the most dangerous pathogens in the world on its way to be tested. In less than four hours, we'll find out whether it contains the Ebola virus. The fate of three patients depends on what's inside. Simply getting the blood samples is a life-threatening job. One of these workers told us he has a nine-month-old baby at home. They'll do everything they can to protect themselves. Three pairs of gloves, booties and layer after layer of gowns. They go in to see the patients. Every single inch of their body covered in permeable suits. Nothing in, nothing out. You see, even a drop of the Ebola virus that gets through a break in your skin can infect you. And we all have breaks in our skin.

GUPTA (on camera): This is the painstaking detail and process you have to go through to be able to interact with these patients with Ebola. This is as close as we can get. They're decontaminating themselves but they've taken the blood samples and put them in this ice chest over here and it's highly suspicious that contains Ebola.

GUPTA (voice-over): WHO lab technicians suit up next. They've just been hand delivered the blue boxes. Now it's their job to test the sample for the deadly virus. They're going to have the results just two hours from now. But a few years ago, being able to test for Ebola on its own turf was impossible. Precious blood samples had to be taken out of remote forested areas in central Africa and flown to the CDC in Atlanta or the WHO in Geneva. Pilots would sometimes refuse to fly the dangerous pathogens. And even if they did, it could take days or weeks to get the results.

8:00 p.m., we get the call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, two of these are positive.

GUPTA (on camera): So two of the three patients now have confirmed Ebola?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Now one thing I want to point out as well Carol, from the time as someone is exposed to the time they get sick can range anywhere from two to 21 days, that's called the incubation period. That's what the doctors here will tell you. It's very important Carol again for the reasons we were talking about, a couple of days go by. Could you get on an airplane and fly around the world? It is possible. It's not likely, it's never happened yet. But that's one of the things these doctors here are trying to prevent. These are the isolation wards where they're keeping the patients to try and prevent that scenario -- Carol.

COSTELLO: How many people survive this disease?

GUPTA: You know, in the past with this particular strain of Ebola, it can be up to 90 percent mortal. So you know nine out of ten patients would die from this. That obviously -- those are staggering statistics. And the average time to death was only about ten days. So you get an idea of just how swift a killer this is.

So far here and we've been monitoring this very closely, the numbers appear around 65 percent -- still terrible numbers obviously in terms of percentages of death. But they do seem to be having some success. So getting people into these isolation areas early, getting them whatever treatment they can provide, there is no cure or specific treatment for Ebola, but doing whatever they can seems to make a difference.

You also have to makes sure people actually come. There's huge stigma around this disease here. If you have it, people won't take your money, they won't do any kind of business with you. So people are really, really reluctant to even say that they're sick.

COSTELLO: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, reporting live from Guinea. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM damaging winds, reports of tornadoes and the severe weather threat isn't over for millions of us. Indra Petersons has more for you.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A line of storms continue to push across the country. We'll talk about who has the threat for severe weather coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Opening bell on Wall Street rang just about 20 minutes ago. Right now stocks are up just about 73 points, but it may be another rocky week. Bank earnings are out in the next few days and investors are keeping a close eye on them. Ringing the opening bell this morning, Belden Incorporated which manufactures networking and cable products -- now you know.

Nearly 12 million people are in the path of a strong storm system across making its way across the south. In Lovelady, Texas about 100 miles north of Houston, the sheriff's department caught this funnel cloud as this blew through town Sunday. This massive storm front will bring heavy rain and much colder temperatures over the next 24 hours. Indra Petersons is live in New York and in Kansas City is snowing this morning?

PETERSONS: Just when we thought winter was over right Carol. I mean once again the fact that we talk about snow in the forecast is hard to believe. And you know Texas wasn't alone with that severe weather. Take a look at all the incidents we had just yesterday. I mean five reports of tornados. We have had two in Iowa, in Oklahoma and of course the one in Texas you just mentioned and a lot of reports of straight line winds so definitely just as damaging.

Now today the threat is not over with just yet. In fact, we've actually extended it. The latest update now brings it from Montgomery all the way back now even down through Corpus Christi. Especially in the afternoon we start to get more of that sunlight that kind of fuels or acts like energy for those storms. We start to see these guys kind of kick up again. That's going to be the concern as this frontal system makes its way to get across the country, producing heavy rain in the southeast and then eventually spreading into the northeast overnight tonight.

But look at this you were talking about snow. Look at the back side of this. See the white? Yes, snow in the forecast as high pressure fills in and cold air comes in from Canada and temperatures, wow, do they go down. We're going to get there first talking about the heavy rain and the flooding potential, even to the northeast seeing about two inches of rain possible. A little bit of snow on the back side of this but it is the temperature drop you're going to feel.

Look at the above normal temperatures in the northeast the below normal temperatures behind the cold front eventually that spreads off to the northeast we're talking about a 30 degree temperature drop Carol by Wednesday into the northeast and I'm not going to be making any friends.

COSTELLO: I know I'm crying right now. I knew we would pay for that 80 degrees we had this weekend in Atlanta.

PETERSONS: A little tease, a little tease.

COSTELLO: Indra Petersons thanks so much.

PETERSONS: Ok.

COSTELLO: It can go where search crews cannot. A high tech sub is scouring the ocean floor right now for that missing plane.

Up next we'll take a look at how it works.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Officials are ramping up the underwater search for that missing plane. Right now an unmanned sub called the Bluefin 21 is scouring the ocean floor for clues. It's one of the most high tech devices on the market and officials say it could help solve this international mystery. But how exactly does this technology work?

CNN's Rosa Flores has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This probe is the latest technology that could be used to find Flight MH 370. Using side-scan sonar, it searches for things that don't belong beneath the sea.

(on camera): What is side-scan sonar?

BOB ANDERSON, PRESIDENT, OCEANSERVER: Well, side-scan sonar is an acoustic technology that's based on reflections of sound rather than reflections of light.

FLORES (voice over): The autonomous underwater vehicle AUV is gathering information to create a map of the sea floor. This time it's the bottom of a Massachusetts reservoir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The side-scan consists of an electronic package which is inside the vehicle. It's basically a computer that processes the data to make the pulse and to bring back the pulse and configure it into an image. FLORES: It moves back and forth along the surface but some AUVs can dive deep into the ocean. Sonar helps identify and find debris like this submerged car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: once we identify the target, we do a cross pattern and we zoom in here. So we pulled the sonar file, went to that location and then got a better high def image of that car.

FLORES: In the case of Flight 370, an AUVE would face a number of obstacles that could stretch this entire process out for months or years. To get a real-time close-up image, this remotely operated vehicle or ROV uses the map to visit the location.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. That's great.

RHONDA MONIZ: It's pretty choppy out here today so the visible is quite reduced.

FLORES (on camera) : In the depths of the Indian Ocean we would probably use sonar, at first I imagine if the water is very deep and very dark?

MONIZ: Yes.

FLORES: And then perhaps the camera?

MONIZ: Exactly.

FLORES (voice over): Once it's there it uses a camera and claws to pick up debris, bringing critical evidence and hopefully answers to the surface.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Fall River Massachusetts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.