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Ferry Crew's Actions; Bluefin-21 on 9th Mission Scanning Seabed; Boston Marathon Kicks Off; Teen Says He Survived in Jet's Wheel Well

Aired April 21, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good Monday morning. Thanks so much for being here with us. I'm Pamela Brown, in for Carol Costello.

And this morning, the death toll rises in the sinking of that South Korean ferry. It has jumped from 65 to 87. And last hour we learned that divers have discovered more bodies inside that submerged vessel. South Korea's president says the failures of the captain and crew to protect lives is, quote, "akin to murder." (INAUDIBLE) indictments come as four more crew members are arrested, making for a total of seven crew members now charged. And last hour, on CNN's "New Day," we heard from a cargo ship captain who also serves as a maritime safety consultant and he says the critical minutes lost when the ship began taking on the water. Let's take a listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BOLDUAN, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": Captain, at what point, when you're clearly in an emergency situation like this, should it be suggested to put your lifejackets on and get ready to abandon ship?

CAPT. JAMES STAPLES, OCEANRIVER LLC MARITIME CONSULTANTS: Well, initially, when the ship went to about 10 degrees, when she was turning, that's when the concern should have been if she did not come back to an upright position --

BOLDUAN: Just at 10 degrees?

STAPLES: At 10 degrees they should have been very concerned as to why she was not coming back. When she continued to go on, it should have been given immediately to launch those life rafts. The concern from the captain was, the water was called (ph) into a swift current.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

STAPLES: That's true. That's a concern -

BOLDUAN: Is it a valid concern?

STAPLES: It's a very valid concern. But still, it's no reason for not putting the life rafts into the water at that time. And even if people had to go into the water, they would have had something to go to. They would have had the life rafts.

BOLDUAN: There's also - and it would have also - and it was also suggested that at some point it got to - it got to a point where the life rafts were either under water or they couldn't even get to it to deploy them. Is that - is that possible?

STAPLES: Well, on that -- on the port side, absolutely, they were probably very close to the water and maybe even under water. But there's still no reason why the life rafts could not have been deployed when she first started to go. That should have been the first command he gave was to start getting those life rafts ready, get everybody mustered outside so they would not have been trapped inside that vessel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And that is the big question, why weren't those life rafts deployed in those first minutes when the ship started to tilt. The growing list of criminal charges raises a number of legal questions about the ferry sinking and the crew's immediate response to the unfolding disaster.

And for more on this, I want to bring in Jack Hickey, a trial attorney who specializes in maritime accidents. He joins us from Miami. And John Kimball, also a maritime attorney, he is in New York.

Jack, let's begin with you. We now have seven crew members charged. Do you expect more arrests to happen?

JACK HICKEY, MARITIME TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, I don't know if more arrests will happen, but certainly the Koreans are making a statement that they are treating this very seriously. They had a disaster in 1970 which killed several hundred people as a result of a ferry that went under. And so they are treating this very seriously. And, you know, really it's a string of failures here.

Not just one failure, but one failure after another starting with the captain not being at the helm in a navigationally sensitive situation, and then going on to the mixed signals to the passengers and then, of course, the captain abandoning ship long before his passengers were in safety.

BROWN: And, John, I want to sort of hone in on that, the captain not being at the helm. Can you help give some clarification, was that a violation of the law? Because there have been some mixed reports about that.

JOHN KIMBALL, INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ATTORNEY: It's not a violation of the law to have a third officer at the helm. But when the ship started getting in trouble, the captain should have gotten to the bridge as quickly as possible and taken over and taken command at that moment. And that seems to have been a failure.

BROWN: And, Jack, so we've established the captain was not at the helm, but he's charged with causing this ship to sink by failing to slow down and for making a turn excessively, even though he wasn't at the helm. Can you explain that?

HICKEY: Well, you know, and I agree with John, I don't fault the captain for not being at the helm for the entire thirteen and a half hours it took from -- to get from Incheon to Jindo Island. But the, you know, the captain should be at the helm if there's any -- when the ship is in a navigationally sensitive situation. We saw that with the Exxon Valdez, when the ship is leaving or navigating through Prince William Sound, that's when the captain should be at the helm.

And the captain was not at the helm here. It's not a violation of law for him not to be at the helm, but certainly should have been number one if the ship is in a navigationally sensitive situation and, number two, and I agree with John on this, that when there's an emergency situation, when there's a severe list and 10 degrees, your -- one of your maritime experts said 10 degrees. Ten degrees is a huge list.

You know, that's a leaning of the ship. So 10 degrees is like this, and that's when things go to the side and cargo gets thrown around and containers get thrown around within the vessel that is going to affect the stability of the vessel. So, yes, the captain should have made his way right then and there and then should have really taken charge and made the communications to the passengers very clear.

BROWN: Yes, regardless of whether or not he was at the helm, that ferry was his responsibility. John, South Korea's president spoke bitterly of the crew's failure, saying that they were akin to murder. What are your thoughts on that?

KIMBALL: Well, as a lawyer, I tend to be a little more cautious about saying such things. I think there's a lot to be learned from the timetable that we've seen so far. And clearly the captain was not performing his duties and did not take command when he should have done (INAUDIBLE) not order an evacuation as soon as he should have done. But I think there's a lot still to be told about the events that led up to the capsizing, and I think we have to reserve a little bit of judgment just to see and give the captain a fair shake to understand exactly what was going on.

BROWN: Yes, as we said, it wasn't just a failure of one person, there were - it was sort of a ripple effect, it seems, of issues. Jack Hickey, John Kimball, thank you, we appreciate it.

KIMBALL: A pleasure.

HICKEY: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: And still to come, search crews are desperately trying to find wreckage from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. So far a high-tech underwater robot scouring the ocean floor hasn't come back to the surface with a single lead. CNN's Erin McLaughlin has the latest from Perth, Australia.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Pamela.

Well, that underwater robot has scanned some two-thirds of this narrow search area and still no signs of missing Malaysia Flight 370, prompting many to ask, what next? I'll have more on that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Right now, a high-tech underwater robot called the Bluefin-21 is scanning the ocean floor for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 for the ninth time. It's been 45 days since the Boeing 777 vanished and search crews have been unable to uncover a single piece of debris despite weeks of exhaustive searches. At least 10 planes and 11 ships are helping to search an area more than 18,000 square miles today. CNN's Erin McLaughlin joins us now live from Perth, Australia, with the very latest.

Hi, Erin.

MCLAUGHLIN: Hi, Pamela.

Well, officials warn that this could be a slow and painstaking process. And with the majority of this narrowed search area now completely ruled out, all eyes still on the Bluefin-21 as people here are watching, even praying that it finds the missing plane.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): The search for Flight 370 is at a critical juncture, investigators say now, only days away from completing the targeted search area with no sign of debris.

HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN, MALAYSIAN ACTING TRANSPORT MINISTER: I appeal to everybody around the world to pray and pray hard that we find something to work on over the next couple of days.

MCLAUGHLIN: The Bluefin-21 back in the water this morning. The search area, six miles in radius, represents the best guess as to where the plane may be. If nothing is found, that search area is set to widen dramatically.

HUSSEIN: Whatever we -- the outcome of the next few days, we need to regroup and reconsider the operations. It doesn't mean that we are going to stop the operations.

MCLAUGHLIN: Over the weekend, investigators also amending crucial information about how they now believe the plane flew. Investigators say once Flight 370 made its initial left turn, deviating from the planned route, the aircraft climbed to 39,000 feet for about 20 minutes over Malaysia, dipping in altitude over the Indian Ocean, Malaysian officials believe the plane flew for about another six hours before crashing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN: Officials say the Bluefin could be finished with its current search within the week.

Pamela.

BROWN: Erin McLaughlin, thank you for the latest there.

And still to come right here in the NEWSROOM, more special live coverage from the Boston marathon where CNN's John Berman and Brooke Baldwin are at the starting line watching some 36,000 runners hit the streets amid tight security.

BROOKE BALWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is amazing. It is a beautiful Boston day here. We are actually in Hopkinton. This is the town this is where the whole thing begins, unprecedented crowds, unprecedented security today.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're going to talk to the man in charge of everything right here, the chief of police from the town of Hopkinton, Edward Lee, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Goose bumps.

BERMAN: Goose bumps -- the National Anthem the Star Spangled Banner here in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. I'm John Berman along with Brooke Baldwin. Hopkinton -- it all starts here. That's the town motto. This is where the Boston marathon kicks off. The elite women left a few minutes ago. The elite men expected to go in just a few minutes.

This is a small town. Population 15,000 a little bit less. But some 36,000 runners have come in here, you know taken over this town and that presents so many security issues.

BALDWIN: Yes.

BERMAN: We're joined by the chief of police here Edward Lee. Great to see you.

BALDWIN: Good morning.

EDWARD LEE, CHIEF, HOPKINTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: Great to be here. Thank you very much.

BALDWIN: So thousands of people. You're just looking at them, you see all of these people in your town to start this 26.2-mile race. The biggest race, the oldest race in the country. At what point -- you're a new chief in town.

LEE: Yes, yes.

BALDWIN: What point did you guys start talking security for this year's race?

LEE: Well security was planned the day of the bombings. And the men and women of the Hopkinton Police Department along with the several other federal agencies, states agencies they've been working on it. It's like I said as soon as the day after the bombings. There's a lot of planning and preparation and it's all coming together today.

BERMAN: So what's new this year? What are we seeing here behind us that we've never seen before?

BALDWIN: Yes. LEE: Well you're seeing an increase in the amount of law enforcement officers that are out there. You also seeing a security check point they never had on the common before. People are coming in were screened to make sure there's no backpacks or things of that nature. And also the -- the road is a little more narrow. So more of a buffer between the runners and the spectators.

BALDWIN: I was reading the police presence is double. And I think so much of what I've seen and everything from Secret Service to federal, local, state, helicopters, bomb-sniffing dogs but it's also what you don't see. Right?

LEE: Absolutely. There's quite a bit of personnel out there that you won't see and won't know about it. But they're out there.

BALDWIN: They're looking.

LEE: And they make sure that people are going to stay safe.

BERMAN: All right and what about the crowds? The crowds, here are you asking them to do anything differently this year? No backpacks with the crowd here on Hopkinton, correct?

LEE: Absolutely. And one of the biggest things we try to get the word out is the -- you know stay vigilant. If you see a little bit of a little something that looks a little out of the norm to you, report it.

BALDWIN: Yes.

LEE: See something, say something. That was the motto we get out to you, to the people.

BALDWIN: OK Chief, best of luck to you.

LEE: OK thank you very much.

BERMAN: Great to have you here. Good luck, Hopkinton looks great today. Never better.

LEE: OK. Thank you.

BERMAN: And of course do not miss a CNN special tonight 10:00, "BACK TO BOSTON" returning to some of those sights from the marathon from a year ago and some of the wonderful sights that we're seeing here today for the 118th running in the Boston Marathon.

BALDWIN: We'll be and Pamela broadcasting of course throughout the day. I'm about to hop in a car to head more closer into the finish line so we'll be there and look out for people. I was talking to runners and they say yes we'll be wearing sunglasses and it's not going to be because of the sun.

BERMAN: Some of the people back there by the way will beat Brooke into Boston. They will run to Boston faster than it will take her to drive there. BALDWIN: Can you believe that?

BROWN: It's not surprising. All right. John and Brooke, thanks guys. Great work out there.

BALDWIN: Thanks.

BROWN: And still to come right here in the NEWSROOM, get this, a teen says he stowed away for hours with no oxygen after hit hitching a ride on a plane. CNN's Dan Simon is following the story.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Pamela, you know, this is mind boggling on a couple of levels. Here you have this 16-year-old who hops a fence at the San Jose Airport and gets on this major airliner. He's a stowaway and then he survives. We'll tell you about it coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: So a California teen says he hitched a ride and survived as a stowaway in the wheel well on a flight from San Jose to Maui -- that's five hours with no oxygen and temperatures well below zero. A miraculous case of survival or something else?

CNN's Dan Simon is live in San Francisco with more on the story. Dan, do officials believe what this teen is saying?

SIMON: well, they have no reason to discount it at this point. There is surveillance video of him at the San Jose Airport hopping a fence and then apparently getting on this airplane. We are talking about a Hawaiian Airlines flight from San Jose to Maui. This is a story that's pretty incredible Pamela, on a few levels.

First of all, you just have the security issue. How this boy hops a fence and is undetected and gets on this plane and then, of course, the survivability aspect of this. He gets into the front landing gear. This is the wheel well of the plane.

He's on it for five hours going halfway across the Pacific Ocean. We are told that temperatures can dip somewhere about 80 below zero and we're talking about limited oxygen. He apparently became unconscious during this flight and then even after it landed, he still remained unconscious for approximately one hour. And then apparently just climbed out of the wheel well of this plane and was seen wandering around the tarmac in Maui.

This is one airline official or how one airport official described the situation.

MARVIN MONIZ, MAUI DISTRICT AIRPORTS MANAGER: I would imagine flying at 35,000 feet that would be very cold for one thing. Also, you know, 35,000 feet in that wheel well, it's not pressurized or temperature controlled so it would be a miracle to, you know, to survive or (inaudible) riding up in a wheel well.

You know he looks pretty good from what I could see. You know, again, young juvenile. He didn't appear to be dirty or all greased up from claiming to be in a wheel well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, there have been other situations in the past where people have tried this before and have not survived. In fact, it happened a year ago, February in Washington, D.C. A man hopped on a plane in Africa and was found dead at the Dulles Airport.