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Object of Interest Washes Up On Australian Shore; No Air Pockets in Sunken South Korean Ferry; U.S. Troops Arrive in Eastern Europe; Training Ship Crews for Disaster; Stowaway was Headed to Somalia

Aired April 23, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM an object of interest, a tantalizing bit of debris washes up on the Australian shore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He describes the object as sheet metal attached to something with rivets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Australia will not rest until we have done everything we humanly can to get to the bottom of this mystery.

COSTELLO: Plus no air pockets. Hope for a miracle fades as more crew members are taken into custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're learning a young student on board the ship was first one to call emergency services.

COSTELLO: Also, a message for Russia. U.S. troops arrive in eastern Europe.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No nation has the right to simply grab land from another nation.

COSTELLO: Ukraine ending its Easter truce.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks as though at this stage the Geneva agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on.

COSTELLO: As President Obama heads to Asia to calm fears that Russia's aggression will fuel Iran and North Korea. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. We begin with several major developments in the search for missing Malaysian airlines flight 370. First, an object of interest has been recovered on the southern coast of western Australia. Officials are calling the lead serious, but some have expressed doubt. In the meantime the underwater drone that's been scouring the ocean floor has scanned 80 percent of the intended search area. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott saying the search will not be abandoned.

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TONY ABBOTT, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: We haven't finished the search. We haven't found anything yet in the area we're searching. But the point I make is that Australia will not rest until we have done everything we humanly can to get to the bottom of this mystery.

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COSTELO: CNN's Erin McLaughlin is live in Perth, Australia. I want to go back to that object of interest Erin, tell us more about that.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATION CORRESPONDENT: Hi Carol, well the head of Australia's transportation and safety bureau telling CNN that the ATSB is currently analyzing photographs of that object. He describes it as sheet metal with rivets. Source inside the Australian defense force telling CNN it appeared to be covered with fiberglass, went on to saying it was described as kind of rectangular but torn and misshapen. Now Dolan also saying while it is sufficiently interesting, he added a note of caution saying the more they look at the photographs, the less excited they get.

We understand that Australia media was reporting that perhaps more than one object was found. CNN not able to confirm those reports. We understand the object is currently in police custody. ATSB saying the current photographs they have are more than enough for them to be able to make an assessment if it's in fact connected to MH370. Carol.

COSTELLO: Erin, did this object of interest wash up onshore? If it did, have there been other objects they found onshore that turned out to be nothing.

MCLAUGHLIN: It did wash up onshore about 190 miles to the south of Perth. If other objects have washed up that were remotely interesting, we certainly haven't been notified. This is the first item of significance that they have thought to call to the media's attention in this search for debris, that has particularly washed up on shore. There have been plenty of items or sightings out on the oceans that have been found by any number of military planes that take up into the skies every day, scouring for any signs of MH370, all those sightings so far having been ruled out. Carol.

COSTELLO: Erin McLaughlin reporting live in Perth, Australia this morning.. Joining me now, Thomas Altshuler, he is the Vice President at Teledyne Marine Systems. Welcome.

THOMAS ALTSHULER, VICE PRESIDENT, TELEDYNE MARINE SYSTEMS(VIA TELEPHONE): Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So let's talk about this possible debris, an object of interest. It washed up onshore. A long piece of metal with rivets. Should we be at all optimistic about this?

ALTSHULER(VIA TELEPHONE): Well I think we need to be cautious. The first thing -- we said it a lot. We said it about the acoustic noise. The ocean is full of stuff. I'm going to say stuff because it has acoustic energy in it, it has things that have fallen over ships, things that have washed offshore. There's a lot of material in the ocean. So it's not outrageous that it would be completely not associated with the flight at all. At the same token, it's in an interesting spot. So it need to be investigated very carefully.

One of the things to think about is that there are great coastal oceanographers in the western part of Australia out of University of Western Australia. They study the currents, how the weather influences how material will move. I'm sure they're involved in this, looking at whether it's possible that something that came down 1,000 kilometers away over 45 days ago would make it all the way to the coast.

COSTELLO: Other developments, the Malaysian cabinet putting together an international investigation team to look into the disappearance of flight 370. No word on who will be on the team. How difficult might this be?

ALTSHULER (via telephone): I think this is a very unique situation. You're looking at both -- some of the classic questions that happen when you have a disappearance or a loss of an airplane. But now you're looking at a loss potentially in the deep ocean. That team is going to have to be made up of experts. Some of them are barely used in this situation. You a small pool of people to go to. You need to have very thoughtful people. I think it will be a shall challenge, but there are people out there that I think can add to what's going on right now.

COSTELLO: And the other development, Malaysia's civil aviation organization has finished a preliminary report on the plane's disappearance but hasn't released the preliminary report publicly. The families are angry about this. It should release the preliminary report, right? Why not?

ALTSHULER: That's a hard question to answer. We really aren't inside the minds of what the report writers are thinking and how confident they are of their initial findings. You're always going out on a limb. If you release data early, it's open to interpretation. As you can see with some of the things that have come out very quickly in the last 45 days, the risk of saying something that gets interpreted one way and even drives the community in the other. So I think they need to be thoughtful, but they do need to be open about what they release.

COSTELLO: Thomas Altshuler, thanks for your insight as usual.

ALTSHULER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: The crisis in Ukraine is escalating this morning. The United States now sending 600 troops to Poland and three Baltic states. The first group arriving today with everyone likely in place over the weekend. Russia is not backing down because of this. It announcing it will send troops to the Caspian sea for it's own unplanned military exercises. One pentagon official makes no bones about it. This sending of troops to the Baltic states is training exercise, it is a message to Russia, get out of eastern Ukraine, now. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, REAR ADMIRAL: Since Russia's aggression in Ukraine, we have been constantly looking at ways to reassure allies and partners.

This isn't the first time that the 173rd has done exercises with these countries. So there's a relationship there. But yes, these exercises were conceived and added on to the exercise regimen as a result of what's going on in Ukraine.

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COSTELLO: In the meantime the Ukrainian government is renewing its call for what it says is an anti terrorist operation, targeting four Russian militants in four key cities in a bid to regain control of the eastern part of the country. The actions come after two tortured bodies were discovered in the region, one belonging the a local parliament member. Ukraine blames pro-Russian militants and say they crossed the line. But a pro-Russian leader blamed the deaths on Ukrainian extremists, so as you can see the conflict goes on. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now to tell us more about those American troops in eastern Europe. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PETAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. As you saw the admiral say there, this is about 600 troops from a unit called the 173rd airborne brigade based in Italy. The troops are already in Europe. About 150 U.S. troops, paratroopers per country, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. They will be in place by Monday to exercise with these four countries for about 30 days and then other U.S. troops will rotate in -- it may expand to other countries. They're going to try to get NATO countries to offer up troops to do this. It really is, in a way, a two-pronged effort. It is a message to Moscow, get out of Ukraine. No question about that. It is also fundamentally a message to reassure these very nervous east European allies. The Baltic countries and Poland. Russia sits on their border and they're increasingly concerned about what Russia's intentions are, what Russia may do next. This is an effort to reassure them and say the U.S. will stand with them. 150 troops per country. Not a lot, but it is a clear message. Carol?

COSTELLO: Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the critical minutes that have doomed the sinking ferry off South Korea. CNN's Rosa Flores shows us how training can be the difference between life and death. Rosa?

ROSA FLORES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rosa Flores, I'm here at Resolve Maritime Academy. This is a full-blown bridge simulator. Right now you can see there's thunder and rain. But we are going to be adding more complications right after the break.

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COSTELLO: Off the coast of South Korea, a grim discovery aboard the sunken ferry. Divers say they have found no air pockets, virtually eliminating any hope that survivors are still trapped in the submerged hull. In the meantime the death toll crimes and the list of criminal charges grows longer. Let's get the latest on this deepening catastrophe. CNN's Will Ripley is in South Korea for us this mornings. Hi, Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. All this time divers have been working tirelessly around the clock searching for the possible air pockets inside the sunken ferry, the Sewol. Today that announcement, which really comes as a blow to the families holding on to the possibility of an air pocket, hoping someone might be alive.

They searched the third and fourth floors, the floors where most of these people -- passengers were believed to be. Many of them young students. That search turned up only more bodies today. The death toll 156 which is the first time now that the number of dead is higher by ten than the number of missing which is 146 officially. We're seeing the continued activity tonight that we have been seeing for days Carol, these boats coming back to shore bringing bodies. Along with those bodies come very, very grief-stricken families.

COSTELLO: Will Ripley reporting live from South Korea this morning. The criminal charges against the ferry's captain and ten of his crew members now hinge on one critical presumption, they're entrusted to respond quickly to an on board disaster and save the lives of their passengers.

CNN's Rosa Flores is about to walk us through some of that training for ship going emergencies. She's in a bridge simulator in Ft. Lauderdale. Good morning, Rosa.

FLORES: Good morning. You know cruise liners come here to this facility to train, to do drills so they can avert tragedy. This is Resolve Maritime Academy. I'm here with Dave Boldt, and he is going to kind of give us an idea as to what all this is. Dave, what are we looking at?

DAVID BOLDT, RESOLVE MARITIME ACADEMY: This is an integrated bridge system. It's exactly what you'd see on a large vessel.

FLORES: Right now, we're seeing thunder and rain. One of the things we can do is start listing this ship. So, we can start doing that, Dave, focus on the horizon and you'll be able to see a perspective as to what it would look like.

Now, we have a second camera, and I want you to take a look at this, because this is the perspective that passengers would have. Take a look at that. You can see how close the life boats are to the water, perhaps some of those windows that might be closer to the water.

So, Dave, at this point if you're on the bridge and you're commanding the ship, what's going through your mind. What are you communicating?

BOLDT: Well, a captain would know something is wrong if you're stuck at this point and you're listed over, it's either a flooding issue or a grounding scenario. So, there's specific things you do and they train for that. They train for that every month. They go ashore and train for those things.

So, they'd be communicating with crew members and crew members would be communicating with passengers.

FLORES: We got a rare look at what could be happening below deck. Take a look.

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FLORES (voice-over): On a ship, this is the universal sign of trouble. Inside this model ship haul, instructors from Resolve Maritime Academy train crew how to prevent a deadly disaster at sea, like the sinking of the passenger ferry in South Korea. Investigators say the nearly 7,000-ton ship sank in about two and a half hours.

Four hundred and seventy-six people were inside when a boy on board made the first call for help at 8:52 a.m. local time.

The ship's crew made a distress call about three minutes later at 8:55.

The crew's response is critical to preventing disaster.

In this scenario, water is rushing in from an unknown source.

(on camera): Water is starting to rise. What do you do?

PETE DONLON, TRAINER, RESOLVE MARITIME ACADEMY: Main thing is just to get away from the damage. Get outside. Let the crew know if you did find damage. Make sure the crew knows about it.

FLORES (voice-over): They use anything they can to plug the holes.

(on camera): How much time do you really have to get out or to assess the situation when water really starts just gushing in?

DONLON: Well, it all depends on the scenario, how deep the hole is inside the water. Naturally, the deeper the hole in the water, the more water pressure is going to be pushing in.

FLORES: If I'm a passenger that's on a ship and I'm not very familiar with the ship, what do you suggest that I do to get to safety?

DONLON: The best thing to get to safety is follow the walls. Follow them, get to a ladder, get outside. I always recommend getting to the main deck.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FLORES: Of course, he's referring to the deck where the life boats are. Now, we're back here with Dave.

Dave, talk to us about the training that is required for someone that is on the bridge that's at the helm of a ship like this?

BOLDT: So, there's training in schools. They do several years of training, they get their licenses. And there's time at sea and that's how they get ahead and get to the higher ranks. There's no requirement for recurrent training in this kind of a situation. We built this for some cruise line clients that we had, and they do recurrent training. We're starting to do that kind of thing regardless of international regulations.

FLORES: So, Carol, one of the big things we can take home from here is that's the reason why these simulators are here so that cruise lines can practice, they can go through drills and avert disaster -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Rosa Flores, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a 15-year-old boy is in the hospital after surviving a five-hour flight in a plane's wheel well. But why did he attempt such a dangerous stunt in the first place?

CNN's Dan Simon is in San Jose, California, with answers.

Good morning.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. What exactly motivated that 15-year-old to get into that wheel well and make that trip to Hawaii? We have some new information about what he told FBI investigators. We'll have that story coming up.

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COSTELLO: We now know more about why a teenager stowed away in a wheel well of a plane. The 15-year-old wanted to see his mom in Somalia.

As for his health, we're not sure. We know he's recovering though he may have permanent brain damage after flying in extremely frigid temperatures with low oxygen.

CNN's Dan Simon is in San Jose with more answers for us this morning.

Good morning, Dan.

SIMON: Good morning, Carol.

Well, it kind of seems like this is a teenager who was homesick, who acted out in an irrational manner, to say the very least. What we understand is he told FBI investigators that he wanted to go to Somalia and visit his mother. In fact, classmates at his high school in Santa Clara, California, tell us he said that he was from Africa and that he ultimately wanted to move there.

Why did he choose a Hawaiian airliner? Well, apparently that was just the first plane he saw when he hopped the fence.

We're also getting new information, Carol, in terms of the timeline, in terms of how all this happened. We understand that he hopped the fence here at the San Diego airport at approximately 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Keep in mind the plane didn't take off until just before 8:00 a.m. So, that means he would have been on the tarmac or perhaps even in that wheel well for approximately seven hours before it even took off. Keep in mind the flight itself was five hours.

Where he is now, we understand that he's -- I was going to tell you -- he's in this Maui hospital still recovering. He's said to be in very stable condition and at a certain point, we understand that authorities there or child welfare officials are going to make arrangements to get him back to California, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, I was just wondering about his family in California. Are they with him?

SIMON: We don't know where they are. We were actually in that neighborhood yesterday. We knocked on the door to the house. There was no answer. They apparently moved to that neighborhood not too long ago.

So when you talk to neighbors, few folks are familiar with the family. We also understand he enrolled in the high school just a few weeks ago as well.

So, they were relatively new at least to this part of the Bay Area.

COSTELLO: As for this San Jose International Airport and security improvements there, now that we know more of a timeline, have they filled the holes in their security?

SIMON: At this point, they haven't done anything. What we know is that the airport director is now essentially on the record saying they're going to be investigating what happened, obviously. They have said previously that all of their standards, their perimeters met TSA standards. But it's clear based upon this incident that something needs to be done.

It's something that not only applies to San Jose, Carol, but other airports across the country. It seems rather obvious that there are breaches in the system that somebody easily can hop over a fence at least here in San Jose. So, it begs the question, that if a teenager could do it, a terrorist could do it as well and maybe put a bomb in a wheel well. That's certainly a very, very terrifying thought, Carol.

COSTELLO: Dan Simon reporting live this morning -- thanks so much.

Still to come, a serious lead in the search for Flight 370. Is it a break through or just another piece of ocean debris? We'll ask the former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, next.

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