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MH-370 Flight Data Released; Passengers' Families Still Dissatisfied; Bob Weiss Remembers His Daughter; Numbers Show Housing Recovery Slowing; First Lady Responds to Healthy Lunch Critics

Aired May 27, 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 joining me. This morning, the Malaysian government finally released new information on the final hours of missing Flight 370. The data compiled by a British satellite company explains why its engineers concluded that the flight diverted hundreds of miles off course and why the search was then shifted to the Southern Indian Ocean.

Today's release comes after two months of angry demands from the families of those aboard. They want their own experts to verify that conclusion. But immediately after the release, critics say the report is incomplete and missing key information that independent experts would need.

Chief complaint -- today's release shows the communication logs but does not explain exactly how the British satellite company estimated the plane's last known location. According to Inmarsat's CEO, it's Malaysia's government keeping those details secret.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUPERT PEARCE, CEO, Inmarsat: We have absolutely no problem putting our model in the public domain and that is a decision for the leading country to put out there. It's clearly information, materials, and workings that we've contributed into the investigation so the proper decision making around that lies with the Malaysian government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So what exactly is in all that data? And how do all of those numbers add up to more clarity on one of aviation's greatest mysteries?

CNN's Tom Foreman is in Washington to break it down for us. Hi, Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. We keep talking about the mystery of the plane being gone. Here is the mystery on top of the mystery -- how did that come up with this pattern based on these partial signals between a satellite and an airplane that were not intended to track direction?

These are the documents that we've been talking about, that are such a big deal right now. Almost 50 pages of this. And, largely, if you look through all the documents, what you will see is page after page of numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers. The only ones that probably really matter to most people are the end ofp age 40 and beginning of page 41, because that's where you can see, if you look down here, these are the -- the burst frequency between the satellit -- and I'm using technical terms that they use here, and why it's confusing - and the burst timing offset.

And you can see in one set of the numbers here, that it goes from 252 to 182. And here it goes from 18040 to 2300.

This, as best we can make out, simply changes into distance, in a way. What they've been saying all along is that these numbers show that the plane was getting further away from the satellite, and by using that, they were able to calculate that if the satellite's over here, where it is, that the plane is moving further out. And that's what created these rings where they locate the plane.

Now, it's very important to notice -- you see all the arrows here? All that is telling you is the time at which the plane crossed those rings. So, for example, you could say the plane was here, and here and here, and here, and here. Just in a straight line out this way. Or you could say it went up this way. Or you could say it went down this way, which is what they're saying.

The only way you get the bottom pattern and not the other ones is then by studying this burst frequency offset, the Doppler effect. And that's what's convinced them it's gone south. What I don't rea;;u see in these numbers, Carol, and we've been looking at them very closely, is a clear understanding of how that math works.

Now, the officials at Inmarsat sat down with our Richard Quest and they explained to him how they went through the process, but even there when he said to them "Specifically how did you get this?" they kept saying, it takes people with very, very high levels of mathematical and physics training to understand how we got here. That's why, even if they're releasing all the right information here, Carol, I think it's going to be very hard for anyone to look at those numbers and say, ah, I've rebuilt it, recalculated it and I also get this path down by Australia.

And until enough numbers are released to the right experts for them to re-create this on their own, independent of the Malaysian government, and Inmarsat, I think you're going to have people unsatisfied that this is necessarily where this plane went.

COSTELLO: I think you are absolutely right, Tom Foreman. Many thanks.

For the families of those aboard Flight 370, the release of this data does little to tamp down the mistrust and resentment that has festered for weeks. Steve Wang, who lost his mother on Flight 370, ripped the delay in making that information public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WANG, FAMILY MEMBER OF FLT. 370 PASSENGER: What did they do for this more than two months? They haven't searched for anything? They haven't found anything. And we are suspicious from the first day that whether they are searching the right place, whether what they're telling is true or not. Because it is our loved ones who is on the plane. With no direct evidence, we never believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Saima Moshin in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, with more. Good morning.

SAIMA MOSHIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, Stephen Wang's opinion on this is reflective of some others as well. Sarah Bajc, who spearheaded the campaign, calling on the Malaysian authorities and Inmarsat to release the data, she wants full disclosure. And because of the emission of various pieces of data, as Tom explained there, there data was missing that compares various flights with MH-370, she feels there hasn't been full disclosure and she wants to see it all. She wants to see it all, because, of course, everyone and everything is relying on this data to lead the search to the southern Indian Ocean.

I've also been speaking to family members here in Malaysia. On the flip side, they aren't bothered about the data. They feel dissatisfied with it, yes, but they feel this has just been a continuation of the way they've been treated by the Malaysian authorities and the investigation teams. They feel very unsatisfied with the way they've been treated to date. And they also say, look, until we get some debris, we won't have 100 percent closure and we won't be satisfied. And, frankly, we don't believe this data is 100 percent reliable anyway.

And then we also have other family members who feel this is really a breakthrough. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

K.S. NARENDRAN, HUSBAND OF FLIGHT 370 PASSENGER: I think it's perhaps the first time that there's been demonstrated willingness to make sensitive data publicly available. I think that's a critical point that I'd like to emphasize, because thus far it's just been a lot of stonewalling and hiding behind all kinds of arguments of safety, security and credibility of the investigation. So I think this has been an important step in sharing information to the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOSHIN: Stonewalling, delays, frustration. Carol, that is, of course, all the kind of words we're hearing from the many different voices of the loved ones of those onboard Flight MH-370 as they try and make their way to some kind of clarity as to where the plane ended and where their loved ones are. Carol?

COSTELLO: Saima Moshin, reporting live for us this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a father opens up about the gun violence in a California college town that ended his daughter's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB WEISS, FATHER OF ISLA VISTA SHOOTING VICTIM: It's preposterous a kid who's in that bad of shape can go to three different gun stores and buy an arsenal, but it happens all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You'll hear more from Bob Weiss as he remembers his daughter Veronika. Why he says she could have been -- she could have helped the troubled shooter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: In Isla Vista today, the community is coming together for a day of mourning and reflection. Parents of the six students killed in an Isla Vista killing spree are struggling not only with their grief but how it was able to happen in the first place. One of the students killed, Veronika Weiss, a 19-year-old freshman who was gunned down outside of a sorority house. Her father spoke to CNN's Sara Sidner.

Sara's with me now from Isla Vista, California. Good morning.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, Bob Weiss wanted to talk about his daughter because he wanted people to know who she was. He said that she absolutely loved her life. She loved school. She was so into it. And he said she was the kind of person that would go up and talk to anybody. She would make friends with everybody. And he cannot believe that she is gone now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (voice-over): Bob Weiss had a special bond with his daughter Veronika. She was his first born child and he was a stay at home dad until she was 12.

BOB WEISS, FATHER OF VERONICA WEISS: So I changed her diapers, took her to preschool, taught her how to throw a ball.

SIDNER: The two were the two were almost inseparable. Veronica headed off to university less than a year ago, and now her father is having to do something he cannot bear to do with her, bury her. Veronica Weiss is one of the six students whose lives were taken in a diabolical killing rampage just days ago. Bob and his wife and sons raced up to the university when they didn't get a phone call from his normally conscientious daughter. While waiting for word from officials, they tracked Veronica's cellphone. It was still on. It even began to move, but she wasn't answering.

How did you know? How were you sure that she was gone?

WEISS: We got on her iPhone and located it in the middle of the crime scene. And then we actually were looking at the phone while they were moving her body away from the -- probably to take her to the morgue.

SIDNER: They knew then that she was one of the girls who died here on the front lawn of the sorority. WEISS: It's preposterous that a kid who is in that bad of shape could go to three different gun stores and buy an arsenal, but it happens all the time.

SIDNER: Weiss wishes Rodger had known the truth about who she actually killed. WEISS: She was kind. She was the person who would reach out to the kids who weren't the popular kids, some of the nerdy kids, some of the kids that were a little bit like this Rodger kid described himself as, as being a little bit of an outcast.

SIDNER: Now the Weisses and the other victims' families are left with only memories to turn to, to remind them of who their children really were.

WEISS: The outpouring of support and love -- I can say this, when somebody close to you dies, reach out to survivors, because even though it feels awkward and you don't have anything to say, every little word, every little sentence on Facebook, it all means something. It means that you're not alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (on camera): He, his wife and his two sons are heartbroken over all of this, as are all of the families who are dealing with this tragedy. We do know that today the school is closed. UC Santa Barbara has closed and they will have a memorial instead. Carol?

COSTELLO: Sara Sidner, reporting live.

Here's what's all new in the next hour of NEWSROOM, Elliot Rodger's women-hating sex rants have inspired a powerful response on Twitter. #YesAllWomen, the movement raises an important question. Is the killer's sick mind to blame or is it a larger issue than that?

That's all new in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking some "Top Stories" for you at 48 minutes past the hour.

"Praying for a miracle" -- those are the words of the Mesa County, Colorado Sheriff as the search continues for three men missing after a series of weekend mudslides near the Utah border. The men had gone to investigate damage from the first mudslide and then vanished when two more massive slides hit the region.

Parts of North Dakota are bracing for more severe weather today after a tornado ripped through an oil field camp last night. One person caught the twister on tape. Nine people were hurt. One hospitalized. The storm also destroyed at least a dozen recreational vehicles.

The Honda Accord is the top target car thieves. It is the fifth straight year the Accord has topped the most stolen list that's according to car tracking device maker Lojak. The Honda Civic and Toyota Camry finished second and third. If you're driving a turquoise car, breathe easy. Lojak says it is the least likely color to attract thieves. Black cars are their favorites.

Some important housing numbers out this morning. Basically they show the housing recovery is still trending in the right direction, but it may be slowing down.

Our chief business correspondent Christine Romans is in New York to break it all down for us. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right home prices still increasing in most of the country but not rising as quickly as they have been in months and quarterbacks past. Here are numbers for you. Home prices nationwide, this is the 20 city composite index from Case Schiller, up 0.9 percent from February to March; so from one month to the other rose almost one percent. when you look year-over-year compared to March last year, those home prices up 12.6 percent.

That feels really good, but remember we came down hard for several years and these home prices are still trying to claw out of that big, big decline that we saw -- so still rising. There's a chart overall since 2006. Still creeping up, Carol, but slowing -- slowing, we are in terms of the pace of the home price gains -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Sort of like the pace of the overall economy.

ROMANS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Do different geographical regions matter in the slowdown?

ROMANS: Yes absolutely you I would say that all -- all real estate is local. Like politics. All real estate is local. Some of these high flying cities are seeing 20 percent, 21 percent, 22 percent year over year price increases like San Francisco for example, Las Vegas.

But again the pace of those increases is slowing. But when you look at places like New York, you saw prices actually decline a little bit from February to March. That was a little bit unusual. You saw record high prices really nearing peak prices again in Dallas and Denver. So depending on where you live Carol, it could be a very different scenario. Still seeing a lot of these home purchases by the way are cash, all cash. A lot of home buyers are saying when they find a house that they want to buy they are surprised because other people come in with all cash and pretty much rip the house right out from under them.

So where there are people who are trying to get active in the housing market, it's still the cash buyers who are dominating -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Understand Christine Romans reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Art lovers rejoice. More than 400,000 high quality images from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art now available to download online and it's free. The museum says the digital collection is part of an initiative to make the works more assessable to the general public. The images can be used for any noncommercial purposes so you can probably expect a few pieces from Van Gogh to pop up on your Facebook feed in the near future.

It was a journey back in time for a surprised music fan in Minnesota.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE PERRY, SINGER: I come to you with open arms --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh the memories. Former Journey lead singer Steve Perry himself sang publicly for the first time since the 1990s when he jumped on stage at a rock concert in St. Paul on Sunday. Perry is currently working on his first solo album in 20 years, which might explain why he's on stage singing today.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Michelle Obama preparing to take a very public stand against critics of the federally mandated healthy school lunch program this afternoon.

Michelle Kosinski live at the White House to tell us more. Good morning.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi Carol right could it be the First Lady versus Congress? Taking a stand to keep high standards in school lunches. We'll have the story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The First Lady Michelle Obama ready to take on congressional Republicans who want to scale back healthy school lunch standards. The House measure is set to be voted on this Thursday would allow some schools to opt out of federal rules established in 2010. Opponents argue the program is too expensive and some schools are having trouble meeting the program standards.

The First Lady accompanied by nutritionists who support the program is expected to make a statement today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Very unusual for the First Lady to take a stand like this publicly.

Michelle Kosinski, live at the White House to tell us more. Good morning.

KOSINSKI: Right Carol who knew that school lunches could be such a murky topic so political and also pretty emotional at this point. I mean on the one hand you have the White House, especially the First Lady and those that support these tougher standards that went into effect in 2010 for federally funded school lunches. They did things like reduced sodium content and make sure that each kid taking one of these lunches had to choose at least one fruit or a vegetable.

But then you have this move coming from the House Appropriations Committee backed by Republicans that are saying look it's just not working. That some schools can't afford it, first of all and that it contributed to a lot of waste. That's a big argument. That kids who are forced basically to take a fruit or a vegetable are taking it but they are just not eating it. They also saying that numbers of kids accepting those meals have been dropping.

But the other side is saying that they're just being influenced by none other than corporate interests. That food maker, the frozen pizza maker, French fry makers have been influencing members of Congress to include those foods still in school lunches to have them designated like frozen pizza with tomato sauce being called a vegetable.

So this has become something of a real fight. And we're going to hear the First Lady today and in coming days speak out against this and really taking this bit of a move in Congress head-on -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well I guess lawmakers were kind of successful with the frozen pizza thing and the tomato sauce being a vegetable although tomatoes are a fruit. But maybe they didn't realize that.

KOSINSKI: Yes I think the real question here is the politics. How much of it is based on real progress and real science and real data and how much are those influences that are there behind the scenes.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Michelle Kosinski, many thanks.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

(MUSIC)

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me this morning.

Malaysia's government peels back the curtain on its search for missing Flight 370. Over night officials released satellite data from the airliners final hours. It's the very information that wildly diverted the search to one of the most remote areas on earth, the southern Indian Ocean where not a single piece of wreckage has been found.

Today's release comes after two months of angry demands and accusations from families of those aboard and no sooner did this data go public before even more criticism that key information was being withheld.

We'll talk to the partner of one American passenger in just a moment. But first, CNN's Richard Quest has this exclusive look inside Inmarsat, the British satellite company that's solely responsible for pinpointing this search.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is Inmarsat, the company which for 35 years has been used by ships and planes to keep in touch. We were given exclusive access to the network's operation center.

(on camera): It's here in the satellite control room in London that you see the technology involved and you start to understand how they came to the conclusion. The satellite involved is Inmarsat 3F1, one of 11 satellites in the Inmarsat collection.