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Piece of Wing, Flaperon Found on Reunion Island Confirmed Part of Missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370; Pope Francis Calls for a More Open Catholic Church; Public Feud Brewing Between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 05, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Yes, please. Please.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: And what he said was the Boeing design experts confirmed that this flaperon was for technical reasons a Boeing 777 and then the Malaysian airlines company informed us that elements with regards to the specifications, the technical specifications as a result of this, they were able to say there's very strong suppositions which will be confirmed by analysis which begins tomorrow which is to Mary's point the sonic stuff, going into it and actually ripping it apart.

BALDWIN: Right. We also have, let me just read this. We have a full screen made from the Malaysian airlines, this is the part of a statement that they released to my point that I was making a bit ago. They said Malaysia airlines would like to sincerely convey our deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers on board flight MH-370. It goes on, here we go, family members of passengers and crew have already been informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected. This is indeed a major breakthrough for us in resolving the disappearance of MH-370. We expect and hope that there would be more objects to be found which would be able to help resolve this mystery.

Shawn Pruchnicki to you, as someone who has investigated crashes certainly in the past, you know again, to the point of finding more objects and your point of how this step one of 3,000, what's next?

SHAWN PRUCHNICKI, INVESTIGATED CRASH OF COMAIR FLIGHT 5191: Well, I think from here we need to obviously find some more wreckage. There's two components of this. One is they do need to, and I think we talked about that a while ago, canvass the beaches in the area to look for any more evidence. I'm not really that optimistic that they are going to find any and just because what, to Richard's point about just the sheer geographical size, but with due diligence any good investigation is going to do that. I do not think and what we've seen with other types of accidents like this that just randomly searching the ocean is going to be fruitful. That's not typically how an investigation would go.

But there's a second component to this. The fact that this did wash up in this area and our oceanographers, our experts have told us about the flow patterns, that that makes sense, that if we backtrack that last search area where we had those handshakes, that makes that evidence I think a lot more credible now and that area should be returned to to resume searches with, you know, with a little bit more effort in that area. So there is a little bit of backtracking that that helps us with. But all points in between of finding everything, boy, I think that's extremely optimistic. I certainly hopes that's the case. I certainly hope we do. But I would be quite surprised if they find anything else in the water between Reunion Island and the original search area that we've been focused on.

BALDWIN: We have so much more to explore here on CNN. Got to take a quick break. We will be back with our breaking news here. We have now heard from the prosecutor in Paris, we have heard from the Malaysian prime minister, we know families of the crew and passengers onboard that plane flight 370 that vanished 515 days ago is indeed apparently this plane.

Quick break. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:12] BALDWIN: I want to welcome again. You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. I want to welcome again our viewers here in the United States and all over the world.

We have you covered here on this breaking news story that we have now heard officially from the prime minister of Malaysia that indeed the piece of the wing and flaperon that was found on Reunion Island, washed ashore last week is indeed part of the missing Malaysian air flight 370.

I have the entire story covered from Reunion Island to France, to Beijing and to here in New York.

But David Gallo, I haven't heard your voice yet. Let me bring you in, director of special projects Woods Hole Oceanography and also very involved in the air France 447 investigation and crash from some years ago.

So to you first, now that we know that this piece of debris washed ashore just off of Madagascar, how would you, if you were leading the search, potentially for more pieces of this plane, where would you look?

DAVID GALLO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, Brooke, there's two searches going on right now. One is the surface search and we're back to that again to try to find other floating bits of the plane and then there's the ongoing underwater search that's in a completely different area looking for the main body of the wreckage and the black boxes and that's happening across the ocean.

I think they need to look -- you know, the beaches are the obvious place to look. But I -- it wouldn't hurt to have a look a little -- backtrack a little bit along that conveyor belt of the great gyer to see what might be found.

BALDWIN: Why have they found just one piece of the plane, that it wouldn't be found in a cluster? GALLO: Look, that's what I think it is, and the ocean is a great

disperser. If you put three objects in the ocean of different size and shapes and let it go at the same time from the tame place over time the ocean will separate them depending on whether they are being pushed by the wind or the currents or a combination of both. And so I think, you know, the debris is probably scattered over an absolutely huge area of the Indian Ocean by now.

BALDWIN: So the question is why and what happened to this plane? Why did this plane go down, and is the only way they will definitively know that is when they find the black boxes?

GALLO: Well, that's important to find the black boxes. And even more interesting, I think today we're capable, we have the technology, the cameras, the robots that we can do a forensic study even at the bottom of the sea instead of lifting things up where they might be damaged, we can do it in place fairly quickly. So I think the idea would be to find that wreckage and to document it and then to do a forensics study of all the surfaces while it's in place and go from there.

But it's very doable and, you know, if they have luck on their side and with some prayer and thought maybe they will find that wreckage fairly soon.

[14:40:90] BALDWIN: What about just even I'm fascinated about the marine biology aspect of this whole story, look at this flaperon and the barnacles that have grown from the ocean in however many months, this piece of the plane has been perhaps floating, you know, I don't even know, will they be able to determine how long it was in the water versus say washed ashore for some time?

GALLO: Brooke, I think only very generally. I don't know that they can get right down to specifics unless those barnacles come from one specific island somewhere in the Indian Ocean. And you know, if it came from off the coast of India that's going to be a game stopper. So I think they are going to want to find things consistent with the idea that's been in the water for 500 days and it came from the western coast of Australia. But even pollen is a great indicator of location. And that is very sticky stuff. So it maybe some of that as well, too. We'll know soon enough as investigators tear into that piece.

BALDWIN: David Gallo, thank you so much.

I'm hearing we've got news out of Beijing with our correspondent there Will Ripley.

Will, I've hear you got some information. What are you learning?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke. I just received the message that was message that was sent to family members. It appears it was sent out as a group text message which may explain why some have not received it yet if they have their phones turned off, the volume turned off, it is obviously the middle of the night here. But I just want to read portions of it for you. And it came in just minutes before the Malaysian prime minister made his announcement on live television.

And it says dear sir or madam, I would like to inform you there's a major announcement on the recent findings of the flaperon that was indeed from MH-370. It then said that we'd broadcast on all major TV and radio channels and talked about how he had been confirmed by multiple agencies. It says Malaysian airlines would like to sincerely convey our deepest sorrow of the object recovered off the Coast of Reunion Island on the 29th of July was indeed from flight MH-370.

The family members were told that definitively by the message from the Malaysian airlines support center. It also says we appreciate it must be a difficult and distressing time for you and we assure you that Malaysian airlines is here to help and provide you with more information and updates in due time.

Of course, Brooke, as you know, a major concern of the families has been a lack of transparency and a lack of information. So, it appears now it was an e-mail or text message alert that with went out as a group message to the families of the 239 people on board. And there's a very good chance, in fact, we can safely assume that some are asleep right now and may not be aware and they might get it when they wake up in the morning. It's going to be a tough morning for people waking up to this to see this news.

BALDWIN: God, when I hear you say a text message, if I'm one of the family members and I learn about this huge announcement, that's -- that's pretty tough to swallow. But I suppose it's the middle of the night. There are 239 people on that plane and perhaps that -- perhaps that's just modus operandi.

Let's explore that in just a minute. I have to get a quick break in. You're watching CNN special live coverage here of now what's been conclusively linked this, piece of debris washed ashore in Reunion Island last week does belong to MH-370.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:49] BALDWIN: We will take you back to our breaking news on flight 370 here in just a moment.

But in some other news to CNN, major move by the Pope, Pope Francis is calling for a more open catholic church, one that embraces people who are divorced and remarried and their children, addressing the faithful during his weekly audience. Today, the pope reminded the crowd, that Catholics who remarry are not excommunicated from the church and should not be treat that had way.

So let me bring in our CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen who is also an associate editor with the "Boston Globe."

John Allen, this is huge. Can you give more context of his comment?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Sure. Well, you got what he said today. You are exactly right. Context is that there's a fairly intense debate going on in the Catholic Church at the moment, Brooke, on the question of whether people who divorce and remarry outside the church ought to be able to receive communion. Now, based on the traditional catholic idea that marriage is permanent at the moment those people are not eligible to receive communion which, of course, is the most important sacrament of the church.

There is a wing of the church, including some very senior people, including some cardinals who believed the time is right to revisit that, perhaps adopt a more flexible stance and others, also including some cardinals, believe that's theologically unacceptable. That issue was front and center in a summit of catholic bishops from all over the world that pope called last October. It will be a hot button issue again at another one of those summits called the Senate this October in Rome.

It is important to note, Brooke, because there's tens of millions of such Catholics around the world, an estimated 4.5 million in the United States alone. It is also a litmus test for many people on how far reform under Francis is going to go.

Now, the bottom line is that what we got from the Pope today is a very clear indication that he wants a more compassionate and welcoming approach, but without tipping his hand in terms of which way he is going to go on that all important debate. He said some things that would seem to favor the reform position and others that would seem to favor what you might call the hold the line position.

So I think the bottom line is while we got a clear big picture from Francis today on this all-important detail he's playing his cards fairly close to the vest.

[14:50:00] BALDWIN: OK. John Allen, thank you so much. I appreciate that.

Also this. This public feud brewing between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. It started over something Jeb Bush said Tuesday afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can take dollar for dollar, though I'm not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jeb Bush was referring to the half a billion dollars in funding for women's issues, Planned Parenthood specifically, funding that he and some other Republicans would like to eliminate. Hillary Clinton fired back with this tweet at Jeb Bush. You are absolutely unequivocally wrong, and she followed up with this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Jeb Bush said he's not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues. I'm reading it because I want to quote it exactly. Now he's got no problem giving billions of dollars away to the super wealthy and powerful corporations, but I guess women's health just isn't a priority for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So that was part of the Hillary Clinton quick response. Then you had, you know, team Jeb Bush jumping in with a quick statement quoting them here with regards to women's health and funding broadly I misspoke as there are countless community health centers, rural clinics and other health organizations that need to be fully funded.

So joining me is M.J. Lee, one of our senior politics reporter who is live in Cleveland there ahead of tomorrow night's debate.

Before we talk debate I just want to, you know, come off of what we -- this feud back and forth between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton and I guess really my question is were you surprised at how quickly camp Hillary Clinton responded to the Jeb Bush comment?

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, how quickly Clinton responded to the comments and how quickly Jeb Bush's camp also responded to clarify and to say that he misspoke, I think the campaign realized it was a mistake and that he -- the words didn't quite come out the way that he wanted to. And so, I think, you know, putting out a statement right away and to say this was a miscommunication, not the right choice of words, was probably the right thing to do.

This raises a question ahead of tomorrow night of Jeb Bush's performance. I think especially coming on top of the Tuesday performance that was not so great for Jeb Bush, this moment raises further questions about is he a rusty campaigner? He hasn't been out on the road very much over the last, you know, many years. And I think a lot of people are going to be watching to see will he be a little more polished on the debate stage.

BALDWIN: On the debate stage, and you wrote this piece for CNN.com, essentially six things to watch for. You talk about specifics when it comes to Jeb Bush. You talked about the candidate who is sort of there but not physically there. Everyone is mindful right, of Hillary Clinton. You talk about oops moments, the moderators. Tell me what you'll be looking for, M.J.

LEE: Well, we spoke about Jeb Bush a little bit. The other candidates on the other hand who are going to be on stage next to Donald Trump, it will be fascinating to see how they engage him or maybe don't engage him. We don't have a lot of time. It's a two-hour debate. We'll be going to commercials so really 90 minutes or so. When a candidate is asked questions they will have 60 seconds to respond. So really, it's incumbent upon the candidates to use that time to really make a good first impression to the voters.

I think that the candidates who are going to be sort of in the group "b" category, the 5:00 p.m. debate, even though this won't be a primetime event and primetime moment for them, it's nevertheless an important moment and an important opportunity for them to just show that they have the chops, they have sort of the serious policy and substantive ideas to maybe perhaps in the future be on that debate stage with the other top-tier candidates.

BALDWIN: The happy hour debate is I believe how Senator Lindsey Graham phrased it. It will be a big night and we'll be talking about it.

M.J. Lee, thank you so much in Cleveland.

When we come back, I am just getting some news here in the control room. There is breaking news. Shots have been fired in a movie theater in Tennessee. The latest we have on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:58:29] BALDWIN: All right. Here's this breaking news story. This is just a little bit of information I'm getting here from law enforcement in Tennessee and just keeping in mind the trial that has been under way in Centennial, Colorado for that theater shooter James Holmes and also the theater shooting just a couple of weeks ago at Lafayette, Louisiana, now I have to tell you about this.

This is a national police supervisor confirming to CNN and I'm glancing down precisely at my notes here confirmed shots were fired at the cinema 8 in Antioch. No victims reported at this time. Police are on the scene. Police said the call came in as an active shooter.

And one more note. This is from somebody at a nearby phone store or sprint store or someone who didn't want to identify him or herself. But they said that a police officer came to the door ten minutes ago saying that there was an active shooter in the theater and to lock up. We have locked our doors and we see a full viewing of the parking lot. They have evacuated and pushed people back and checked cars. They asked if we connected to the theater. That coming from a sprint store just adjacent to the cinema 8 apparently to the cinema 8 in the Nashville, Tennessee, area. As we're working to get more information, making calls on that. I have Art Roderick on the phone, former U.S. marshal and obviously your heart sinks hearing about this again.

I'm wondering, though, from a law enforcement perspective, when you get calls like this, active shooter inside a movie theater, walk me through those next steps.

ART RODERICK, FORMER U.S. MARSHAL (on the phone): I mean, Brooke, it sounds like they are following all the typical protocols that everybody, unfortunately, has been trained across the country an active shooter scenario so when they are telling everybody to shelter in place and do a lock down, that's usually the first step so they can sort out exactly what is going on.