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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

The Final Moments of Flight 9525; Iran Nuclear Negotiations: Critical Point; Yemen in Crisis: War Intensifies. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired March 30, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:31:10] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The final moments of Germanwings Flight 9525. Desperate pleas from the captain of the plane locked out of the cockpit by his copilot, as new clues paint a disturbing of that co-pilot's mental health. Search crews scouring the Alps for the plane's lost black box. Live team coverage breaking all of this down, straight ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Deadline to a deal with Iran approaching just two days left, and a new roadblock emerges. Iran is making a surprising new demand. We'll tell you what it is.

ROMAN: Violence escalates in Yemen. Chaos breaks out in what was once a key U.S. ally in the war on terror. A new partnership of Arab nations joining to get the country back under control. We are live with why so much hinges on Yemen returning to stability. You cannot overstate that.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Thirty-one minutes past the hour right now.

Chilling new details this morning about the last minute of Germanwings Flight 9525. They come from a purported summary transcript of the cockpit voice recorder published Sunday by the German newspaper "Bild." CNN has translated the report, we cannot independently verify it. It is, though, chilling.

Most terrifying is the description of Patrick Sonderheimer's frantic efforts to get back into the cockpit banging on the door and screaming, quote, "For God's sake, open the door."

Standing by in Cologne, in Germany, with more, our senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen.

Good morning, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

And the interesting thing about this transcript is that it seems to show a flight that begins normally, a little bit delayed. However, it does appear to show the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz trying to set his Captain Patrick Sonderheimer from the very beginning, trying to set him up to leave the cockpit.

Now at around 10:27 local time, he does just that. Sonderheimer leaves the cockpit to go to the bathroom and after that is when those chilling final minutes begin. At 10:29 local time, airline traffic radar detects that the plane begin to descend. Now, remember, the captain is now outside the cockpit, Lubitz is locked inside the cockpit alone.

At 10:32, air traffic controllers try to make contact with the plane, but receive no answer. At almost the same time, the plane sent out an alarm that says sink rate, which means that the plane is descending very quickly.

Shortly after, the Captain Patrick Sonderheimer can be heard banging on the door, saying, "For God's sake, open the door". For the first time, passengers can be heard screaming from the cabin as well.

At 10:35, there's a loud metallic bang as, though, someone is trying to knock the door out. Shortly after that, there is another alarm in the cockpit that says "terrain, pull up." Remember, we are in mountainous territory. The plane is going down. It's not in a landing configuration. So, the plane itself is realizing something is wrong.

At 10:38, the plane descending, the copilot heard breathing. At 10:40, the plane -- investigators believe they hear the plane's right wing scrape the top of the mountain, screams from the cabin, which presumably is the passengers one more time. And that is when this recording ends.

It's an absolutely chilling read to go through. The French authorities for their part who are investigating all this are saying they are dismayed at the fact all of this has been leaked. We, of course, cannot independently verify its authenticity. It certainly makes for chilling reading -- John.

BERMAN: If it is real, it gives you a sense of the certainty, or why there was so much certainty among the French investigators as soon as they heard that recording.

Frederik Pleitgen for us in Cologne, thanks so much.

ROMANS: A lot of handwringing about the leak of those recordings, some saying it was inappropriate for those to be leaked.

This morning, we are learning more about the homicidal copilot of the doomed Germanwings flight. Andreas Lubitz, several publications are reporting new details on Lubitz's mental condition.

[04:35:01] Now, CNN has not been able to confirm these reports. But the publications say Lubitz was suffering from depression, anxiety and vision problems, which might have put his career, and his life long ambition to fly at risk.

Turning now to CNN's Diana Magnay, live in Dusseldorf with the latest -- Diana.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.

Well, we are expecting the state prosecutor here in Dusseldorf to come out with some kind of a statement, probably in about an hour and a half's time, which will give us more details, hopefully, on what, as you say these various publications have been reporting over the weekend citing sources close to the investigation where they say that prescription drugs were found in Lubitz's apartment, including anti- depressants characterized by "Le Parisien", a French newspaper, as a generalized anxiety disorder, they say. They also add that he had anti-psychotic injections and that there were lots of pills in his apartment.

"Bild", which is a big German national, also citing official sources close to the investigation, calls the illness that Lubitz had is a severe psychosomatic illness. So, these kinds of details are trickling out about his mental condition. And we can presume that investigators are searching the medical notes found in his apartment, talking to the doctors who issued them, to the neurologists, the psychologists who are supposed to have treated him.

Also, according to "Bild", there were personal writings, which suggest that this illness may have been somehow psychosomatic. And, of course, investigators will be continuing to talk to those close to him, his relatives and his girlfriend who we have been hearing about more in recent days -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Diana Magnay, so many layers to peel back to try to figure out who that man was and why this happened, to make sure it never happens again. Diana Magnay -- thank you, Diana.

BERMAN: Talks over Iran's nuclear program hitting a snag in Iran with just two days before the deadline to reach a framework deal, again, which is two days left -- a really surprising announcement from Iran. They are backing away from what seemed to be a previous agreement to ship enriched uranium to Russia.

This was not expected. The United States had been counting on this as part of the agreement. Now, Iran abruptly backing away. It could make it harder to reach a deal and certainly make the criticism of the deal mount from people like you are looking at right now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is already calling the deal a disaster.

ROMANS: Saudi Arabia and the coalition of Arab nations preparing for a ground offensive in Yemen. The Egyptians have already pledged troops to the Saudi-led mission to root out Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Yemen's foreign minister says he's expecting Arab coalition forces to begin the operation within days.

CNN's Ian Lee is tracking developments for us live in Cairo -- Ian.

IAN LEE, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Christine.

And, really, this is unprecedented. We have never seen an Arab army like this before, mainly because Arab army, Arab leaders are not known for their unity. But there are nine countries in this coalition which include six from the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Jordan, Sudan and Egypt. They have pledged (AUDIO GAP) land, air and naval forces against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

But not everyone agreed to the operation. There are countries dissenting, including Iraq and Lebanon. These are predominately Shiite countries that are heavily influenced by Iran. They are holding more diplomatic talks. They believe that all sides could achieve a political deal.

And they're not alone. The international community, including the United Nations has expressed interest in a political solution. Ban Ki-moon was at the Arab summit pushing for that agreement as well. But sitting in that convention, listening to the various Arab leaders speak, the momentum right now is with a land invasion -- Christine.

ROMANS: Momentum with a land invasion and a very rare show of force among those nine countries. Thanks for that, Ian Lee, from Cairo this morning.

Soldiers who fought alongside Bowe Bergdahl insist his whistleblower defense makes zero sense. Bergdahl's lawyer claims his client left his post by foot to report his unit for improper conduct at a military base, and that's when Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban. Fellow troops say that base was too far to walk and Bergdahl knew the entire platoon was driving back to that base just a few hours later. He could have easily lodged his complaint then.

BERMAN: The NSA considered scrapping its secret program to collect the phone records of American citizens just months before leaker Edward Snowden exposed the controversial practice. According to published report, there was growing concern the cost of the operation outweighed what little counterterrorism intelligence was actually being gathered.

[04:40:00] Congress has to decide whether to renew, modify or kill the data collection program by June.

Indiana is facing a backlash from business, education leaders, sports leaders after a religious freedom law passed and the governor signed it. Now the governor is now firing back at critics who say the state has legalized discrimination. We have new drama unfolding right after the break.

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ROMANS: All right. The governor of Indiana claims his state's controversial new religious freedom law is misunderstood. Critics claim the measure will allow businesses to turn away customers on religious grounds. And it's triggering quite a backlash, a growing backlash.

We get more this morning from CNN's Shasta Darlington.

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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Indiana Governor Mike Pence is on the defensive over the new religious freedom bill that's sparking protests and boycotts. Opponents say it will allow businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers on religious grounds.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: For our legislature.

DARLINGTON: On ABC's "This Week", Pence blames the media.

PENCE: I think, I understand that there's been a tremendous amount of misinformation and misunderstanding around this bill. I'm just determined -- and I appreciate the time on your program. I'm determined to clarify this.

DARLINGTON: The law has come under fire from business. CEOs from Apple to Yelp lashing out.

[04:45:00] and Angie's List, which is based in Indianapolis cancelling a planned expansion there. The NCAA, which is holding its college basketball Final Four in Indianapolis next weekend, saying it's concerned about the impact on players and employees.

Openly gay NBA player Jason Collins and former star Charles Barkley also denounce the bill.

But Pence made it clear he's not going to change the law, or consider a bill making gays and lesbian a protective class, like in many other states.

PENCE: I will not push for that. That's not on my agenda. This is not about discrimination. This is about protecting the religious liberty of every Hoosier, of every faith.

DARLINGTON: In the end, he refused to answer at least six yes-or-no questions about whether the measure legalizes discrimination against gays and lesbians.

There are now about 20 states with some form of religious freedom law on the books. But with all of this controversy in Indiana, some of the other states pursuing similar legislation could think twice.

Back to you, John, Christine.

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ROMANS: You know, Apple CEO Tim Cook writing an op-ed in "The Washington Post". He warns these anti-gay laws are very dangerous. He said they are completely against America's founding principles. And he says there, a very thinly veiled effort to legalize an injustice against gays. Cook, he actually, a very high profile, came out last year. He said

he's standing up on behalf of Apple. He wrote in the article, these bills are in consideration and truly hurt jobs, growth and economic vibrancy in parts of the country where the 21st century economy was welcome with open arms.

The other businesses who are really upset about this, Salesforce, NCAA, Yelp and Eli Lily, based, of course, in Indiana, they've all opposed this law, saying it will make it harder to attract businesses and customers. One of their big concerns, many of these companies, is attracting good employees to move to Indiana. If you are in Indiana, you want somebody to move there from all over the country who's going to grow your economy, these companies say, how will they attract top talent with those kinds of laws?

BERMAN: The Governor Mike Pence says they're going to pass measures to clarify the law. Clearly, he is realizing there's an issue.

The prosecution in the trial of Boston marathon bombing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev expected to rest today after medical examiners testify. The defense will mount its case, if in fact it does mount much of the case. One of the questions that are being post to them is will Tsarnaev himself take the stand in this phase or just the sentencing phase or not at all.

On Thursday, some jury members were in tears as a medical examiner testified about Krystle Campbell's fatal injuries. They also saw six bomb replicas built by the FBI.

ROMANS: All right. Passengers on an Air Canada jet from Toronto to Halifax say they are lucky to be alive this morning after a crash- landing and very bad weather that tore off the nose gear and most of the engine.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were coming in to land and we heard a really big bump, and very hard. I hit my head. We heard another big bang. And then, we just started to say, get out, get out, get out.

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ROMANS: Investigators say the plane came down 1,100 feet short of the runway, severing a power line, smashing an airport antenna array. Twenty-five people, including two pilots, treated for minor injuries. The cause of the crash is under investigation. It sounds like a terrifying, terrifying few months.

BERMAN: Happening now, investigators searching for clues in the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. Crews combing the mountains for the plane's missing black box. We are live with new information on their mission. That's ahead.

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[04:52:27] BERMAN: Happening now: recovery crews working at the crash scene in the French Alps, they face another day of painstaking effort, cataloging and collecting the scattered remains of the wreckage. Thousands of small pieces and transporting to a nearby staging area by helicopter.

Let's get the latest on this dangerous work, bring in CNN's Erin McLaughlin live at the staging area.

Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John.

Well, authorities here say they are making good progress, according to French media reports. The prosecutor says that between -- human remains from between 70 to 80 of the victims have now been identified using DNA analysis. Though it's still an agonizing wait a head for these families, authorities say the human remains will not be repatriated to the families until all of the DNA work is complete and that could take weeks.

And I say human remains because the crash was so devastating upon impact, that not a single whole body has been recovered. Human remains strewn across hundreds of meters of treacherous landscape. In fact, local residents have expressed doubts that they'll be able to collect all of remains, and pieces of the victims will be part of the landscape.

And so, the local mayor saying that the families have come to him wanting access to the crash site itself. Right now, it's only accessible by air, but they are looking to change that, trying to build a road they hope will be completed in some eight days about is over a half mile long. He says that every inch, every foot of this road is important to those families so that they can be as close to their loved ones as possible.

In the meantime, they are coming to the memorial site that's just behind me. It's actually being blocked right now by the police vans. Authorities trying to give these families as much privacy as possible, families from all over the world coming here, including the family of Paul Bramley.

Paul was just 28 years old, one of three British victims onboard Flight 9525. His father Philip was here. He read a statement over the weekend on behalf of the family, in which he called for greater transparency from the airlines. He says that they need to look after their pilots. He also said that he wants the cloud to be lifted from this area -- the natural beauty of this area to be restored. He says he does not want it to be remembered from the actions of one man, a reference to the co-pilot now accused of crashing the plane -- John.

BERMAN: Erin McLaughlin, live for us in that staging area in the Alps, thanks so much, Erin.

[04:55:00] ROMANS: All right. Stocks soaring this morning, but a few little hairline cracks in the economy could change that. An early start on your money, next.

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ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money this morning. Great day for stocks around the world. Asian shares soared. Expectations of stimulus measures in China.

European shares, U.S. stock futures -- they are up nicely. A lot to digest on Wall Street, though, this week, including the March jobs report on Friday. By the way, markets are closed. It's short trading week.

Now, hiring has been very strong. Some are worried about these hairline cracks developing in the economy. The two main problems, wages still are not growing. That means Americans aren't spending much. Growth concerns around the world still putting pressure on the U.S. So, this will be a big week for determining whether those are hairline cracks or more serious.

Now, half of Americans are saving next to nothing. This is a terrifying statistic. According to a Bankrate report out this morning, almost half save 5 percent or less of their income. That includes 18 percent of Americans who save nothing.

So, how much should you be putting away? Now, Bankrate says 15 percent. Right now, only about 14 percent of people, one in seven, follow that advice.

Now, a lot of people always say to me, we don't have money. We are living paycheck to paycheck. But the way to get out from living paycheck to paycheck is to find a way to save just a little tiny bit.

BERMANS: If I were a millennial and I wanted to get tips on exactly how I should play my finances, where would I look? If there were a book.

ROMANS: My book lands this week in bookstores. It's called "Smart is the New Rich: Money Guide for Millennials". And particularly for those millennials who do like to save, by the way.