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Isa Soares Tonight
Rescue Efforts Underway to Search for a Tourist Sub that Disappeared Off the Coast of Canada. Hamas Claims Responsibility for the Killings of Four Israelis at West Bank. Hunter Biden to Plead Guilty to Federal Charges. Desperate Search for Tour Sub as Oxygen Dwindles. Blinken in London Shifts Focus from China to Ukraine. Research Supports Napping for Brain Health. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired June 20, 2023 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Ia Soares. Tonight, officials
have just last hour updated us on the effort to find the sub that went missing on a dive to the Titanic wreckage. Those new details straight
ahead.
Then, gunman kill at least four Israelis in the West Bank and Hamas claims responsibility. And U.S. President's son pleading guilty to tax offenses.
But Republicans say the case of Hunter Biden's misbehavior is far from closed. Now, just about 40 hours of oxygen left. That's the U.S. Coast
Guard's grim assessment of the situation on board a tourist submersible has gone missing in the frigid depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
U.S. and Canadian authorities are racing around the clock to try to rescue the five people on board. They've now expanded their search, scouring
beneath the seas as well as on the surface. The sub lost all communications on Sunday near New Finland. It was heading to the wreckage of the Titanic,
which lies at the depths of a crushing pressure, some 4 kilometers underwater.
The U.S. Coast Guard gave this update a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE FREDERICK, U.S. COAST GUARD: Right now, all of our efforts are focused on finding the sub. What I will tell you is, we have a group of our
nation's best experts and the unified command. And if we get to that point, those experts will be looking at what the next course of action is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Captain, can you tell us --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Captain, how many hours of oxygen are left that you know of, and that you can estimate right now --
FREDERICK: The sub --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the submersible? And is it -- does it have to be approved or regulated?
FREDERICK: First, so, first of all, it's an estimate, right? Because we know from the data we were using as a starting point was 96 hours. We know
at this point, we're approximately about 40-41 hours.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forty one hours left?
FREDERICK: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, let's bring in retired British Navy Captain Ryan Ramsey, who is joining us from Oxford, England. Ryan, just to get your response to
this. The headline there, I guess what we've heard in the last hour that there has been no success yet in this rescue search operation. That there
are 40, 41 hours of oxygen left within that vessel.
What was your assessment of what we heard there? And the fact that this search and rescue still very much focused on just finding the vessel, not
necessarily the rescue mission to retrieve it.
RYAN RAMSEY, RETIRED BRITISH NAVY CAPTAIN: I find it a very grave assessment of the situation. I mean, even if you take into account, that
they find -- they find the vessel within the next 10, 15 hours, to actually deploy some form of rescue apparatus to recover it in the remaining 15, 20
hours, to me it seems almost impossible. And the reasons for that are firstly, they don't know where it is, and they're still trying to locate
it.
If you imagine, it's a 6.7 meter submarine somewhere near the Titanic, which is a 290-odd meter ship with lots of broken wreckage around the area.
It's a very significant search. The second reason is the depth of water. As you said, between 3,000 and 4,000 meters deep, and trying to get rescue
assets down to that depth, hasn't really ever been done before.
And the third reason is that, even if those assets are available, they're a long way away. So actually, even to deploy, it will be difficult to get
those assets to the situation area within the 40 hours that they talk about.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and as you mentioned, we heard from the coast guard that there are assets on their way that the Canadian Coast Guard are committing
more vessels. We're hearing that France is sending an underwater robot and that, getting salvage equipment is the top priority. Listen, I understand
right now, you, yourself have been in a submersible -- a rescue submersible, not unlike this one before.
What is your sense of what has actually happened here? What could -- and whether this vessel is most likely at the bottom of the ocean here, given
that it has not yet been located.
[14:05:00]
RAMSEY: So from the information that has been provided so far, my assessment is that during the transit dunk they suffered some form of
either electronic failure or mechanical failure, and were unable to recover -- so, the fact that they lost communications indicate some form of
communications failure, but thereafter, there must have been something else as well.
Otherwise, they'd have attempted to return directly to the surface. And so, that leaves him in a real predicament. So, if you turn on a set, they were
on the ocean floor near to the Titanic, even though they've got 96 hours of -- all the stock-point of 96 hours of oxygen, actually, the temperature
down there is roughly zero degrees Celsius.
It's very cold, the living conditions for that period of time are very tough. And the one thing we don't talk too much about so far is actually
carbon dioxide, which we probably try a lot on oxygen, but breathing out produces carbon dioxide, and if it reaches a certain level, that becomes a
killer itself.
So, a really tough environment. And my thoughts go out to those participants, but also their families, who must be hoping that this is
going to be a recoverable situation, but the longer this goes on, the less opportunity there is to do that.
MACFARLANE: And perhaps, we can take some hope from the fact that there are some exports -- experts on board. And to your point about the carbon
dioxide, and the idea that we know there are 40 hours of oxygen left, is there anything those on board could be doing to restrict their intake of
oxygen at this time that they would be doing if they are indeed still alive?
RAMSEY: So, I'm sure if they -- like you say, there are experts on board. And there are also people who aren't experts. So calming everybody down,
making sure everybody is calm in an emergency situation, it's an extremely difficult task to do. I mean, if you look at the submarine service, through
all Navy submarine service, we deal with -- during my time, there were many instances where things go wrong, but we're all professionally trained in
order to do that.
We follow process, we follow procedure, and therefore managed to -- managed to deal with the incident. If you've got a certain amount of the crew that
aren't capable of doing anything. And in reality, if you look at the submersible itself, there is not a lot you can do because you're in a
sealed tube. You can't deal with -- dealing with potential issues outside of the submersible that might fix a problem.
Being calm and conserving oxygen and reducing breathing and sleeping as much as possible is the best thing you can do.
MACFARLANE: Well, Captain Ryan Ramsey, we appreciate you giving us your assessment, grim as it is. And of course, all our hopes at the moment and
thoughts are with those -- hopefully, survivors and their families, thank you. Now, at least, four Israelis have been killed and several wounded by
Palestinian government in the West Bank.
Israel says the attackers are dead, the militant group Hamas has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Now, this video shows some of the incident
which took place near a restaurant and a gas station. In a statement, Hamas says the shooting is a, quote, "natural response to an Israeli raid in the
Palestinian city of Jenin that killed at least six people."
Well, for more on what we're learning about today's shooting, journalist Elliott Gotkine is live for us from Jerusalem. With them -- I believe,
Elliott, new details about the gunman and what actually happened here. What can you tell us?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Christina, the gunman drove to this restaurant just outside the settlement of Eli in the Israeli-occupied West
Bank. They started firing on the civilians inside that restaurant, they killed three there, and then they killed another Israeli civilian at the
gas station. So four in total, four further Israelis were injured as well.
Now, there was an armed Israeli civilian who was there, he managed to shoot dead one of the Palestinian gunmen, the other fled in a stolen vehicle. And
so, the Israeli security forces set up roadblocks in the West Bank, eventually, they located the second gunman, and as he tried to flee the
vehicle. He was also shot dead by Israeli security forces, who said, they also recovered two weapons which they were believed -- which they believe
were used in this attack, Christina.
MACFARLANE: And what reaction has the Israeli government had to this?
GOTKINE: Well, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was holding a situational awareness during the past hour. He also addressed the nation, he gave a
video statement in which he was quite adamant, almost repeating kind of the things that he often says after attackers have been killed in the wake of
attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): In recent months, we have already proven that we hold all the murderous accountable
without exception. Anyone who harms us will either be in the grave or in prison. The same applies in this case. However, I want to tell all those
who seek to harm us, that all options are on the table. We will continue to fight terrorism with full force, and we will overcome it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:10:00]
GOTKINE: And some kind of action by Israeli security forces is expected to come sooner rather than later. Separately from that, there are already
reports of clashes in the flashpoint West Bank town of Huwara, and of course, we'll bring you any more details from that as it emerges,
Christina?
MACFARLANE: Yes, absolutely, no sign of de-escalation here, Elliott live from Tel Aviv, thank you -- or Jerusalem, rather. Now to a federal
investigation involving the son of U.S. President Joe Biden. We're learning that Hunter Biden plans to plead guilty to tax charges, and prosecutors
will ask that he be put on probation in exchange.
Hunter Biden also struck a deal to avoid prosecution on a gun charge. Now, this is on the heels of former U.S. President Donald Trump's indictment
over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, making for a heated race for the White House. Let's go live to Paula Reid, who is in Washington
for us this evening.
And Paula, this investigation into Hunter Biden has been going on for some what? Five years now. So an outcome was expected at some stage. And it
amounts, I think, to relatively minor charges and a plea deal. Just walk us through what this will mean for Hunter Biden, whether any punishments are
likely to come from this.
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, this investigation has been going on for about five years. And last Summer, even
though we knew the prosecutors had looked into possible foreign lobbying violations, also possible money laundering, we learned that they had
narrowed it down to a few potential tax charges as well as one charge related to a gun crime, and failing to disclose his addiction when he
purchased a firearm.
But then nothing happened for seven months, and in April, Biden's lawyers asked for a meeting with the Justice Department, which they got. They sat
down with a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney overseeing this case and some career officials. And they made their pitch for why he should not be
charged.
They argued that he had paid back these taxes, they said that a recent Supreme Court case made it more difficult to successfully prosecute gun
crimes like this one. But over the past few weeks, we've learned that negotiations between the two sides have really ramped up to try to settle
on the deal to resolve the charges.
Now, sources tell us the Justice Department is expected to recommend probation for Hunter Biden for the two crimes, the tax charges that he is
pleading guilty to. There's also the gun charge, but that is likely to be handled through a different process called diversion. So as long as he
complies with requirements set out by the court, in terms of not being able to own a gun, some drug compliance requirements, as well.
Possibly having to submit to drug testing, things like that, that particular charge will be expunged. These are relatively minor charges, and
it seems that his lawyers, they tell me, they're pretty pleased with this deal.
MACFARLANE: And understandably, Paula, there's been a lot of political reaction to this, especially on the Republican --
REID: Yes --
MACFARLANE: Side. Let's just take a quick listen to House Speaker McCarthy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Hunter Biden plea deal and your reaction.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): My first reaction is it continues to show a two-tier system in America. If you are the president leading political
opponent, DOJ tries to literally put you in jail and give you prison time. If you are the president's son, you get a sweetheart deal. Now, this does
nothing to our investigation.
It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any information now, saying that because of pending
investigation. They should be able to provide Chairman Comer with any information that he requires.
MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Mr. Speaker --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: So the speaker there signaling the Republicans are going to continue to push ahead with their investigation. The bigger picture here,
Paula, what does all of this mean for President Joe Biden especially as we approach an election year? Unfortunately, we have lost Paula, as you can
see there. Never mind, let's move on.
All right, still to come tonight, the battle to control Ukraine's skies. CNN speaks to Ukrainian pilots as they get ready to take to the air. Plus,
a police raid at the headquarters of the Paris 2024 organizing committee with only about a year to go to the opening ceremony of the Summer
Olympics. We'll explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:15:00]
MACFARLANE: Ukrainian and Russian forces are locked in a grinding battle in the south and east, sometimes for just a few meters of ground. Both
sides claim they're inflicting heavy losses, and Ukraine says Moscow is hemorrhaging troops. It comes as Russia struck targets far beyond the
frontlines on Tuesday including key infrastructure in Lviv.
Ukraine says its capital was also targeted by a massive drone-strike overnight, but most were shot down. Fred Pleitgen is standing by for us in
Kyiv this hour. And Fred, Russia obviously continuing to target major infrastructure here. But on the counteroffensive, it's very difficult for
us to get a clear picture of what is actually happening on the ground right now.
We hear both sides obviously claiming progress, but we know that progress is very grinding, very incremental. So two weeks in, roughly to this
counteroffensive, what is your read on where things stand?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think - - first of all, I think you're absolutely right. I think it's definitely grinding, it's very difficult, and certainly from what we saw, we were just
out there near the frontline area a couple of days ago. Really, they're fighting for every yard of territory out there, and it is definitely very
difficult.
The Ukrainians are saying that they are advancing in certain areas, but again, those gains very difficult to combine. And of course, there are
losses on the Ukrainian side as well. One of the things that Ukrainians have told us, Christina, is they say the biggest issue for them on the
battlefield, the biggest threat for their ground forces is Russian air power.
And we were able to speak to two Ukrainian pilots who are trying to mitigate that Russian air power and fight against it. But they say it's
extremely tough. Here's what we witnessed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ukrainians SU-25 attack aircraft given the go to assault Russian positions. Against all the odds, Ukraine's air force is
still very much in the fight, pilot Oleksiy tells me.
(on camera): Are you helping the ground forces now a lot in the south with a counteroffensive operation?
(voice-over): The mission is extremely dangerous, especially for frontline attack aircraft. Ukraine's aces trying to keep Russian air defenses off
balance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lost many young pilots from our brigade. This taught us to change something, and day-by-day, we try to fly not the same as
yesterday.
PLEITGEN: While Kyiv says its counteroffensive is progressing, the battles are tough and gains hard to come by. The biggest threat, Ukraine says,
Russian air power. This video purporting to show a Russian combat helicopter taking out a Ukrainian vehicle. The Ukrainians say Russian-
interceptor aircraft like the advanced SU-35 often stopped their old MiG-29 jets from operating near the frontlines. This MiG-29 pilot who asked us to
hide his face and use only his call sign "Juice" tells me.
[14:20:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can be like a maverick, but if it's not a proper hardware, you can't win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here there go, I guess one.
PLEITGEN: The Ukrainians say they need F-16s from the U.S. and its allies to level the playing field, and to fully utilize the air-launched missiles
the U.S. has already given them. In between the tasking war-time missions, pilots are already learning the basics of the F-16, hoping they'll be able
to fly them in the future.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are trying to improve our English skills. We are flying simulators, so at the moment, we have like improvised simulators of
F-16s almost on all the bases.
PLEITGEN: The pilots say for them, it's a matter of life and death. The attrition rate among combat aviators extremely high. Both Oleksiy, squadron
leader, and his wing man killed in combat, he says.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there's explosion of your colleague by -- your eyes in real-time, it's a shock to -- it's a shock in picture. And it's a
really big difficult in the situation. It's how to sit and like have to again and again.
PLEITGEN: But when the call comes, they say they will be ready and back in the seat, taking the fight to the Russians.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: So there you can see, Christina, extremely difficult battles there for those Ukrainian pilots. Nevertheless, of course, they are so
important right now for that counteroffensive. And that's something that we saw out when we were on the frontlines as well. There's a lot of jets
flying around there in very dangerous situations, trying to make a difference.
And of course, for the Ukrainians right now, it is key, they understand that right now, it's a really important time for the military. It's a
really important time for their country, where they say they want to make this counteroffensive work, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, crucial time, it's great reporting. Fred Pleitgen live for us there in Kyiv, thank you. Now, online influencer Andrew Tate has
been indicted in Romania on charges of rape and human trafficking. His brother and two Romanian women face the same charges. According to a CNN
affiliate, "Antena 3", they are set to appear at a Bucharest court on Wednesday to hear about a trial date.
All four of them were arrested last year, accused of recruiting women and coercing them into appearing in pornographic videos. Andrew Tate is a
former pro-kick boxer. He gained notoriety for making misogynistic and violent comments about women online. Now, Olympic organizers in Paris are
under investigation with police raiding the offices of next year's Summer games.
French prosecutors say they're looking into allegations of embezzlement of public funds and conflicts of interest. Our Paris correspondent Melissa
Bell is standing by. And Melissa, what more are you learning about why this raid took place?
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: What we're hearing, Christina, is that those raids are actually just coming to an end. They began first thing
this morning, they were surprised. Of course, that's what happens, they carry them out in the hope that they will get hands -- their hands on the
documents that they're looking for before anything can be done to them.
Now, these are part of two preliminary investigations. One was opened in 2017, we understand, to look at allegations of conflicts of interest,
favoritism, embezzlement of public funds related to the giving out of several contracts to do with the 2024 Olympics and targeting specifically,
the organizing committee. The second probe was opened in 2022, it relates to conflicts of interest, favoritism, trying to conceal favoritism, and
then giving out these contracts, not just at the organizing committee, but also at another company.
A public company that deals with the construction or the infrastructure work that's going on here in Paris, even now as we look ahead to these 2024
Summer games. So raids that were carried out in several locations, as we understand it as part of those inquiries with the investigating committee
says that it's cooperating with the police.
And these by the way are being carried out by two different sets of policemen, one, the French police, the anti-corruption unit, another,
another part of the French police system. So extremely worrying for the organizing committee itself. Bear in mind that its head, Christina, Tony
Estanguet himself, a three times Olympics champion had vowed at the beginning of this one, France had won its bid, Paris had won the bid that
these would be exemplary games.
Of course, so many of the bid processes of the games themselves have been tarnished over the years by these sorts of allegations, given the amount of
public funds that very suddenly go into huge infrastructure processes or bidding applications.
[14:25:00]
This time, they say of course, they will continue to cooperate with the investigation. We don't know what kind of documents they've been looking
for. We know they spent the entire day trying to get their hands on them, and we'll keep an eye on what emerges from these probes, but certainly very
bad news for Tony Estanguet and his team and all of those looking ahead to these games. They begin on July 26, absolutely not the kind of publicity
they were looking for with just a year to go until they start, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Absolutely not. This does not reflect well on their reputation of the 2024 organizing committee, but nor does it reflect well on the IOC.
I mean, have the IOC had anything to say about this today?
BELL: For the time being, I think they're waiting to see the outcome. This is a very preliminary phase, where they go in and get the documents, then
they will peel over them. We don't know yet what the specifics are of the contracts that are at the heart of these investigations nor indeed why
these investigations were launched or what the tip-offs were.
And we don't know either, Christina, how long these investigations will take. But clearly, for the organizers, it will be in their interest that
they're wrapped up soon. And they hope, in their favor, that these allegations can be set to one side, clearly, overshadowing games of Paris,
is still looking forward to. We've got the send(ph) even now being cleared up, huge infrastructure projects to the north of Paris, where the village
will be placed, and where the games will largely be held.
A great deal of excitement building up. And of course, all of these projects, lots of plans as well for the publicity ahead of these games.
Instead, what we're looking at is the start of an investigations that will no doubt overshadow the coming weeks, and whenever other preparations there
were, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Absolutely. And I know you'll continue to keep an eye on this for us. Melissa Bell there live from Paris. Thank you. All right, still to
come, more on our top story. The desperate search for a civilian sub that went missing during a voyage to the Titanic wreckage. What we know about
the search so far, and who is on board?
Plus, Ukraine is firmly in focus for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as he visits London. Details on his meeting with U.K. foreign
secretary next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back.
A desperate search and rescue operation remains underway for a missing tourist submersible carrying five people in the North Atlantic. It went
missing on Sunday, while touring the wreckage of the Titanic.
Officials say the vessel operated by OceanGate Expeditions has about 14 hours of breathable air left. The U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Air Force
are among the agencies scouring the Atlantic to locate the missing submersible.
We also learned last hour that more vessels are en route to help with the mission. So let's get the very latest now from CNN's Paula Newton. She's
following developments from Ottawa.
And I believe it was really a pretty bleak assessment last hour; no success yet; 40, 41 hours of oxygen left. But as we heard there, they are sending
more assets. The question is whether they can get them there in time.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think the question becomes, whether they get them there in time but what they have to do,
Christina, is actually eyeball the submersible in the first place.
To that end, we heard from the U.S. Coast Guard that the vessel, the Deep Energy vessel, which is normally used to lay pipe on the deep seabed, is
there right now. What they've done is they have launched a remote vehicle that is capable of going almost as far down as the Titanic wreck.
They have a camera on board and they'll continue to search for this submersible. As you were saying, 40 hours, that unfortunately was already
1.5 hours ago. So think about how urgent it is for them to actually find the submersible.
Even when they find it, Christina, they then have to bring it to the surface. And that is also a great challenge. I want you to listen now to
the captain from the U.S. Coast Guard, Jamie Frederik, giving us a quick update. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. JAMIE FREDERICK, U.S. COAST GUARD: While the U.S. Coast Guard has assumed the role of search and rescue mission coordinator, we do not have
all the necessary expertise or equipment required in a search of this nature.
The unified command brings that expertise and additional capability together to maximize effort in solving this very complex problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: So Christina, when he's talking about that unified command, he's talking about not just the Canadian and American governments and all the
resources they have to bear but, crucially, also, commercial equipment. It can get to that area of the North Atlantic quickly.
A lot of people have offered their expertise and offered equipment.
But who can actually get there in time?
So our best shot is in the next few hours, if they can actually eyeball the submersible, figure out where it is and then bring it to the surface.
Suffice it to say, still a very competitive mission ahead.
The good news is the weather is good not area. I can tell you from being in those waters, that's not always the case. And the weather changes quite
dramatically. But for now, forecasters tell us that it is really good searching conditions.
I will mention that they've already searched well over 7,000 square miles. That is a large area. I had been saying prior that if this submersible had
actually surfaced, that we shouldn't get too discouraged too early, because it is a difficult area to search.
Having said that, now in speaking to the operational teams here in Canada, they've done a lot of sorties; they've covered lot of ground. They have not
seen anything. And it is quite small, it's a little larger than a family van.
MACFARLANE: And the search area is roughly the size of Connecticut, to put that into perspective. So Paula, we know that there are five people on
board. And it is a mixture of expert hands and civilians.
What more have you been learning about these individuals and have the families of any of these individuals actually spoken out today at all?
NEWTON: Certainly, we had the Pakistani billionaire and his family put out a statement. We also had a statement from the British billionaire based in
the UAE, from his company. He certainly has a lot of expertise in this.
I think you hit the point, though, that it is the combination. It is the combination of the expertise and the actual passengers that we have on
there, in terms of the people that we have identified, and that includes a man who had gone to dozens of these kinds of dives on the deep seabed.
These people are well-served by being on there, with kind of expertise and knowing how to handle themselves and crucially and keeping focus on if
there is oxygen available on that submersible, how to hang on to, it how to make sure that it continues to last in very deep water and dark water and
cold water and hang on every last breath that you can.
And that's extremely important here. I can tell you, given the amount of time that is left, not the families or friends of the people who know them
but crucially these governments and all the people in private industry who have expertise, they are holding on to hope that they will see that
submersible in the coming hours.
[14:35:00]
NEWTON: And then bring it to the surface.
MACFARLANE: It is a desperate situation, isn't it?
Paula, we appreciate you bringing us that update for now. We will obviously continue to keep up with this. Thank you.
The sub lost communications less than two hours after the descent to the ocean floor. Jason Carroll has more now on what we know about the vessel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REAR ADM. JOHN MAUGER, 1ST DISTRICT COMMANDER, U.S. COAST GUARD: We are doing everything that we can do to locate the submersible and rescue those
on board.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Search and rescue teams from the United States and Canada are working around the clock in the
North Atlantic to locate a lost submersible with five people onboard. Search planes have been scanning the ocean's surface, sonar buoys deployed
to try to detect any sound from the missing vessel.
MAUGER: The location of the search is approximately 900 miles east of Cape Cod in a water depth of roughly 13,000 feet.
CARROLL: According to the Coast Guard the submersible lost communication with its mother ship, the Polar Prince, less than two hours into its
descent Sunday morning as it ventured toward the wreckage of the Titanic. The company that operates the submersible on voyages to the Titanic,
OceanGate expeditions, releasing this statement, our entire focus is on the well-being of the crew and every step possible is being taken to bring the
five crew members back safely.
On board, businessman Hamish Harding, who is no stranger to adventure.
HAMISH HARDING, SUBMERSIBLE PASSENGER: I've always wanted to do this.
CARROLL: Recently he was a passenger on Blue Origin's June 2022 space flight.
On Saturday, he posted on his Facebook page, "I am proud to finally announce that I joined OceanGate expeditions for their RMS Titanic mission
as a mission specialist on the sub going down to the Titanic."
Also on board, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son, Suleman Dawood.
Their family issuing a statement, saying, "We are grateful for the concern being shown by our colleagues and friends and would like to request
everyone to pray for their safety."
According to OceanGate Expeditions' website, the 21-foot, 23,000-pound submersible, made of carbon fiber and titanium, has up to 96 hours -- four
days -- of oxygen for five people. Larry Daley, a Titanic expert, has been inside the 21-foot vessel.
LARRY DALEY, TITANIC EXPERT: I was in the sub for 12 hours. We have our own breathing system on board. And if that's maintained properly, like
changing your filter on your CO2 scrubber, you can stay down for quite a few hours.
CARROLL: In an interview CBS last year, OceanGate Expeditions' CEO touting the submersible's safety.
STOCKTON RUSH, CEO, OCEANGATE EXPEDITIONS: Everything else can fail. Your thrusters can go, your lights can go. You're still going to be safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Let's take a closer look at the size of this missing submersible. Its quarters are extremely tight. CNN's Gabe Cohen has covered
OceanGate before and it has actually been inside the missing vessel.
Gabe, you've sat inside it, you've had the tour. I imagine you're feeling quite differently about it today than you did a year or so ago.
What was that experience like?
And what were your thoughts back then about the safety of the structure?
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first thing that struck me being inside that submersible that's now missing is how cramped it was. It's an
extremely small space, maybe the size of a mini van. It can barely fit five passengers.
And also, some of the technology on board that felt somewhat stable, even almost rudimentary. The vessel itself is piloted, operated with a gaming
controller, effectively, a playstation controller.
And when I talked to the company, OceanGate about that, they were extremely confident with the safety measures that they had put in place, that this
vessel could make the journey 13,000 feet down in the ocean and handle the pressure.
That pressure, 400 times what it would be at the surface. And that was largely because of their homemade carbon fiber structure of that vessel.
But again, a lot of questions are still lingering as to what went wrong here.
OceanGate said they had worked with NASA and Boeing to design this vessel. But we have learned that there had been some communication issues with
Titan. That last, year on an expedition, the vessel was lost for more than two hours because they stopped being able to get messages from their
support crew on the ocean surface.
They rely on those messages when underwater to figure out where they are going. They don't have GPS on board when they're actually submerged in the
ocean.
[14:40:00]
COHEN: But again, we don't know what went wrong here.
MACFARLANE: And given that they have had that incident before, as far as you know, was this vessel capable of sending any sort of distress signal?
You said it didn't have GPS.
Was there any contingency plans for that?
COHEN: That is a great question and one that we have asked OceanGate and the Coast Guard again and again over the past couple days. But we have not
learned of any sort of emergency beacon or tool that was put in place in order for the crew to be able to identify its location to first responders
or their support crew in case of an emergency like this.
But again, we don't know that for sure. We are still waiting on that answer.
MACFARLANE: Yes, presumably, if there had been a distress signal we would have heard of it by now. Gabe, thanks very much for giving us that insight.
Interesting to hear what it was like to be inside that vessel. Thank you.
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MACFARLANE (voice-over): Now after wrapping up his high stakes trip to Beijing, the U.S. secretary of state is now here in London. We'll have more
on his trip, just ahead. Stay with us.
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MACFARLANE: The U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is in London for talks of helping Ukraine. Blinken is meeting with the British and Ukrainian
foreign ministers and will also attend a conference focused on helping Ukraine recover after Russia's invasion.
He held a news conference with U.K. foreign secretary James Cleverly on the importance of international support. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CLEVERLY, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: One of the things we have witnessed, with have support and with our encouragement, the very swift
transformation of their armed forces to a very effective set of institutions, military institutions. And we want to see that same alacrity
and pace with the reform of their governmental institutions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Nic Robertson is joining me here to discuss.
Obviously, these men are very much on the same page when it comes to the financing of the Ukraine war. I thought was interesting in this press
conference that he referenced the need to get to grips with the corruption, in order to ensure that foreign investments in Ukraine are safe.
How right is here to focus on that issue right now?
[14:45:00]
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's very important. Obviously, the U.S. has very specifically put in place measures to monitor
and have oversight on the weapons that are being given to Ukraine.
Because it's such a massive amount of money and that is a legitimate concern for the U.S. One of the transitions that Ukraine is doing to help
get itself in a position to be able to be accepted and become a member of the European Union is also countering historic issues of corruption and
straightening out procedures there.
So this transparency is going to be vital to all those business leaders, who will be there at the conference. These governments and the 50 different
countries which will be attending, they are all looking for ways to share the burden of supporting Ukraine.
And one of the important ways will be at the end of the war rebuilding businesses, getting the country's roads, buildings put back together,
making it a functional country and less dependent on them for aid and handouts right now.
The United States, U.K. and others are helping to pay the government's bills in Ukraine, helping with humanitarian support and massive military
support. So that transparency is huge.
And the other thing business people are going to want to know is that Russia is defeated and that there is a peace plan. So these are really
early steps, because the fight is on.
MACFARLANE: The other big topic of conversation, understandably, was China.
But just keeping with the Ukraine angle for now, with regard to China, how significant were those assurances that Blinken said he received from China
this week, that China would not provide lethal assistance to Russia, given that, at the outset of this war, this was a country that said it was in a
no limits partnership with Russia.
ROBERTSON: And the Chinese officials are still saying that, of course. They still maintain that position.
I think it's significant, because Secretary Blinken also made the point that this was an assurance that had been given to other countries. And it
was my understanding, a few months ago, that such assurances had been provided to at least one other country. But I wasn't able to confirm that.
So I think secretary Blinken is telling us here what has been understood in diplomatic circles behind the scenes. And certainly, the Ukrainians, who
met with top foreign policy adviser to president Xi in February at the Munich Security Conference, felt in their conversations with the Chinese
officials that they were being listened to and their concerns about platforms that were being used to sell equipment or to pass equipment to
China from Russia (sic) for use in the war, that those concerns were addressed.
So I think this is an important takeaway.
But has China really shifted its position vis-a -vis its support, its economic support for Russia at this stage, which is huge for helping fund
the war for President Putin. It doesn't appear to be.
And there is certainly plenty of leverage available to China not to suddenly say, OK, no lethal aid and no help whatsoever. That's not in their
strategic interest, it would appear.
MACFARLANE: Yes. China still appears to be a major player. Nic, thank you.
Blinken's U.K. stop came after he wrapped up his high stakes trip to Beijing. As we said, he is touting progress after two days of talks with
top Chinese officials, including president Xi Jinping. But key issues between the U.S. and China remain unresolved. Here to break it down is Ivan
Watson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is this enough to stop the downward spiral?
Antony Blinken, the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the Chinese capital in five years, shaking hands with Xi Jinping, China's leader for
life, the most powerful since Mao. Xi positioned himself as the dominant figure at the head of the table but also recognizes the need to stabilize
ties between the world's two most powerful nations.
XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): The two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues. This is
very good.
WATSON: Relations between China and the U.S. sharply deteriorated at the end of the Trump administration.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: China has been taking advantage of the United States for a long time.
WATSON: Since then, they've only gotten worse the biggest flashpoint the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own. Beijing
regularly deploys war planes and warships around Taiwan, while accusing Washington of stoking the fires of the islands independence.
In November, President Biden met with Xi in Bali to rescue this vital relationship.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to compete vigorously but I'm not looking for conflict. I'm looking to manage his
competition responsibly.
[14:50:00]
WATSON: But any goodwill generated quickly shattered by the appearance of a giant Chinese surveillance balloon over the U.S. in February, U.S.
warplanes shut it down. Meanwhile, Beijing claims us moves like a ban on the sale of semiconductors are aimed at constraining China's rise.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: What this is about, again, is not trying to cut off, eliminate hinder economic relations. On the contrary, we
think that they should be strengthened but in a way that looks out for our workers.
We can, we will and we must take steps necessary to protect our national security. If the shoe were on the other foot, I have no doubt that China
would do exactly the same thing.
WATSON: In Beijing, Blinken succeeded at achieving his stated goal of reestablishing communication with China. China's foreign minister accepted
an invitation to visit Washington and both governments agreed to expand person to person exchanges and increased commercial passenger flight.
WATSON (voice-over): But when it comes to communication between the U.S. and Chinese militaries and their dangerously close encounters in the Indo
Pacific, there's been no progress.
BLINKEN: I think it's absolutely vital that we have these kinds of communications, military to military at this moment. China has not agreed
to move forward with that. I think that's an issue that we have to keep working on.
WATSON: Despite friction, U.S.-Chinese trade reached record highs last year, perhaps the world's two largest economies can't afford further
confrontation -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Our thanks to Ivan.
Now still to come tonight, one Spotify executive is not holding back when it comes to his thoughts on Harry and Meghan's podcast deal coming to an
end. That story up next.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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MACFARLANE: Now are you tired?
Well, take five. Or take 30, in fact. A new study has found that taking a short nap during the day may in fact protect your brain health. That study
in the journal, "Sleep Health," suggests a 30 minute nap could help to reduce brain shrinkage between 2-6 years. Neurodegenerative diseases such
as dementia accelerate brain shrinkage.
[14:55:00]
MACFARLANE: But a nap could be a positive thing for prevention. Good to hear.
Spotify executive Bill Simmons is hitting out at Prince Harry and Meghan. He made these scathing remarks after Sussexes' podcast deal which spotify
ended after just one season.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BILL SIMMONS, SPOTIFY EXECUTIVE: They're grifters. That's a podcast we should have launched with them.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: For anyone curious, the term "grifter" means someone who gets money dishonestly by tricking people. The couple's production company at
Spotify was intended to include numerous programs. CNN has reached out for comment.
And finally, this hour, call it planetary pyrotechnics. Things truly jumping on Jupiter. Take a look at these images of green lightning near the
planet's north pole. The image was captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft.
In the coming months Juno will pass over Jupiter's night sight, giving scientists more opportunity to see lightning strikes in action. This is a
striking image, indeed, for all the space nerds out there, like me.
All right, that's it for this busy hour. Thank you so much for joining us. Stay with CNN. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is after the break.
[15:00:00]
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