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Investigators Examine Air France Crash; Shuttle Repair Successful; Crash Survivor Shares Story; South Korean Scientists Clone Dog

Aired August 03, 2005 - 14:58   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News," British police charge a 23-year-old man in connection with the failed bomb attacks in London. Ismael Abdurahman faces charges of withholding information about the attempted attacks on July 21st. He's the first suspect to be charged in this case. He will appear in court tomorrow.
A historic mission to repair the shuttle. Astronaut Steve Robinson goes on a space walk to remove materials sticking out from the shuttle's heat-shielding tiles. NASA pronounced the mission successful, as Robinson gingerly plucked out the gap fillers. That's one problem out of the way, but engineers are now deciding what to do about that protective blanket that appears to have been punctured. We'll go to live to mission control in Houston in just a minutes.

Crown Prince Abdullah is officially invested as the new king of Saudi Arabia. He takes over as monarch after the death of his half- brother, King Fahd. Hundreds of Islamic clerics, tribal chiefs and other prominent Saudis pledged oaths of loyalty to the new king at a ceremony in Riyadh.

Up first, a team of investigators scouring the charred wreckage of that Air France flight in Toronto this hour. The objects of their attention, the all-important flight data and voice recorders from that plane. What will also be of help to investigators probing yesterday's crash are the harrowing stories we've been hearing all day from the survivors.

CNN's Mary Snow following all this from Toronto at the Toronto airport.

Hi, Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.

In just a few moments we're expecting to hear an update from transportation officials, including the transport minister here at Toronto's Airport Administration building. An investigation has been going on. We're also expecting to hear from Peel Police, who say they have been talking to the passengers on board the plane.

A team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board in Canada sealed off the scene today. They've been looking to retrieve those black boxes and get information to tell them what went wrong with Flight 358, Air France Flight 358. Transportation officials were saying they're going to be looking at all possibilities. They say, of course, weather is going to be something they're going to be looking at, because the airport had been on a red alert, indicating that there was lightning, high wind and heavy storms at the time that the plane skidded off the runway yesterday. It went into a ravine and caught on fire.

Now, 297 passengers, 13 crew members. Forty-three minor injuries, say officials. And those who are on board are really saying they are grateful today. And they're shaking their heads in disbelief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVIER DUBOS, PASSENGER: We just feel that it's a miracle. Looking at the pictures in the newspaper this morning, I just can't believe that we all managed to get out of there, that there are any survivors. We -- I'm still in shock. I don't really understand the whole thing, what happened. But really happy to be alive. That's a quite unusual feeling when you come back from a vacation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: And fire department officials say that they responded within 52 seconds, that everyone on the plane was off the plane within 90 seconds -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got it. All right, Mary, I'm being told we have new video right now. It's just coming up on the screen. I don't know if you can see it. It's coming from Global TV. And tell me if the producer is -- tell me about the new video, exactly.

Can I get any information on this new video that we're looking at? OK. All right. So you can't really make out anything from this shot.

There we go. There's a better shot. From the helicopter there via Global Television. New video in of the scene. That's the actual wreckage.

It's amazing to look at these pictures and think that more than 300 individuals got off that plane alive. Absolutely incredible, considering when we saw it when it skidded off the runway and we saw the flames they were able to open up those doors, jump out, and all escape alive. Looking at that wreckage, it's amazing.

Well, one of the passengers aboard the Air France flight was a 26-year-old doctor who had been working in the Himalayas. Earlier on LIVE FROM I asked her how she and everyone else managed to escape through all that chaos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. YASMIN LADAK, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: I guess people started reaching for their things and they just started yelling, you know, just keep going. Keep walking. Forget about your things. We have to get off the plane. And started sort of moving forward as quickly as possible. And was able to get out off of a chute and down and off the plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Pretty amazing stories. We'll talk to another one, 19-year-old Eddie Ho, a college student. He was also on that flight. That's coming up in just a little bit.

Success, 220 miles out in space. Many folks here on Earth were holding their breath as astronaut Steve Robinson floated over to the space shuttle for a never before tried fix-it job on Discovery. And it couldn't have gone any smoother.

Our John Zarrella at mission control in Houston, already snagging a few gap fillers. But we're not going to tell anybody about that. He's just going to talk about the details of that -- that walk.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You mean this one?

PHILLIPS: Oops.

ZARRELLA: I'm not supposed to talk about that one?

PHILLIPS: All right. Go ahead. It's kind of cool to see that you actually have it in your hand.

ZARRELLA: Yes, a thin piece of material. And that's all it is, a gap filler. And you know, the interesting thing about this, Kyra, is that it was so very easy to pull out, and that begs the question, why didn't the bonding material hold? So from astronauts I've talked with here the question, of course.

For the astronaut -- for Steve Robinson and the mission team, it was great it came out so easily. For engineers on Earth now, they've got to figure out why did it come out so easily. That shouldn't have been quite that easy.

Anyway, Steve Robinson did do something never before done, riding the International Space Station's robotic arm. He went beneath the space shuttle. They moved him into position. And once in position, he grabbed one gap filler and then he grabbed a second gap filler.

And they came out extremely easily, with no difficulty at all. He did not have to use the forceps or the hacksaw that they had brought out there with him just in case.

And back here on Earth during a post-spacewalk briefing, the mission team talked about just how easy it was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY BEGLEY, SPACEWALK OFFICER: One of the things Steve said right after he got the starboard one out was, "Look at that. Everything the team said would happen did." So he was very happy with that. And then on his way inside he said, "I'd call that one pretty good day in space." So it was very clear that they were very pleased and very happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Definitely a very good day in space. Now, NASA is turning its attention to one more issue that they have to deal with, a blanket. It's literally a thermal blanket that has puffed out underneath Commander Eileen Collins' cockpit window. It's above the "D" there on the word Discovery. And you can just about make it out.

NASA has to decide what to do about that. They're concerned that on re-entry it could come off and damage the vehicle. It is quite possible that nothing will be done. They might just leave it alone.

But there is the option still on the table of a spacewalk. And flight director Paul Hill discussed what the options might be if they decide to try for another spacewalk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL HILL, FLIGHT DIRECTOR: In the -- what we consider to be the unlikely case that we'd have to go out and do something about it, those options would include things that would say cut the blanket and pull it off or shred it so that it comes off in small pieces before we get into lower mach numbers, where a larger piece could come off and fly back and hit the vehicle further aft and cause damage. Things like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: But the bottom line: a very productive and a very successful day in space for the astronauts and for the mission team of Discovery. We await the decision now on what to do about the puffed up blanket -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. John Zarrella, thank you so much.

Just one pretty successful story we've been telling you about today. Of course, the other one is that Air France flight in Toronto and the fact that all 309 people aboard that plane have pretty incredible stories to tell now, seeing that they all survived.

Eddie Ho is a 19-year-old college student from South Africa. He came to Toronto to vacation. Well, you know the rest from there.

Eddie, it's good to see you.

EDDIE HO, PASSENGER ON FLIGHT 358: Yes, yes.

PHILLIPS: So you're very happy to see everybody, too, I'm sure. Why don't you take us back?

HO: Yes, definitely. Well, basically everything -- the plane started descending, of course. It was very turbulent. There was rain everywhere. It was -- you could actually hear that the pilot was trying to control the throttle manually himself. He's actually trying to get some more power. And, of course, everyone was very worried on the plane. But as we landed the three wheels touched the ground. The first reaction was that we were actually clapping. I mean, I was cheering. People were clapping and saying that, wow, the pilot has done a very good maneuver.

But then 10 seconds later, basically all hell broke loose. I mean, the plane didn't stop at all. It didn't even slow down. It was -- you know, such a disaster. It was -- people shook in their seats. The plane shook so violently. The ceilings fell apart. The on board carriage fell off.

I mean, I can tell remember everything was black. There was no lighting. There was no electricity on the plane. I can still remember -- I can actually hear right now, I mean, screaming and the shouting that -- of the woman and the children and I can -- it's just terrible.

PHILLIPS: Well, so what did you do? No doubt. This is something you're never going to forget.

HO: I know, yes.

PHILLIPS: I mean, what did you do? How did you remain calm?

HO: Well, basically, I mean, as we impact, felt the impact, once it went off the runway or something like that, it felt like, you know, in a car accident. You just -- I just held still, you know. Clenched -- closed my eyes and just kept praying. It just felt like as if you are in a car accident that kept going, you know, just doesn't -- a car accident that never stops. Just -- the plane just doesn't stop -- it never stops at all.

PHILLIPS: And how did you finally get off the plane?

HO: OK. Well, basically when we finally stopped we try -- everyone try to get off. I actually tried to get through the closest exit in front of me but the exit there, there was no slide. There was no chute to jump down.

Flight attendants are telling everyone jump off. It's safe to jump off. I'm looking in front of me. It's like at least one or two stories high. Four or five meters high. And there's no way I was going to jump off that. And actually, there were so many people that were hesitant to jump off the first exit.

So what happened was I actually went to -- ran through business class, which was already empty by then and went to the front of the plane and jumped off the other exit at the front of the plane. But, again, the chute -- also, the chute also that didn't deploy properly. It was malfunctioning. It was still a jump.

And I remember when I went out the -- jumped out the plane I fell on some of the people. And I remember there was people -- a gentleman fell on top of me. And they were trying to throw all the luggage out, as much possessions as possible. And people were trying to get away from the plane.

I remember carrying me and this another gentleman, we were carrying a business class person. He had a broken right leg, and I remember like he was trying to say, "Leave me here."

And I said, "No, we'll get to the bridge. When we get to the bridge the ambulance will there been to help you."

And we were halfway there and we heard the explosion coming from behind us. I didn't see any fireball, but at that moment I was thinking, "Oh my God. What is going to happen if people are on the plane still." We didn't even know at that moment how many people were -- got off the plane or anything like that.

PHILLIPS: So when did it hit you -- Eddie, when did it hit you that, OK, I've got my hands and my feet. I can walk, I'm alive. I'm on ground.

HO: You know, even when I was trying to get off the plane I was still trying to think -- are my arms broken, are my legs broken? You know?

Even I was climbing up to the 401 Highway I was still -- I don't know if I could feel any pain or anything, but you know it's just not in your mind. You're just going. I mean some other passengers had broken arms and legs. They just kept going, as well. There's no way -- you have a basically a time bomb running like behind you. You know, it's just -- it's not running through your mind. You're not thinking. It's almost as if you're touching a hot stove and, you know, your hand just goes away automatically. It's just like a reaction.

PHILLIPS: And Eddie, so many people say when something like this happens their whole life flashes before them. Did you have that moment?

HO: I don't know -- it didn't flash before my eyes or anything like that. But I was definitely praying and I was definitely -- I'm a Christian myself. I was definitely praying to God and asking him to protect me and protect everyone around me, et cetera.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

HO: I mean -- I definitely knew that I definitely had a feeling that it was all going to end, all going to die, but I didn't -- I didn't have -- it was too short. It was just -- it was -- it was so -- I can't explain.

PHILLIPS: Who is the first family member that you called as soon as you realized you were OK? What were the phone calls you made?

HO: Well, yes, basically when I got on to the -- on to the bus, one of the ladies from business class, she actually borrowed me her cell phone, because my cell phone was actually ruined from the rain. And she borrowed me her cell phone. And we tried to call at first. But all the lines were congested or something. The network was congested.

And only a few moments later I was able to call a friend of mine first and left a message for him to tell him to call my relatives in Toronto and tell them that I was OK. And to tell them to call back to South Africa where my parents were. It was a call here. At first communications was very difficult. Even 10 minutes later her cell phone died. So it was only really when I actually talked properly to my family, relatives was in the airport, where I used my credit card and, you know, just dialed the number.

PHILLIPS: Made the call. Eddie Ho, 19-year-old college student coming from South Africa. You came to Toronto on vacation. I really hope you can start enjoying your vacation now, Eddie. It's definitely started off with quite an interesting adventure, wouldn't you say?

I think we lost our contact with Eddie. Well, that was an incredible interview. He's obviously got a lot of energy. Very happy to be alive. Just one of 300 plus passengers that survived that airline that skidded off the runway yesterday. Pretty amazing stuff.

Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now to Iraq. The U.S. Marines suffer more casualties. Fourteen Marines and a civilian interpreter are killed in a roadside bombing near the town of Haditha, about 135 miles northwest of Baghdad.

It's being regarded as the single deadliest ground attack against U.S. troops so far in this war. The bombing comes two days after six Marine sniper team members died in a firefight near the same city.

In the past 10 days 43 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq. More than 1,800 troops have died since this war has begun back in March of 2003.

Another casualty in Iraq, an American freelance journalist. Just days ago Steven Vincent wrote an article about the growing influence of Islamic militants in the southern city of Basra. He was there working on a book.

Well, early this morning and he his female interpreter were yanked off the street. Hours later, Vincent was found shot to death. The interpreter is in the hospital with a gunshot wound to her chest.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You remember this one, right? Knickknack paddywhack give a dog a clone. My writers are so brilliant. The world's first cloned dog makes its debut. But not everyone is ready to give him a pat on the head. We're off the chain on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, genetic researchers in Asia call ate break through, both scientifically exciting and ethically controversial. CNN's Eunice Yoon reports on the mixed perception of the world's first cloned canine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog. Snuppy is a 100-day-old Afghan hound created and owned by a South Korean scientist, Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk.

Last year Hwang and his team created the world's first cloned human embryos. This year he cloned embryonic stem cells that genetically matched six patients. So why clone a canine? Stem cell researchers believe this is another step towards finding cell therapies for humans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dogs get about 65 of the same type of infections as we humans do. The possibility of helping to treat our dogs in a veterinary clinic may be the right thing to do for dogs, and the knowledge we gain will teach us so much.

YOON: Hwang cloned Snuppy by fusing a skin cell from the donor dog with an unfertilized canine egg. Using electricity and chemicals, he activated the cells before injecting them into the womb of a surrogate Labrador Retriever. Sixty days later he was born, a genetic replica of his father and named after his birth place, Seoul National University, or SNU.

HWANG WOO-SUK, GENETIC RESEARCHER: The first cloned dog at Seoul National University.

YOON: But cloning Snuppy was far from easy. Out of nearly 1,100 embryos, Snuppy's was the only one that developed into a healthy puppy. Scientists make an important distinction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not in the business of cloning pets. The success rate here is so dismally low, 0.09 percent, that it confirms that the nuclear transfer technology is not for reproduction.

YOON: And though Snuppy is healthy for now, no one is sure if he'll stay that way. Scientist Ian Wilmut, who cloned Dolly the sheep, says development disorders are always a risk.

IAN WILMUT, CLONED DOLLY THE SHEEP: I think that's something we still need to learn. I think that some cloned animals are very healthy; some are not.

YOON: Hwang now hopes to develop stem cell treatments for sick dogs.

HWANG: We can find some very important data using some stem cells in the future.

YOON: Truly making dogs man's best friend. Eunice Yoon, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Pharmaceutical industry has unveiled new drug advertising guidelines, but critics say it's not enough. Susan Lisovicz with more on that -- Kyra.

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Thank you so much. I'm getting word that we are going to take you to that news conference now at the Toronto airport. Officials now addressing reporters about Flight 358, Air France, skidded off the runway yesterday. Let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... part of that training exercise. It will be available for you afterwards.

Secondly, this is our fifth briefing -- briefing session from the GTAA. The Transportation Safety Board is picking this up. They will hold the first formal media at 5:30. And that will be in our offices here. So that will be 5:30 this afternoon the Transportation Safety Board will hold their first media.

Thirdly, we've also worked hard to arrange for those of you with cameras and to take you to a staging area near the site so you will be able to get some pictures. We have arranged for buses. That will be immediately after this press conference.

Just to remind you. We'd like a priority for the cameras. If there are sets available for some of your others. And the Peel police will be in charge of that. They will brief you at the time.

In terms of an update we are now very -- the site is secure. The emergency services have contained all the fire. Transportation Safety Board is now taking up the investigation. The airport is operating. We are very close to having our fourth runway in operation. I believe it is now. And we are working hard with the airlines to deal with the backlog from yesterday.

With that being said it's my pleasure to introduce Mr. John Caldaway, president and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority. Oh, sorry. First of all, Air France, Mr. Christian Lesian (ph), vice president and general manager of Air France in Canada.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. First of all, Air France wants to express our solidarity to passengers and the relatives. I want you to know that the Air France staff is fully engaged in helping every one of our passengers who needs assistance.

I want to also remind you that the 309 people on board are out of danger. We have made it our priority to provide all the passengers with our utmost attention and assistance.

(UNINTELLIGIBLE) however, the situation is evolving. The chairman of Air France, Jean-Cyril Spinetta, is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to Paris. He will be communicating later in the afternoon.

I thank the authorities of Canada and for their manner and especially the GTAA. I will do the same in French, of course.

(speaking French)

PHILLIPS: In English and in French officials there from Air France and other agencies holding a formal news conference, just commending all parties involved for handling Air France 358 when it skidded off the runway and pointing out the fact that it was all handled well, and 309 passengers still alive, able to get out of the aircraft is the proof.

"INSIDE POLITICS" right now.

END

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