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New Day Sunday

MH370 Interim Report Reveals Chaos, Confusion; Police: Teen Killed By Officer Was Unarmed; Boko Haram Swears Loyalty to ISIS

Aired March 08, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning on the disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370. The interim report is now out, revealing what is being called a massive failure of air traffic control. We're going to break it all down for you.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP

PROTESTERS: What's the name? Tony Robinson!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Protests for the second straight day as Madison, Wisconsin, police, admit a teen shot by a police officer was not armed.

PAUL: And for the first time, President Obama speaks out about the private e-mail used by his first secretary of state. But Hillary Clinton, she's keeping her mouth shut.

Your NEW DAY starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

PAUL: It is 7:00 -- 7:01 to be exact -- just in case you have not looked at the clock today and you think you got an extra hour.

We do want to begin some breaking news --

JOHNS: That could of happened, by the way!

PAUL: It could have, yes. I'm Christi Paul.

JOHNS: And I'm Joe Johns. I'm in for Victor Blackwell.

Exactly one year after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished without a trace, investigators say the plane's captain and crew showed no signs of stress before it took off.

PAUL: We just received hundreds of pages of the first interim report from the Malaysian government. Among these new details, the plane's pinger batteries had already conspired.

JOHNS: CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest sifted through all of the documents.

Good morning, Richard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi and Joe.

Hundreds of pages of documents supporting background information have now been released. And although they don't give us any information about what happened in the cockpit, we still don't know why the plane went missing, or, indeed where it ended up.

They paint a very detailed picture of the aircraft, its systems, its crew, and how air traffic control performed on the night. It's not a pretty picture.

On the question of the pilots, any evidence, there is simply no evidence that the captain was in any way unstable. In fact, the report specifically says the captain's ability to handle stress at work and home was good. There was no known history of apathy, anxiety, irritability, no significant changes in his lifestyle, into personal conflict or family stresses.

There is more in this! Neither the pilot captain or the pilot or the co-pilot had any financial problems. They had regular bank accounts, regular mortgages, insurance policies and nothing out of the ordinary.

In terms of what happened on the night, here we see a very different picture, confusion and chaos. Somewhat between Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur, as they look for the plane. Many hours going by with seemingly nobody having any urgency that this was now turning into a crisis, and the underwater locator, batteries had actually expired. Now, we don't know what the effect might have been in terms of could they have lasted the full 30 days, but clearly we have been told previously they were good. Now, we know they are not.

The picture we are getting of what happened on the night certainly contributed to the fact that now, we have no idea where the plane has ended up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: You can imagine, a lot of the families of Flight 370 say the decision by the Malaysian government to release this report on the one-year anniversary, they believe, is insensitive. They actually gathered this morning for a vigil in Kuala Lumpur where the flight took off.

CNN's Anna Coren is live there.

And, Anna, I know there's been some reaction from the families to this report, right?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. They know that the interim report has come out this afternoon here in Kuala Lumpur and many of them feeling that it's meaningless. It doesn't provide them with any more details, any more information as to where their loved ones are at the end of the day. That's what they need to know. The detail in between the hours, the days that proceeded, you know, the disappearance of the plane they say means nothing and they just want to know where their loved ones are.

As you say, a vigil held here in Kuala Lumpur as those people come together to commemorate this one-year anniversary. And a short time ago, we also heard from the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott who was interviewed in Australia.

The question put to him, you know, is all hope lost? And he actually says, look, if we don't find the plane in this priority search zone that we are currently scouring, 23,000 square-mile area, then we are prepared to look again in an area of a similar size.

So, that is new information coming in, because, obviously, the concern of the families is if there is no debris found in this search zone, in the southern Indian Ocean, that the search will be called off.

One of those people terrified that would happen is Danica Weeks. She is an Australia woman whose husband Paul was on board MH370.

Take a listen what she had to stay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANICA WEEKS, HUSBAND WAS ON FLIGHT 370: I'll never stop searching for him. He gave everything to us. He is amazing. And so, if I know if the shoe was on the other foot, he wouldn't stop looking for me. And I'll never stop looking for him either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: It's just heart breaking listening to her pain, to her grief. And it doesn't stop. It's not going to stop, because, you know, Christi, these people have no answers whatsoever.

PAUL: Because of that, you just can't reconcile anything.

Anna Coren, thank you so much.

JOHNS: So, let's dig a little deeper with CNN's safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector David Soucie. He is also the author of "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370."

First, David, what's your reaction to what Anna just referred to there, the Australia prime minister's comments that this search cannot go on forever? Do you believe search crews are going to find the aircraft in the priority zone?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: You know, I'm hopeful that it will. The first part of the priority zone that has been searched, the 9,000 square miles, is the highest probably area. As they go further and further away from the highest probability area, you know, I lose confidence that they will find it in the area just because that isn't where they most think that it would be.

So, it's difficult certainly for the families this year's anniversary to accept that and understand that, but I do believe that there will be a time where they will stop the search.

JOHNS: Now, CNN's Richard Quest has been analyzing this report, looking through it, and he indicates there was a massive failure between civilian and military radar and air traffic control. Is that your analysis as well?

SOUCIE: Joe, that is so critical. Richard hit it right on the head with that, because that 17-minute period in which the aircraft had been handed off from one control area to the other, it should have been no more than five minutes of no contact. But there were 17 minutes and during that 17-minute time is when the aircraft made that turnaround and started going back to what I believe is they were heading back to the main maintenance base for Malaysian Airlines.

So, that is incredibly critical. So, before when you were talking about how the families feel that the report is meaningless. It maybe meaningless to them because certainly they are looking for their loved ones and they would really like to get some answers, but it is certainly not meaningless to the Malaysian government, to the air traffic control systems down there that are trying to fix these problems and they have to get it fixed. This report is just the impetus they'll need, just the catalyst to make some changes and improve the safety of traveling in that area.

JOHNS: David, I spent weeks in Malaysia following this story and I have toll you one much surprises I heard out of this report is that maintenance records show the battery for the underwater locator beacon had actually expired. The report says there is no evidence it had been replaced.

Can you talk about how big of a mistake that was? Especially since everybody was looking for, you know, some sign of the beacon?

SOUCIE: Joe, I remember those reports with you down there and diligently reporting what was going on. If you recall, we had a maintenance person from Malaysian Airlines contact us at CNN and we spoke with him about his concerns about this battery life, whether it was properly stored or not. So, whether the battery was in the proper storage was the first thing that we were concerned about. Now, at this point, knowing this had happened, this is a huge deal.

It may seem minuscule to most people, but when you look at maintenance records -- and I've spent 17 years evaluating maintenance operations at airlines -- and those airlines are very meticulous. The fact that this one thing slipped through the crack, this is maintenance 101, Joe. This is what you do. When something is due at a certain time, you make sure it's done. There is no room for error here. Yet there was error. That indicates to me there may be something deeper we need to be looking at with Malaysian airlines.

JOHNS: Right. Again and again and again seeing signs of human error throughout here. We still don't know what happened to that plane and that will probably be the final testament.

But thanks so much for that, David Soucie. And I'm sure we will be checking in with you again on this.

SOUCIE: Thank you, Joe.

PAUL: Still to come, more protests, as well as the fact that we are getting new dispatch audio after the shooting death of an unarmed team by a police officer. Our Rosa Flores is in Madison, Wisconsin.

JOHNS: Plus, Boko Haram's pledge is linking up with another terror group. So, what's that going to mean in the fight against terrorism?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: We are gathering new information about the shooting death of a 19-year-old man who was shot and killed by a Madison, Wisconsin, police officer. According to public records, Tony Robinson pled guilty to armed robbery in December of last year. But we want to point out, he was unarmed when he was killed. Madison's police chief says the fact that he has a checkered past should not matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MIKE KOVAL, MADISON, WISCONSIN: I, frankly, think it is for our purposes today, wholly inappropriate and I am not going to blemish anyone's character, particularly one as young as his and over the circumstances of what his family has dealt with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Police say the teen got into a scuffle with a police officer after he showed up to investigate a disturbance.

Rosa Flores is live in Madison, Wisconsin, with the very latest.

Rosa, good morning to you. What are you hearing there this morning?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi.

You know, this community still coming to grips with what happened here. I talked to Robinson's mother yesterday. She is still devastated and has friends and family around her, which is helping but she says it's a very difficult time for her as you might imagine.

I want to set the scene for you here, because take a look behind me, you'll see that a small memorial has been established here. You see some candles. The crime scene tape is still up, which is very telling because this happened on Friday evening. A police cruiser as well, you look beyond the police cruiser. You see a door that is patched with some plastic -- all signs that this is early in the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): Hundreds of demonstrators hit the streets of Madison, Wisconsin, following the shooting death of an unarmed 19- year-old at the hands of police.

ANDREA IRWIN, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I just want to let him know that I'm there!

FLORES: Tony Terrell Robinson's mother is devastated and overcome by emotion.

IRWIN: My son has never been a violent person, never, and to die in such a violent, violent way.

FLORES: Police paint a different picture of her son. Scanner traffic capturing the dramatic chain of events.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look for a male black, light skin.

FLORES: Police say they received several calls about Robinson Friday evening -- first about the teen jumping in and out of traffic and dodging cars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got another call for the same suspect.

FLORES: Then, about an alleged battery incident.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tried to strangle another patron.

FLORES: The situation escalating when Robinson entered what family say is his best friend's house. Officer Matt Kenny arrived, heard a commotion inside and forced his way in, according to police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Shots fired.

FLORES: Official say Robinson attacked Officer Kenny, who then fired the deadly shots. Kenny suffered a blow to the head. Robinson was administered CPR at the scene but later died at the hospital.

KOVAL: He was unarmed and that's going to make this all the more complicated for the investigators, for the public to accept, to understand that deadly force had to be used.

FLORES: This is not the first time the 45-year-old officer used lethal force. Kenny was exonerated for an event that took place almost eight years ago, a fact that doesn't sit well with Robinson's family and friends.

LORIEN CARTER, TONY ROBINSON'S AUNT: He was a beautiful, beautiful young man. He stood 6'4", 200 pounds.

FLORES: Robinson's aunt and grandmother speaking out not buying the account from the police.

SHARON IRWIN, TONY ROBINSON'S GRANDMOTHER: I think the cop shot him because he was afraid of him!

FLORES: Protesters calling Robinson's killing their Ferguson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hurt. I'm frustrated. I'm angry.

FLORES: As another family faces an all too familiar anguish, the community deals with an all-too familiar question, was the use of deadly force necessary?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Officer Matt Kenny is 12-year veteran of the department and he's on paid administrative leave. As for the investigation, it's in the hand of the Wisconsin Department of Justice. That is, by law, here in Wisconsin, whenever there is an officer-involved shooting, the police department doesn't get to investigate itself.

Back to you.

PAUL: All righty. Rosa Flores, thank you.

JOHNS: Now, let's bring in Tom Fuentes. He's the former FBI assistant director and CNN's law enforcement analyst.

So, Tom, oftentimes in a situation like this where you have a police-involved shooting, it's politically explosive to bring up the criminal history of the individual who was shot. But from an investigative standpoint, is it relevant?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Joe, I think it will be relevant in the long run if you're trying to establish what the tendencies were of an individual as the individual capable of violence and we understand that grieving parents don't believe that that is possible, that their son is not violent and, you know, so we expect that.

But the investigation will be conducted by the state of Wisconsin, not by the city of Madison. And, you know, we just have to wait and find out more of the facts.

Additionally, the officer was taken to the hospital also Friday night and blood was drawn. So, there will be a toxicology report on the officer to see whether he had alcohol or drugs in his system. The same thing will be done through the autopsy of the victim. So, you know, that will lend a little more light on the behavior of the individuals involved in this, but it's going to take, you know, a diligent investigation on the part of the state authorities to look at this and see exactly what happened.

Unfortunately, in the political climate we have right now, people on both sides of the issue immediately want to jump to the conclusion that one side or the other is directly at fault. It's too early to know that right now.

JOHNS: This is a really interesting case study, isn't it? Because, on the one hand, you have this victim who was shot dead, apparently unarmed with a criminal history. Also, the police officer who was involved in this as well had another fatal shooting in his background. So, that's something that perhaps would come into play too, yes?

FUENTES: Well, it might. I mean, they could take another look at that and certainly, if there is a civil lawsuit later, that whole incident will be re-examined and looked at.

But the unfortunate thing is that for police officers, if an officer earlier in his or her career uses deadly force and it's determined or believed at the time that it was justified, should they just retire right on the spot? Because if it ever had to happen again, it would be, you know, it would taint their record to even be involved in an incident like that.

So, again, that incident will be re-examined just, you know, in the normal course as the current incident will as well.

JOHNS: Yes, all of this very interesting case study in light of some of the other police-involved shootings we have seen around the country.

So, thanks so much for that. Good to see you, Tom Fuentes.

FUENTES: Thank you, Joe.

PAUL: Two of the world's most notorious terror groups are linking. So, what will this mean for the fight against terror globally, as well as here at home?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Twenty-five minutes past the hour.

A frightening new alliance may be forming today. Nigerian militant group Boko Haram reportedly swearing its loyalty to ISIS. This is believed to be the largest jihadi group to make this pledge to the Islamic State.

So, what does this mean for ISIS?

Well, look at the map here, the highlighted countries, those are where Boko Haram could be most active. So, this move, obviously, could give ISIS a strong foothold in Africa.

But, CNN's Nima Elbagir has more on this potential new alliance for us.

Good morning, Nima.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christi and Joe, a new alliance for the Nigerian militant, Boko Haram. A voice claiming to be that, of the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, pledged allegiance in an audio message to the emir of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

If this is true, this will give ISIS a scope of allegiance that stretches from one coast of Africa to the other, through Egypt, Libya and Algeria, and now down into that Horn of West Africa, in Nigeria, at the time when a multiregional African Union-backed force is eroding much of that Boko Haram territorial gains, they need this razed profile, this propaganda visibility more than ever. The multiregional partners have come together to not only fight Boko Haram inside Nigeria, and inside their own territories, but also to block the lines. More propaganda equals more access to those lifelines of foreign recruitment and foreign donations.

For ISIS, this also is an opportunity to strike a blow against al Qaeda and show that it has sustained a much deeper international presence than al Qaeda has at the moment.

Whether this will be enough for Boko Haram to turn the tide against that African Union-backed force, though, remains to be seen -- Christi and Joe.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: All righty. Nima, thank you so much.

JOHNS: Still to come, MH370 families clashing with police today as they fight for access to a temple where they want to grieve.

Plus, we are learning new details about the final hours of Flight 370, including massive confusion between radar operators and air traffic control. And we are learning about an underwater locator pinger with expired batteries?

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