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Trump Targets California Vehicle Standards; Governors Blast Trump Crackdown in Los Angeles; Deadly Air India Crash. Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired June 12, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news: deadly crash. An Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner goes down just moments after taking off with 242 people on board.

Emergency crews have been rushing to try to rescue potential survivors from the wreckage, as the U.S. and U.K. both prepare to send investigators to find out the cause of this crash.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is off. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We begin this hour with that horrible breaking news out of India. A commercial airliner with 242 people on board crashes just after takeoff and slams into a residential neighborhood. A plume of thick black smoke pours into the sky. Remarkably, the airline CEO says there are survivors. The exact number of deaths or injuries on the ground is still unknown.

The flight had just taken off from India's Western city of Ahmedabad and was bound for London's Gatwick Airport. The plane's signal was lost less than a minute later at an altitude of just 625 feet.

We want to warn our viewers that this video is very distressing. It shows the plane losing altitude quickly and almost appears to be landing, but it actually is falling from the sky. It then crashes and erupts in a huge fireball, the explosion so powerful it catapulted the plane's tail into a nearby building.

The plane was an American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner, so National Transportation Safety Board investigators from here in the U.S. are heading to the crash site now to help determine what went so horribly wrong.

CNN correspondent Nada Bashir is over at London's Gatwick Airport. That's where the plane was en route. What are you learning, Nada?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if we are getting updates as the hours pass by and as the investigation continues to unfold, the focus, of course, on the fate of those 242 passengers and crew members on board, the majority of whom, according to officials, are feared dead, although we have heard from the head of Air India, who has suggested that the injured -- or some of those injured have been taken to a nearby hospital.

So there are still questions around the total number of casualties. That figure has not yet been finally confirmed. And then, of course, it's important to underscore that this crash occurred in a residential area. We have seen the devastating videos and images emerging, as you described, of the black plumes of smoke emerging following that fatal crash.

And, of course, what has been a huge point of concern as well is the medical center that was impacted and the doctors' hostel which was impacted directly by this crash. There are still questions around the number of residents in the area, as well as medical students who may have been injured or killed as a result of that crash.

We have been hearing from the All India Medical Association, which has said that dozens of those injured as a result of that impact of the crash have been taken to hospitals for treatment.

There are still between four and five medical students who are actually missing, and at least two are said to be in intensive care now receiving that urgent treatment, but still, many, many questions unanswered around the cause behind this fatal crash, what led to it.

And, of course, for the family members and loved ones and relatives of those who are on board that flight and those who have been in the local area and therefore impacted by the impact of this fatal crash, many will be concerned to hear the fate of their loved ones, particularly after we did hear that statement from the Air India chief suggesting that there were some injured passengers taken to hospital.

Again, no clear confirmation around the total number of casualties. And here at London's Gatwick Airport, of course, this is the airport where that flight had been expected to land at around 6.25 p.m. this evening. There has been a lot of effort around providing support for the loved ones and family members of those on board who had been expecting to meet with their loved ones later this evening.

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Of course, among the 242 passengers on board that flight and crew members, of course, there were 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese nationals and one Canadian national. We have heard from the British prime minister, who has said that he is receiving updates on the situation on the ground and the unfolding investigation.

We also heard from the royal family, King Charles offering his condolences as well and paying tribute to the emergency services. And there has been a reception center set up here at Gatwick Airport for those family members and relatives to receive updates and also to receive support, of course.

And when it comes to the investigation, we have heard from officials here in the United Kingdom and in the U.S., who have said that they will be sending their own investigation team to provide support for what is said to be a collaborative and multinational investigation into the cause behind this fatal crash.

But, of course, this is a moment of anguish for those family members waiting for that final confirmation around the fate of their loved ones -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Horrible, horrible, horrible situation.

Nada Bashir over at London's Gatwick Airport, thank you very much.

This is the first major tragedy involving a Boeing 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft was first brought into service back in 2011. But a year ago, a whistle-blower came forward saying that parts of the aircraft were built in an unsafe manner and he warned there could be -- quote -- "devastating consequences."

CNN correspondent Tom Foreman is here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Tom, to be clear it could take, what, a year or more to determine the cause of this crash, but who is this whistle-blower and what were his allegations?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: About a year ago, he was a subcontractor and engineer working for -- a mechanic working for Boeing.

And he said that there were holes being drilled in the forward pressure bulkhead of the plane that he believes could lead to significant problems, that it would get worse over time. It wasn't right away a problem, but that as this moved forward, this could cause an instability which would cause potentially catastrophic failure.

Boeing looked at this and Boeing said that they did not believe that was the case, that they thought that this would not be that kind of an issue. Now, that said, Wolf I have to say the FAA has also been looking at some gaps in the seams of the forward pressure bulkhead and wondering if those could be a problem over time, all of which really comes to an important part here.

Would that be the kind of thing that would cause this kind of accident? Our aviation analysts have sort of leaned on the side of saying, that doesn't look like this kind of thing, because, look, this plane was traveling probably close to 200 miles an hour upon takeoff. It's going to be much faster once it gets to altitude.

It's at a low pressure area. I mean, obviously, you're pressurizing the cabin, but you're not at high altitude or any of the other things that might lead to that. That's why I think, Wolf, as they go through this process, they have to look at all the other possible problems.

BLITZER: So Boeing investigated this whistle-blowers allegations and determined there was nothing to it?

FOREMAN: Well, I don't think they determined there was nothing to it, but not to the degree that he said it could cause a failure of the aircraft. They seemed to conclude that.

Again, Boeing has been dealing with a lot of problems in recent years, so -- and a lot of questions. So I think there is some question of trust among some people in the public at least. And yet Boeing looked at these and said they think the whistle-blower was raising a flag that did not need to be raised in that manner.

BLITZER: And the flight lost its signal, what, less than a minute after takeoff at an altitude of just 625 feet. So what does that suggest?

FOREMAN: Well, that is so low.

I mean, look at it this way. That plane at that altitude could not fly across the downtown of many American cities because there are buildings higher than that. It was very low. What it suggests is that it never successfully completed the transition from being on the ground and into the air. And simply put, in lay terms, when you're on airplanes, you know that feeling, that feeling of we were on the ground and now we're not on the ground.

Now we're really in the air and we're really flying. That's the period of time in which this happened. And that could point to all sorts of things. We talked about the idea of maybe the engines lost power. This airport in particular has had a high number of bird strike issues over the years. So maybe that was one of the things to be considered.

LATAM Airlines last year had an incident where one of these planes lost altitude very, very quickly. And in that case, it seemed to be a problem of a seat adjustment switch that was touched at the wrong moment that pushed the pilot into the controls and made the plane lose altitude quickly. It wasn't catastrophic, but it was something they had to be concerned about.

And then, of course, there's just a question of plain pilot error. Did they overlook something? As many of our analysts have pointed out, the configuration of the plane, the flaps, the landing gear did not look right as it was going down in that video. It did not look like a plane that was meant to be taking off.

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BLITZER: And U.S. NTSB investigators are now on the way to investigate and help the Indians try to explore what exactly happened.

FOREMAN: A lot of possibilities. A lot of possibilities.

BLITZER: All right, thanks very much, Tom Foreman, for that report.

For more on this breaking story, I want to bring in CNN aviation analyst Peter Goelz.

Peter, thanks so much for joining us.

The flight issued a mayday call. It was shortly after takeoff. What does that tell you about what could have gone wrong?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, what it means is at 175 knots, the 787-800 starts to fly.

And at less than 700 feet whatever was going on was happening at that most critical junction. The pilot non-flying who's communicating was able to send out the mayday, but that's it. Whatever was happening, it was fast-developing.

BLITZER: As I mentioned, U.S. investigators from the NTSB are heading to try to help with this probe right now. What do you think they're going to be looking for?

GOELZ: Well, the investigation, Wolf, be conducted under the ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization, treaty. There's 193 members of our ICAO.

And the U.S. NTSB will be the accredited representative for the manufacturing company, Boeing. Boeing and other component manufacturers will advise the NTSB. The AAIB, the British counterpart to the NTSB, will likely be there as well because of the engine manufacturing.

The first thing they're going to do is try and get their hands on the black boxes, the data recorder and the voice recorder located in the tail section of the plane. It looks like they will be able to recover those and they will not be damaged. The data recorder is an advanced one. It will have thousands of data points and will tell investigators exactly what was happening on the plane as it was taking off.

They will also be looking for anyone who was taking video of the plane as it was taxiing, as it was taking off, to see if there is anything abnormal that can be seen from those. This investigation will take some time, but I'm confident they will get to the bottom of this within the inappropriate time.

BLITZER: Yes, let's hope.

The plane involved in the crash, as you know, was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. What can you tell us about this model?

GOELZ: Well, this was a very important model for the Boeing company. It utilized new manufacturing techniques, new materials. It has a single composite body. It was flown with great fanfare when it was announced.

It had some initial problems, serious ones, with the reliance on a certain kind of battery that caused the FAA to ground the plane for some time. Now, those issues have been resolved. It's got a good safety record, but it really is the centerpiece for the Boeing corporation going forward in medium- and long-haul flight sails. This is a devastating setback for the company.

BLITZER: Certainly is.

Air India, as you know, Peter, has seen a few very high-profile plane crashes over the years. What kind of challenges has Air India, the airline, faced following these past incidents?

GOELZ: Well, both the FAA and Boeing have invested a lot of resources in helping Air India raise the quality of their safety programs, the quality of crew training, the quality of maintenance.

Air India is a prime customer of Boeing, and India is a prime ally of the United States. So we have invested a considerable amount of energy to help them have a safe air system. And, really, over the past decade, they have done quite well. And I think this is a setback, but it's not a permanent one.

BLITZER: All right, we shall see.

Peter Goelz, as always, thank you very much for your expertise.

We're going to stay, of course, with this breaking news right here in THE SITUATION ROOM and bring you all the latest developments as soon as we learn them.

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We will be right back.

But there's other important news we're following right now, including some breaking news. Three Democratic governors are up on Capitol Hill right now, strongly defending their states' immigration enforcement policies before the House Oversight Committee.

They are the New York governor, Kathy Hochul, the Illinois governor, J.B. Pritzker, and the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz.

I want to go right now to CNN's Arlette Saenz. She's up on Capitol Hill for us.

Give us the latest, Arlette. What's going on?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, these three Democratic governors are defending their states' immigration enforcement policies, but they are also blasting President Trump for his deployment of the National Guard and Marines to California.

Now, this hearing was scheduled weeks ago by the House Oversight Committee, the chairman saying that they wanted to examine sanctuary policies of these states that he argues are helping to protect -- quote -- "criminal illegal aliens."

But these Democratic governors are also turning the tables on Republicans as they are criticizing President Trump for his moves. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections of their governor. At the outset, I just want to say that this is a flagrant abuse of power and nothing short of an assault on our American values.

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): It's wrong to deploy the National Guard and active-duty Marines into an American city over the objection of local law enforcement just to inflame a situation and create a crisis, just as it's wrong to tear children away from their homes and their mothers and fathers who have spent decades living and working in our communities raising their families.

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SAENZ: Now, this hearing is playing out at the same time that California Governor Gavin Newsom has publicly clashed with President Trump over his deployment of the military to California, despite opposition from the state's Democratic governor and also the mayor of Los Angeles.

But there's also some very interesting political dynamics at play with this hearing. Two of these governors, Governor Pritzker and Governor Walz, are often included in the mix of potential 2028 contenders. And there was also a very tense exchange between New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who is considering challenging her in the governor's race in New York.

So this is a bit of a preview of some of the further debates that could happen for the Democratic Party, specifically on the issue of immigration, at a time when some in the country believe that President Trump's actions are correct and view the Democratic Party as being weak on that issue.

BLITZER: All right, Arlette Saenz up on Capitol Hill, thank you very much for that report.

Still ahead: The State Department is rushing to draw down its presence in at least parts of the Middle East, as tensions between Israel and Iran are clearly escalating right now, all this as the U.S. tries to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.

Plus, how President Trump plans to push back on California's efforts to cut down its vehicle pollution.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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BLITZER: All right, more breaking news. We have new video just coming into THE SITUATION ROOM.

A massive black cloud can be seen billowing into the air after a passenger jet carrying 242 people crashed in the Western Indian city of Ahmedabad. The London-bound Air India flight issued a mayday call shortly after takeoff, crashing into a residential area. Crews were seen recovering bodies from the crash site. It's feared there are no survivors from the plane.

Also happening now, President Trump is signing several new resolutions over at the White House aimed at curbing California's limits on vehicle emissions. The move comes as the president has been clashing with California's governor over the decision to send U.S. troops to Los Angeles in response to the immigration protest.

I want to go to CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's over at the White House for us.

Kristen, why is Trump taking on California's nation-leading rules?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, this really does feel like the next blow that the administration is delivering to the state of California.

What he is set to sign is a set of resolutions that would effectively reverse California's ban on the sale of new gas vehicles by 2035. Now, this is likely to go to court. Gavin Newsom has already said that he believes the steps that were taken to even get to this place were illegal, but it is yet another blow to the state.

And just to give you a little bit of the context here, this has been an ongoing saga really for several years. For decades, California has been able to set its own emissions. Then, under Trump's first administration, they reversed that capabilities. When Biden came to office, they issued a series of waivers that once again allowed California to put this into place, and then the Republican-led Senate turned over those waivers.

And that's what Gavin Newsom says is illegal. So this is all part of the same effort here, as we have seen Donald Trump repealing that -- quote, unquote -- "electric vehicle mandate" that wasn't really quite a mandate, but is sending a message here when it comes to electric cars.

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But the other part of this, of course, does feel personal, as Donald Trump has continued to take on the state of California.

BLITZER: I just want to listen to hear what he's saying right now.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a very, very important thing. Thank you very much, everybody. This is a very important thing we're going to be discussing.

Please sit down. Thank you very much. This is good news indeed. People said it couldn't be done. You got it done. I just have to sign, right? That's very good. (LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: This is really something. And it has to do with the California auto regulation, CRA. It's been a disaster for this country.

And I want to thank everybody for being here. We officially rescue the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating California electric vehicle mandate once and for all.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Thank you. They said it couldn't be done. But, boy, it's been -- it's had us tied up in knots for years. And they passed these crazy rules in California, what it would be; 17 states would go by them. The automakers didn't know what to do because they're really building cars for two countries.

When you have 17 states, you're building cars for two countries. And I want to congratulate you all, the Senate, the House, the whole thing. It's incredible. I was going to sign an executive order and give it a shot.

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TRUMP: But the one good thing with this, number one, it holds up forever, and number two, unless somebody votes it out. They will never do that. And it's just so much better, so much better. That's so great. Very proud of you.

We're joined today by the great speaker of the House. I think he's going to go down as a great speaker of the House. I may be wrong.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: I may be wrong. Who knows? Who the hell knows? I think he is. And he's doing something. The only thing I would say is more important than this one. And I will tell you what, it's almost close. That's how big this is today.

But the great, big, beautiful, I added the word great, you know, I used the word.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: The great, big, beautiful bill. It's going to be one of the most -- I said it this morning to a group. I think it's the most important, one of the most important pieces of legislation ever signed, ever approved. So it's going to be something very special. Thank you very much. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, thank you.

Secretary Sean Duffy, and they had a problem in India today. And you're on that.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Sean's doing a tremendous job. Secretary Chris Wright, everybody said you would never be able to get

him. He's the most talented man, they say, in the oil and gas industry. I will let in about two years if that's true.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Well, Doug Burgum, I wanted Doug Burgum to head up Energy because he was so successful in North Dakota, its governor. And he said, sir, there's one person who's much better than me. I said, who? They said Chris Wright. I said, who the hell is Chris Wright?

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: I had no idea. Now everyone knows Chris Wright. He's going to be more famous than me.

BLITZER: All right. We're going to continue a monitor what the president is saying over at the White House. Right now, he's thanking a lot of people for this signing that he's about to go through. We will continue to monitor what he's saying. We will see if it takes questions from reporters as well.

But I want to go back to CNN's Kristen Holmes, who's also monitoring all of this.

Not a surprise what he's saying right now, Kristen.You anticipated that he would be doing this.

HOLMES: Yes, that's right. And we know he just called it California's electric vehicle mandate, which is not entirely true.

This has been an effort to try to reduce the emissions that California has. And, again, this is going to likely go to court. We have heard from a number of people, officials in California, who say they believe the way that it got here is illegal.

One thing to point out, though, is that Donald Trump actually didn't open this the way that he could have, which was attacking Governor Newsom. He did say they had crazy regulations, but he didn't go after the governor, which is something we have seen him do really every single day for the last week since he sent in the National Guard to Los Angeles.

So that gives you somewhat of an indication of where his head at is in terms of the National Guard, in terms of sending in the Marines. He did say earlier today that he thought the situation was more under control. Of course, he took credit for that, unsurprising for President Trump.

But we will see what he says here, and if he does mention anything that has been going on in that state.

BLITZER: We will see what happens. All right, Kristen Holmes reporting for us. Kristen, thank you very, very much.

We're going to have much more coming up on the breaking news out of India, horrible breaking news. Scores are feared dead after an Air India flight crashed just within a minute after taking off.

We will have the very latest straight ahead.

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