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Possible Part of Missing Malaysian Airlines Plane Found; U.S. Intelligence Assessment Released that Malaysian Flight Deliberate Set Off Course; Donald Trump Discusses Illegal Immigration From Mexico; Man Behind Planned Parenthood Videos Speaks Out. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- brings families a step closer. But of course we still have so many unanswered questions. We headed down to the beach where the debris that set this all off washed ashore. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN TRUSS, AUSTRALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: There's strong evidence to suggest that the wreckage found on Reunion Island does come from a Boeing 777.

ELBAGIR: The wreckage discovered on this remote beach on Reunion Island may possibly belong to missing Malaysian airliner MH370. Boeing investigators say they're confident the mysterious airplane part comes from a 777. Beach cleanup crews located the wreckage Wednesday locating the flaperon along the shore. A flaperon is part of an airplane wing and investigators say the photos match schematic joints from a Boeing 777. They say photos also show a stenciled number that correspond to a 777 as well.

TRUSS: It's only a very small part of the aircraft, but it could be a very important piece of evidence.

ELBAGIR: Also washing ashore remnants of what appear to be a suitcase. Though there is skepticism this piece of luggage may come from MH370, island police confirm it is being included in the investigation. This wreckage discovered almost a year and a half after MH370 disappeared, located more than 2,300 nautical miles away from the current search zone off Australia's west coast.

TRUSS: The fact that this wreckage was sighted on the northern part of the Reunion Island is consistent with the current movements.

ELBAGIR: As investigators in France await the arrival of the debris, a U.S. intelligence assessment suggests someone in MH370's cockpit may deliberately have set the plane off course.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Nima, back to this piece of the airplane. We know that tracked down the man who spotted it, and at first they didn't know what they had on their hands. ELBAGIR: Well, we can actually show you. We've got footage of him.

He is absolutely extraordinary. It is because of him that the investigators have as much to work with as they do. When the debris washed ashore the rest of the cleanup crew pulled it further inland and started it scraping, a lot of that really crucial plant life, the barnacles, all of those things that are going to help investigators figure out where it sunk, where it's been moved to. And Johnny told us that something just occurred to him. He looked down and he thought, you know what, this is important. This looks like it belongs to a plane. And if it is a plane, then people died in this crash and we need to respect that and we need to try and protect it.

So it's because of him that investigators came down. And it is absolutely because of him they were able to quite quickly figure out how crucial this piece of debris is. And Johnny was back there yesterday on the beach looking for anything else that might help investigators further.

CAMEROTA: That is a crucial obviously piece of this puzzle. Nima, thanks so much for all of your reporting on it.

So that wing part that washed ashore on Reunion Island does head to France today for analysis. That's where we find CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen. He's live in Toulouse France. So what will happen there, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, of course even with officials coming out now and saying they believe that part is from a Boeing 777, they're still going to want forensic proof that it is indeed from such a plane, and also, of course, that it is indeed from the 777 that was MH370.

What's going to happen is this part is going to head over here to France from Reunion Island. It's going to about an 11 hour flight overnight from Friday into Saturday. And then it's going to have to come from Paris all the way down to the south of France. It's probably going to happen late on Saturday, early Sunday morning.

Now, the actual forensic tests on this part are going to start on Monday. There is no time frame at this point in time as to how long those tests will take. And the other thing that we also don't know whether or not the investigators are going to be releasing any sort of preliminary information to us who are waiting here for it during the course of their assessment that they're making, whether or not we'll find out any sort of watermark they have along the way.

Now, there's going to be several tests they're going to conduct. They're obviously going to look at the outside of that piece of debris, look at any numbers, see if they match with anything that they know of. Also then also of course they're going to test the metal as well to see what it is, to test the paint. Also to see how long it was in the water and how far it might have traveled. They believe they can gather a wealth of information from that piece of debris, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just beginning to go over that over the next few days. Fred, thanks so much in Toulouse.

The focus of U.S. intelligence remains on the cockpit, sticking by the theory that someone deliberately took the flight off course before it vanished. CNN's Rene Marsh is live in Washington with details on that assessment. Rene?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this morning sources tell CNN's Evan Perez an assessment by U.S. intelligence agency says someone in the cockpit of Malaysia Airline's flight 370 deliberately directed the aircraft's movements before it disappeared.

[08:05:07] Now, this assessment is based on satellite and other available evidence. And analysts, we know, looked at the multiple course changes the aircraft made after it deviated from its scheduled course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Now, analysts determined that flight path was the result, most likely, of someone in the cockpit deliberately programming the aircraft to fly towards very specific way points, crossing Indonesian territory, and eventually going towards the south Indian Ocean.

Now, this was an assessment that was done for internal U.S. government purposes, and it is totally separate from the investigation being led by Malaysian authorities. It is worth pointing out Malaysian investigators found no proof of wrongdoing by the airplane's crew. However, the recent discovery of this debris really gives investigators hope that they can now find not only the wreckage but that crucial black box, the black boxes. Intelligence sources tell Evan Perez, without that they likely will not be able to make a definitive conclusion about and what happened to flight 370.

CAMEROTA: They're been looking for this for 500 days. Let's hope that they are closer now. Rene, thanks for that.

For the families of the 239 aboard flight 370, the weight for answers agonizing. A group of Chinese families saying that they will not accept anything less than 100 percent certainty that the piece of the wing is from MH370. CNN's Will Ripley is live in Beijing with the families. What are they telling you, Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We got just some new information, Alisyn, from family members who tell us there may be a possible meeting between some of the MH370 families here in China and Malaysian Airlines, a meeting that could happen in the coming days. The problem is that previous meetings when the families have tried to get together over the last year have actually been broken up by the Chinese government which has discouraged the families from gathering together even though they were initially allowed a rare street protest shortly after the plane disappeared.

But since then the families say they have been basically left on their own with no psychological help. And of course now they're left to grapple with this discovery that has brought so much of that raw emotion, so much of the grief back from the initial days last March some almost 17 months ago.

One of the daughters of the chief steward of MH370, she is putting out a statement. She says, quote, "A part of us wants it to be true, but another part of us does not want it to be true. We still do hope that one day they'll come back. But if they're not, then it's OK." A sign that as it appears more and more likely that these piece of debris will be confirmed from the missing plane that at least some family members are trying to accept the reality, Michaela, and try to move forward with the grieving process.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And I see the word "agonizing" on the screen. That reality must be agonizing for them as it starts to settle in. Will, thank you so much for that.

I want to dig in deeper with CNN aviation analyst and host of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" Richard Quest. Good morning, to you. And CNN national security commentator and former chair of the House intelligence committee Mike Rogers. Good morning to you. Gentlemen, thanks so much.

I want your reactions. First of all, Richard, I'll start with you since you're here. The deputy transport minister of Malaysia saying they believe from photographic evidence that what they've seen is from a Boeing 777. We also know there's only one 777 missing in the world. Can we just say then it's got to be MH370?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Here we have the great difference between the role that we play and the role that a government official plays. We can say by every stretch of common sense it has to be it. It looks like a 777. But a government spokesman or a minister, as Mike Rogers will know, they have a greater onus and responsibility, because they are going to give you the seal of confirmation. They're going to be the ones that say, yes, it definitely is.

PEREIRA: And then of course there will be the Malaysian Airline officials that will have to address the families. And again, we have to keep them at the center of all of this. They have to be at the forefront.

Mike, I want to talk to you about this information from U.S. intelligence, this assessment, we know it's months old, suggesting that someone in the cockpit deliberately directed that plane to go off course. What do you make of it? Because I keep sort of slicing over the words. It's an assessment, that it's months old, that it wasn't intended for public use, that it wasn't any more detailed information. It was from satellite data that we already all had.

MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Remember, any time that an intelligence official or investigator makes an assessment, they're trying to eliminate the possibilities, not come to a conclusion. So that assessment was probably based on more than just satellite information.

[08:10:00] It was probably information that they determined by interviews, the information that may have been found at the pilot's house. Remember the one pilot had a simulator in his house. There was probably some similarities that in that programming that when you lined it up with the satellites would line up. And so they came to this conclusion that obviously they don't believe it was a physical problem with the airplane. But it was something, some human factor that changed the course of that airplane. But they can't come to the conclusion that it was terrorism.

PEREIRA: We'll talk about terrorism in a second because I want to see both still feel like that could be on the table here. But why now, 500-plus days? We have talked about this repeatedly here on CNN. What is the benefit? What's the end game in releasing this report now?

ROGERS: I would argue they've again gotten to a place where they could eliminate other factors. And so when you're trying to narrow down what exactly happened, I think that they determined this was the right time to do that. Of course, finding the wing or the portion of the airplane, incredibly important to that end and I think they'll have that settled probably by early next week if not earlier on the fact that that was part of the airplane. But, again, it's about taking options off the table to come to a conclusion.

PEREIRA: Got you.

QUEST: Mike, it's Richard. I've got a question for you. When you read or hear about that, I take it literally they're merely saying somebody deliberately flew the plane. And we've known that for a long time, the nature of the movements. Do you interpret that wording as being nefarious?

ROGERS: Well, I think that what you're finding is they've made the determination to go off its route. That would be a serious event for a pilot on a commercial airline. And so I think what they're trying to say is we don't know if there were other signs of trouble. But the way I read the assessment, it told me that they said something was amiss in that cockpit. That's why they keep coming back to that cockpit, because one of those two pilots made the determination to take it off of its normal commercial route, take it off of autopilot, and make what we would all determine as odd corrections. It did not appear as if the plane was in trouble looking for a place to land. It appeared something different from that. And that's why I think that assessment --

PEREIRA: To give a little pushback. It's interesting, Phil Mudd just a minute ago on our air was talking about the fact that, look, these are intelligence guys. These are not aviation experts. So are they missing something? Do you know what I mean?

QUEST: Look, I've always been in the camp that says it leans toward the mechanical.

PEREIRA: You still feel that way?

QUEST: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. But to Mike's point, I still feel this way because there's no evidence besides the circumstantial that the plane was flown deliberately in an particular off route faction. Everybody else goes one plus one equals three. I say wait a second, one plus one equals two and that's where we've got to remain. And that's why I still say mechanical. PEREIRA: And in a word, Mike, terrorism off the table, or no for you?

ROGERS: Well, you can't take it completely off the table. I think if you're going to isolate it, it looks more like the case where the pilot flew it into the side of the mountain than it does an act of deliberate terrorism. They would have found that information because you would have had to preplan it. I think they would have come to that conclusion already. So I think you can probably eliminate a deliberate act of terrorism, but you can't eliminate a deliberate act by the pilot to take the plane into the ocean.

PEREIRA: Mike Rogers, Richard Quest, great conversation. Of course we'll have more on our continuing coverage on this story. Be sure to tune in tonight, a special CNN report "Vanished, The Mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370," 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela. This morning Donald Trump is in Scotland. He's golfing and speaking to CNN's Max Foster about leading in the polls and what Trump's foreign policy might look like. CNN's Max Foster live from Scotland with a new interview from Trump. Hi, Max.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Alisyn, he's a very popular figure here actually as a business leader, what he's done for the resort, what he's done for the game of golf. But his political views, let's say, are a bit more controversial, not least those comments on U.S. immigration from Mexico, illegal Mexican immigrants in the U.S. He's about to head off in a helicopter to go to another part of Scotland, another one of his golf courses in Aberdeen. But before he left, I managed to speak to him one on one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Mexico is sending -- people are coming through that border from all over the world. We have a porous border. We have a border where you can just walk right into the country. And you can't do that. To have a country, you have to have a strong border. You have to have a really strong border. And this has to stop. What's going on now has to stop.

FOSTER: Who will build the wall?

TRUMP: I will build the wall and Mexico is going to pay for it. And they will be happy to pay for it because Mexico is making so much money from the United States that that's going to be peanuts. And all these other characters say, oh, they won't pay, they won't pay, because they don't know the first thing about how to negotiate. Trust me, Mexico will pay for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[8:15:06] FOSTER: Now he said to me on the only international stage America just isn't respected right now. President Obama isn't respected and Donald Trump wants to bring that respect back. And he does so by pointing to those very positive polling numbers he keeps getting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, if you're a really, really popular politician, you have 50 percent of the votes. So, you know, something like this, I used to be 100 percent loved now, I'm probably 55 percent loved, OK? So I gave up 45 percent. But the fact is, you know, I'm leading in all the polls including your poll.

My message is right. Its make America great again, I mean that's -- my whole thing is make America great again, can't get simpler than that. Putin has no respect for President Obama. He will respect me, that I tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: It was meant to be a business trip, John, but it feels like another campaign stop, doesn't it? He'll be back in the U.S. on Saturday, I believe, to continue the campaign proper.

BERMAN: Yeah, he's going back this way. Has a debate next Thursday. Max Foster, an interesting discussion, Trump makes it all sound so easy, thanks Max.

This just in to CNN, an Ebola vaccine may now be deployed on a larger scale in Africa after proving highly effective in a trial run in Guinea, that's according to the World Health Organization.

The vaccine had an astonishing 100 percent success rate. You can't do better than that. Prevented transmission to 4,000 people who received the treatment at least 10 days before coming into contact with an Ebola patient. The vaccine was developed in record time in the phase of last year's deadly outbreak.

That is really, really fascinating news, could change the situation on the ground there in Africa if they can make enough of it fast enough.

PEREIRA: Officials in Zimbabwe are calling for the extradition of the Minnesota dentist who shot and killed Cecil, the protected lion in Zimbabwe. U.S. officials now want to find Walter Palmer as well.

I'll take you live now to Johannesburg and bring in CNN's David McKenzie. Everybody wants to talk to this dentist.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right, Michaela. They don't want to just talk to him, in Zimbabwe they want him to be extradited to Zimbabwe to face charges of poaching.

A minister of the government there saying that in this case this was an orchestrated and -- attack on this lion and that was illegal saying that it could in fact, if under extradite Palmer affect U.S. Zimbabwe in relations. So pressure is piling on to this dentist. Everyone wants to know where he is. He's closed his practice. He's faced a social media storm. And a petition to the White House which required 100,000 signatures was completed in just a few days and so we do expect that Obama Administration to reply as to whether they will extradite Palmer. Of course it has to go through a court of law. But they do say in Zimbabwe that this was illegal and he should face the fire of the courts there in Zimbabwe.

Back to you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: David thanks so much for that update.

Well, you'll want to stick around for this story because a California Court barring an anti-abortion group from releasing some of their videos slamming Planned Parenthood.

We will talk to the man behind those undercover tapes when we come right back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[8:21:47] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we were doing like, you know, 50 to 75 and then that would be like $200 or $300 (inaudible) would be comfortable with that. But like stuff like this like we don't want to be like just a flat fee of like $200 and then -- it's like...

GINDE: No. And, you know, the -- I think the -- I think a per item thing works a little better, because we can see how much we can get out of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was a clip from a series of sting videos shot by an anti-abortion group that appear to reveal Planned Parenthood negotiating prices for fetal tissue. These controversial videos that prompted to converse to once again attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.

And joined us now is the man behind those videos, David Daleiden. David, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

DAVID DALEIDAN, PROJECT LEAD. CENTER FOR MEDICAL PROGRESS: Pleasure on me, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, David. Let's talk about what we just saw on that clip and others that you've released. It appears that there is some sort of negotiation going on. And what Planned Parenthood says is it's about the transfer of fetal tissue to biotech companies that we'll use them for research.

And all Planned Parenthood says they are trying to do is to cover their costs for handling or storing or need be to get reimbursed for that. They said that they're not selling the fetal tissue. And by the way, handling -- covering costs for the transfer is totally legal. So, where do you think the smoking gun is?

DALEIDAN: Right. So, there's basically two points there. The first is that Planned Parenthood is very openly admitting that they do harvest the fetal tissue and they do received payments in connection with that. So then that means the second point, the only question is really do the -- are those payments constituting a financial benefit to Planned Parenthood? And there's a constituting a profit that's greater than whatever costs, real or imagined, they might have for actually supplying the fetal tissue?

And when Planned Parenthood partners with a middleman biotech company to allow those technicians to come into their clinic and harvest the body parts. Planned Parenthood actually doesn't incur any cost from the harvesting of the fetal organs because the technicians are the ones who are doing all the consenting of the patients, they're packaging the tissue, they're dissecting the fetuses, they're shipping it off.

All of those costs are absorbed by the biotech company. And yet Planned Parenthood is still getting paid $50 or $75, even $100 for specimen just from supplying the aborted fetus.

CAMEROTA: OK. Planned Parenthood disputes that. They say that it is their staff that is doing the consenting, getting the consents from the patients as well as if they have to do some sort of storage or at least transfer.

But we had the Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood on New Day this week. Her name is Dawn Laguens. And again, she says that they are simply trying to cover their costs. They are in no way selling fetal tissue and transferring fetal tissue is legal. So, listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAWN LAGUENS, EXECUTIVE V.P. PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Depending on who the research partner is, there can be shipping costs, there can be handling costs, we can be talking about different kinds of research. So, the costs can, in fact, vary and that wouldn't be something that a doctor would beat the person to decide, that would be somebody in accounting or someone who is in management.

I say that unequivocally. Planned Parenthood does not make a profit on fetal tissue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[8:24:53] CAMEROTA: OK, David. You heard her. She says unequivocally Planned Parenthood is not making a profit and in fact what you did, she says, is unfair, because you were targeting doctors who don't really know about all the accounting practices of how much the transfer costs.

DALEIDAN: Right. Well, that's the point that I wanted to comment on is that, you know, think she is right that the doctors are not the ones who should be setting those prices.

And so, you know, I don't know why the doctors thought that they should be negotiating with our investigators and even haggling over the price of the fetal specimens with them. Because if they were truly just getting reimbursed for costs, they should've just said, "Well, our costs are going to be this, our accounting can invoice you and you'll just pay for that," but none of the Planned Parenthood doctors or executives that our investigators spoke with did that. They wanted to set prices, specifically arbitrary prices for per body part from the fetuses we would harvest.

CAMEROTA: David, how many more of these videos do you have?

DALEIDEN: We've got probably anywhere from eight to 10 more videos to come. The exact number could vary but I've been predicting about a dozen give or take when everything is said and done.

CAMEROTA: And what's on them? What are the bombshells that you believe people will see?

DALEIDEN: Well, you know, I don't really talk about specifically what's going to be on them before the exact release. I, you know, I can't say though I'm happy to say that, you know, in relation to the order from the California court that came down just a few days ago.

CAMEROTA: There was restraining order that is trying to prevent you from releasing all the videos. Yeah, how are you responding to that?

DALEIDEN: Right. Right. So the Center for Medical Progress falls all applicable laws in the course of our investigator journalism work and we're of course ready to contest any infringement or attempt to suppress or silence our free speech rights and our rights under the First Amendment to publish.

The company, StemExpress, which is one of the biotech companies that Planned Parenthood has partnered to harvest their fetal tissue and sell it, StemExpress is trying to suppress a specific video recording of a meeting with their top leadership where their leadership admitted that they sometimes get fully intact fetuses shipped to their laboratory from the abortion clinics that they work with and that could be prima facie evidence of born-alive infants.

So that's where they're trying to suppress that video tape and they're very seared of it.

CAMEROTA: David, you know let's talk about one of the larger issues here. Obviously the videos are disturbing to watch but again it's legal. And in fact scientists who use fetal tissue say that they have been used to cure or help prevent all sorts of diseases. They have been used to in the polio vaccine. They have been used in the rubella vaccine, chicken pox. They have been used to treat Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The research using fetal tissue has saved lives. So are you against using any sort of fetal tissue for research?

DALEIDEN: Well, so I think there's a couple of different points to unpack there. First of all, you know, abortion is legal under a certain regulatory framework but what's not legal is selling aborted fetal tissue, profiting off of fetal organs, changing abortion procedures in order to get higher quality body parts or using partial- birth abortions or even live-birth abortions to do so. CAMEROTA: Yes. And Planned Parenthood said they're doing none of those things. And then Planned Parenthood says that you've deceptively edited the videos...

DALEIDEN: Right.

CAMEROTA: But that they are not doing any of those things and that they follow the letter of the law. But back to the research point.

DALEIDEN: Right. Right. Planned Parenthood hasn't even responded to the point by point description of a partial-birth abortion procedure that their senior director of medical services gave in the very first video that we release. So they've dropped that argument, they've not even responded to it.

CAMEROTA: But again, are you opposed? What is your goal here, David? Are you opposed to -- are you trying to ban abortion outright by showing these videotapes? Or are you opposed to any sort of research being done on fetal tissue?

DALEIDEN: Right. Well, the goal of this project, which was a two- and-a-half-year investigator journalism study was to really clearly document and illustrate for the public exactly how Planned Parenthood harvests and sells aborted baby parts. And that's something that a lot of people find shocking, disturbing, offensive. And when it comes down to actual violations of the law when people are using illegal abortion procedures in order to harvest and sell full-fetal tissue for profit, that's something that most people find barbaric and that's something that people don't want to be funded by their taxpayer dollars.

CAMEROTA: David Daleiden, we appreciate you giving us your side of the story. Thanks for being on NEW DAY.

DALEIDEN: Thanks Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: All right thanks Alisyn. Good discussion.

We could soon find out whether the debris found in the Western Indian Ocean does actually come from missing Flight MH370. The discovery trigging a lot of questions from you this morning and our aviation experts will answer those questions, next.

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