[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The CEO of Lufthansa is promising help but he's not giving victims' family members the one thing they want. That would be answers. Earlier this morning, the CEO literally turned his back on reporters, refusing to answer questions about how the airline could have allowed Andreas Lubitz to fly when it knew about his depression.
[Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa Ceo:] Merci beaucoup. Merci.
[Unidentified Reporter:] Sir, when did you find the 2009 e- mail from Lubitz? When did you find it?
[Unidentified Male:] I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
[Unidentified Reporter:] Why did it take you so long to publish the e- mail?
[Unidentified Male:] There's no questions and answers
[Costello:] All right. Let's head to Dusseldorf, Germany for more on this and Frederik Pleitgen. Hi, Fred.
[Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Hi, Carol. Yes. Certainly a lot of people here are looking for answers. I do think that we do have to give the Lufthansa CEO the benefit of the doubt, though. I think that he might not have thought that that setting that they were in, so close to the crash site, would have been appropriate to then talk about the intricacies of this case to talk about when they discovered that e-mail and the whole process behind it. But certainly, there are many people, Carol, who are looking for answers. And one of the things that the Lufthansa CEO said immediately after the crash when it was found out that Lubitz apparently deliberately crashed the plane, as he said Lubitz took some time off during his pilot training. It really wasn't unclear why, but then it wasn't anything that was uncommon. Of course then subsequently it came out that it was apparently around that time that he was actually still having suicidal tendencies. This is something that the state prosecutor here in Dusseldorf said. It seems as though he had that problem under control because he then later got flight certification, but then he was under psychological treatment again this year. However, it seems as though the doctors this time around didn't think that he was suicidal and didn't think that he was a threat to others. But certainly, there are a lot of people who want an answer as to when they actually found out that he had written an e-mail, Lubitz did, saying that he had big psychological problems in the past Carol.
[Costello:] All right. Stay right there, Fred, because I want to ask you about something else. Also this morning, officials in the investigation are strongly denying reports that a cell phone has been recovered showing the frantic final moments of Flight 9525. Two publications, one German and one French, make the claims and say top staffers saw the video with their own eyes. This morning, one of them spoke to CNN.
[Julian Reichelt, Bild Online, Editor In Chief:] It was kind of disturbing, upsetting material. You know, it's shot in the cabin. It shows that there was, you know, a lot of chaos going on that people apparently were very much aware of where this was heading. And it also seems to document that there was kind of a metallic bang on, you know, what sounds like a metallic bang on a door which, you know, is kind of in line with, you know, results of the previous investigation that say that the pilot was trying to break into the cockpit. That is what we saw.
[Whitfield:] Fred, how credible are these reports? You know these journalists. Is this real, this video, the cell phone video? Is it real?
[Pleitgen:] Well, obviously it's impossible for us to independently verify, first of all, that these guys have actually seen the video and second of all, that that video is authentic. However, that gentleman that we just had on, Julian Reichelt, who is one of the managers at the "Bild" newspaper certainly a very credible journalist, the journalist that I actually rate very highly. I've known him for long period of time. He has big experience in places like Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well, and I've talked to him about this case. And he feels very strongly that this video has been verified. Apparently, the lead on this was a French journalist called Frederic Helbert, who's someone who's been working for that "Paris Match" newspaper for a very long time. A freelancer who's very, very well-connected. And I just want to play a little bit more of Julian's interview this morning on "NEW DAY" where he went a little bit through the vetting process of why they're so sure that what they're seeing is accurate. Let's have a look.
[Reichelt:] It was kind of disturbing, upsetting material, you know, it's shot in the cabin. It shows that there was, you know, a lot of chaos going on, that people apparently were very much aware of where this was heading. It also seems to document that there was kind of a metallic bang on, you know, what sounds like a metallic bang on a door.
[Pleitgen:] That's not the sound bite that we wanted to play, Carol. The one that we wanted to play showed the process that they went through to try and vet this video, to try and see whether it was real. However, of course, we do know that the French authorities have come out and they have said that they think that these reports by these two publications are untrue and the French prosecutor has also come out and said that at this point there is no cell phone video involved in this investigation, none has been used. And he says that if anybody has cell phone video, that that needs to be turned over to authorities immediately Carol.
[Costello:] Yes. And I want to read to you what that journalist said. I know that you didn't have the right bite up there. But this is what he said. This is how they vetted it. It was, you know, shown to us by a reporter who we trust, that was been with the magazine for a while, who's a very seasoned reporter who is known for his great sources. And you know, it was shown to us that we could look at it in detail, run it through the process of verification until the point where we felt comfortable in going ahead with the story. So another question for you, Fred, are you still there?
[Pleitgen:] Yes. Sure.
[Costello:] Why haven't these journalists turned the cell phone information over to authorities?
[Pleitgen:] Well, I mean, from what we're hearing from them is that they were able to view this video, but they don't actually have this video. So it's unclear how that process actually take took place. It doesn't necessarily mean that the video is actually in their hands. They do say that they've seen this video because I mean, keep in mind, that cell phone SIM card, if it indeed exists, if all of this is true, is obviously part of a criminal investigation and quite frankly, the most important criminal investigation that you've seen in Europe for a very long time. And so, therefore, that's certainly not something that they would want to hang on to and especially keep away from investigators, especially since you have the French prosecutor coming out and saying if there's cell phone video out there, I need it immediately. So that's certainly something where they might have viewed it, I don't necessarily think that they necessarily have it in their possession if indeed they did view it Carol.
[Costello:] All right. Gotcha. Frederick Pleitgen, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you. Let's talk a little bit more about this and more. Les Abend, he's a CNN aviation analyst and a Boeing 777 captain. And Heidi Snow, Heidi lost her fiance in the TW Flight 800 disaster and now works as a victim advocate founding Aircraft Casualty Emotional Support Services. Welcome to both you.
[Heidi Snow, Lost Fiance At Twa Flight 800 Disaster:] Thank you.
[Costello:] Thank you so much. Les, I want to start with you because as you were watching Fred's report, you seemed pretty upset, actually.
[Les Abend, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] Well, from two standpoints. Number one is we've been speaking about this kind of information should never be released and maybe Heidi can add to this with reference to its effect on the families. This is a tight well-run investigation process in the field. It's a remote area. How did this you know, no disrespect to good journalism, but how did this information, this little cell phone card, SD card, whatever it was, get out of the hands of investigators into somewhere else? It just I don't see the authenticity of this whole video.
[Costello:] It is mind-boggling, Heidi, that someone could actually find a piece of a cell phone that still could contain information. But some people say it's possible but let's get back to the human toll. This must be really hard for the families to take.
[Snow:] Right. All of us at ACESS have the unenviable credentials of having lost people in air disasters. And at this point, I remember so well, personally, I lost my fiance on TWA Flight 800. And at this point, we just wanted answers. But the most important thing is to get them from a reputable source and not learn them secondhand through the press. So it's so important to have somebody in charge of the investigation relaying information to the families before it gets out into the media. So when things like this happen, it's very difficult for the families when they're hearing information from all different sources. The most important thing is to get information directly from a reputable source, which is very challenging today with the press and all the information that comes out from all different sources. That's what develops trust. That's what makes the families feel safe. And they really need that so that they can make sense of what happened. And at the end of the day, when no matter how many answers come in, we will still never know what their last moments were like. And that's what all of us at ACESS deal with. And what is different between other types of sudden loss and air disasters is the amount of time it takes to really figure out what happened. And even when we have a lot of information, we still never know, did our loved ones feel pain, did they know what was happening, were they scared? And those are the things that we all wrestle with years later and that's really what bonds all of us at ACESS, is really not knowing what our loved ones went through at the end and that's something that we all are challenged with.
[Costello:] Let me ask you a very difficult question. If this cell phone video is real, would some of the victims' family members want to see it?
[Snow:] Everybody grieves differently. I remember with Flight 800, there were people who wanted to see the plane when it was put together again. There were other family members who did not want to do that. So it's on a case by case basis on what is healing for everybody. But the main thing is everybody at this point really does want answers and that more information they can get does help them through the process. But there are going to be people who want that information and there are going to be other people who really are not ready for that yet. And so it's a long process. And that's why at ACESS we're there for the long haul. We're there when people go home and try to resume their lives. Right now everybody is in a state of shock and just trying to get as much information as possible. But the future is going to be a long process for everybody because their lives are forever changed. They expected a separation of just days or weeks and suddenly their loved ones are gone forever. So this is going to be a very long process for everybody.
[Costello:] And Les, it struck me, you know, that Lufthansa CEO went to the memorial site which is the base of the crash site and, you know, he expressed his condolences and said that the airline would do whatever it could. But when the reporters started shouting questions at him about this co-pilot, he turned his back and left.
[Abend:] And it seemed a little bit of a hollow act that he did. And that's what's always disturbed me, is the aspect of this man not only had issues but had issues during a training process, which in this particular case for Germanwings is part of the initial screening. So I think the break should have come to you know, we should have come to a stop right there and said time out, is this the individual we want to have working for our airline?
[Costello:] All right. Les Abend and Heidi Snow, thanks to both you. I really appreciate it. We have some breaking news right now. I don't know exactly what it is but let's go right to Germany and Frederick Pleitgen. What have you got, Fred?
[Pleitgen:] The new information that we're getting here is actually coming out of France, and that is that apparently the French National Gendarmerie, which is of course the national police there in France, is questioning the French Civil Aviation Accident Bureau, which is of course the BEA, which is in charge of investigating the crash of the Germanwings flight over media leaks. And this is specifically pertaining to a "New York Times" report and the information that we have that I've just gotten as well. I'm going to read it to you right now. And that is that the French investigative newspaper "Le Canard Enchaine" reports that the Gendarmerie Nationale, so the national police, have questioned Remy Jouty, the head of the BEA, which is the French investigating authority, regarding leaks in the investigation specifically a report in "The New York Times" about contents of the cockpit voice recorder. And this goes back to a report in "The New York Times" on March 25th where the "New York Times" reported that the Germanwings pilot was locked out of the cockpit just before the crash and the quote that they have was, "An investigator said evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated one pilot left the cockpit before the plane's descent and was unable to get back in. So that was the information of course they had at this time. Of course, we know that the investigation here has dealt repeatedly with leaks to the media. You have this one specifically to that "New York Times" report. You have part of the transcript from the cockpit voice recorder that was leaked and published by the "Bild" newspaper of Germany. And then just recently, you have that apparent SIM card that was leaked, where that video was apparently leaked. Of course the authorities are saying they say that those reports are untrue. But leaks certainly are a big problem in this very important investigation Carol.
[Costello:] All right. Frederick Pleitgen, thanks. I'll just toss a question to you, Les. So now that leak is pretty big for an important case like this, right? So you have to wonder what the motive is for the person leaking the information. Is it because he thinks the airline is withholding information? Does he just want or her, we don't know, glorify themselves?
[Abend:] It could be strict you know, sensationalizing the whole process. Here in the States if you had done that with the NTSB, you would have been if you were a party to the investigation, in other words you the airline, if you were the union, and you were responsible for leaking the information, and this does happen, you would be kicked off of that investigation team. You would no longer be party to that investigation. And the same structure basically exists what we're dealing with here.
[Costello:] I'm sure. And that's why I wonder how long it will take them to figure it out, right?
[Abend:] I don't know.
[Costello:] We'll see. Les Abend, thanks as well. I appreciate it. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Arkansas, the next state to step into the religious freedom spotlight as the governor prepares to sign a bill passed by state lawmakers. Live report out of Little Rock, next.