U.S. Official: Iran Shot Down Passenger Plane Using Two Surface to Air Missiles; One Source Believes It Could Be In The Next 24 Hours.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening. Tonight, it is looking more and more like 176 people aboard a Ukrainian airliner may have been unintended casualties of the confrontation between United States and Iran. There is new video that appears to show a missile fired into the sky over Tehran early Wednesday morning and hitting a moving object. Now, we're going to play the entire clip, but because it could show the final seconds of those 176 lives, we're only going to show it very sparingly tonight, and only when necessary to illustrate a particular point. With that, here it is. You're going to first see what appears to be the missile moving toward the plane, and then what appears to be an impact. About ten seconds later you'll hear the sound of the strike catching up to the location where the photographer is standing.</s>COOPER: Again, 176 people were aboard the Boeing 737. Sixty-three of them were Canadians. We should point out that CNN cannot independently confirm that video, but the buildings in it appear similar to ones in the area where the plane went down. Multiple U.S. officials are now telling CNN that the growing belief is that Iran did, in fact, shoot it down apparently by mistake. They say intelligence indicates that two Russian-made SA-15 anti-aircraft missiles were used and that radar signals locking onto the plane were picked up at the time and discovered the morning after. But the data took another day to verify. We do not know whether President Trump is aware of the intelligence or the assessment when he spoke just before noon today, but his words hinted at something.</s>DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was flying at a pretty rough neighborhood and somebody could have made a mistake. Some people say it was mechanical. I personally don't think that's even a question, personally. So we'll see what happens.</s>REPORTER: Do you think it was shot down by accident?</s>TRUMP: I don't know. I really don't know. I don't want to get into -- that's up to them. I have a feeling -- it's just some very terrible -- something very terrible happened. Very devastating.</s>COOPER: In a moment, we'll get the latest from Tehran and speak as well with experts in the aviation and intelligence field. But first, let's go to CNN's Jim Acosta at the White House. So, you heard the president, Jim.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.</s>COOPER: What's the latest White House thinking on what caused the crash?</s>ACOSTA: Anderson, they're pointing to the intelligence community. As you were saying, the belief inside the U.S. intelligence community is that Iran used Russian-made surface-to-air missiles and shot down that Ukrainian airliner. Now, Canadian and British officials, they're saying that their intelligence agencies are telling them with certainty that that is, in fact, what happened. The U.S. is not going as far as the Canadians and the British at this point, but it doesn't take intelligence officials to tell you, Anderson, that this is what happens when you have the unintended consequences of military conflict.</s>COOPER: There's also been a new rationale, I believe, from the president on why General Soleimani was killed.</s>ACOSTA: Yes, this caught our attention earlier today, Anderson. When the president was talking with reporters, some of the same video you were showing a few moments ago, the president told reporters that Soleimani was essentially taken out because the Iranians were plotting to -- what he said -- he described as a plot to blow up the embassy in Baghdad. Now, earlier in the day administration officials were telling us, telling other news outlets that, no, the president was talking about the storming of the Baghdad embassy at the end of last year. And then late today just before 6:00, Pentagon officials were telling reporters, no, in fact, they have intelligence that leads them to believe that the Iranians were actively plotting to blow up an embassy to use explosives to harm U.S. diplomatic personnel. Anderson, we should point out the president is having a rally right now where he was just telling supporters in Ohio that he suspects that the Iranians were looking at what he called embassies, not just an embassy. And so, he's using a plural use of the term there. So at this point, Anderson, tonight it is very difficult to sort out what is coming from the intelligence community and what is coming just from the rhetoric from the president. But obviously there was a contradiction coming out of this administration earlier today. The administration at one point saying, no, no, this is just what the president was referring to. He was talking about this embassy storming that happened late last year. And then the Defense Department said almost the exact opposite, that they believe Soleimani was plotting to blow up an embassy -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: All right. Jim Acosta -- Jim, thanks very much.</s>ACOSTA: You bet.</s>COOPER: There's breaking news out of Iran, a welcome development in the investigation, also perhaps in U.S./Iranian relations. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran for us with that. So, what more are you learning, Fred?</s>FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Anderson. Well, the Iranians at the beginning said that they were not going to let the U.S. or any U.S. entity participate in this investigation at all, saying they were the ones in charge. But now, apparently, the NTSB is actually going to get involved in this investigation. The NTSB just a couple of moments ago actually put out a statement saying they wouldn't speculate on any of the causes of the incident. They are saying they are going to send what they call an accredited representative to take part in this investigation. This obviously coming as the Iranians earlier were saying that is absolutely not going to happen. Now, the Iranians are saying they are allowing Boeing and also the NTSB to participate in this investigation. That certainly is welcome news, obviously, try and move this investigation forward and also, Anderson, to make it more transparent.</s>COOPER: You talked with the head of Iran's Civilian Aviation Authority. What did he have to say?</s>PLEITGEN: Yes, that was -- that was something that was a stroke of luck, because he talked to us and he told us that he did not deny that potentially or possibly that airliner was shot down by an Iranian missile. However, he did say he doubted it. He said that the airline took off, it flew for about five minutes, and then he said it turned around and tried to make its way back to Imam Khomeini Airport, which is the airport that's not really far from where I'm standing right now. He says, he believes, that if that airliner had been hit by a missile, that it would have plunged to the ground immediately rather than being able to try and make a move and go back towards the airport. But, of course, we just saw that video that we were seeing there before, it does seem to indicate something may have been fired at the airline. And then, of course, you have the various intelligence services including the U.S., Canada and other allied intelligence services saying they do believe it could very well have been a surface-to-air missile that took down that airliner. The Iranians, by the way, Anderson, now saying they are going to tomorrow try and decipher the black boxes of that plane. They say there is a team of Ukrainians here, it was the Ukrainian airline that was shot down. They say one of the black boxes is pretty badly damaged. They're not sure whether or not they're going to be able to get the information out of that black box. They say they might have to ask other countries as well. That's another reason why it's such welcome news that apparently now they are allowing the NTSB to get on board as well, Anderson.</s>COOPER: So, just to be clear, the NTSB, will they be allowed to examine the black box itself? Because earlier on, the Iranians were saying nobody else would be able to look at it.</s>PLEITGEN: That's unclear whether or not they'll be able to see the black box. Essentially what we heard -- this is also coming direct from the head of the Civil Aviation Authority. They say that they have the technology to read out the black boxes. However, they also say in the blacks boxes, as badly damaged as they think, they are not sure whether their technology will be sufficient. Now, they say they don't necessarily want to give it to the U.S. They would like the French, the Canadians to possibly help read that data out. However, they also said that all the data, as they put it, that's on that black box that can be retrieved from that black box if none of it has been lost, will be made public for the world to see. That's the exact words of the head of Iran's Aviation Civil Authority -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: All right. Fred Pleitgen, we'll see. Thanks very much. Perspective now from CNN aviation analyst, Miles O'Brien, CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest, and CNN national security analyst Steve Hall. Richard, you -- there is this video which we haven't been able to independently verify. There is wreckage on the ground, the black boxes we were just talking about, perhaps radar data. What's the most important at this point in the investigation?</s>RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The most important is the wreckage to some extent. The black boxes, well, you might have comments on the cockpit voice recorder and the telemetry on the black boxes will show sudden loss of power. They will show the aircraft responding as a result of whatever happened. You will see engine parameters. You'll see all sorts of things like that within the black box. But they won't tell you what you need to know, which is what actually happened. And that will rest on the wreckage. The wreckage, you will be able to tell if the aircraft was pulled apart through various forces, whether or not there is explosive residue, and unfortunately, sad to say to put it in these terms, the remains much those who were on board. They will also tell you what happened. So, getting to the wreckage, independently, and being able to verify that will be crucial.</s>COOPER: Steve, as I've said, you know, we're only showing this video very sparingly. But the -- from -- I'm wondering what you make of the video. Again, we haven't been able to independently verify it. When you look at it, what do you see?</s>STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, Anderson, at this point, it is indeed a little hard to tell exactly what's going on. We won't know probably until a couple of days at least down the road. The imagery that we saw does seem to support a narrative that a missile was fired and that it did indeed take the plane down. But the one thing that I think is sure, Anderson, is that, you know, we have so many western intelligence services that are looking very, very closely at this area of the world given the events that have transpired over the past couple of days that, you know, really there is no doubt in my mind that we have a whole lot of intelligence, we have an extremely close relationship with the Canadian intelligence services, a very special relationship also with the U.K. intelligence services. And, of course, we have our own capabilities. All of those services would be looking at signals intelligence, SIGENT, who was calling who, emailing and using official channels. Electronic intelligence, ELINT, what is the telemetry of what might have been launched, and what was going on with the airplane. Not to mention human services who down the road can give us a more complete picture of what happened. One thing we won't be able to rely on, I'm afraid, is the Iranian government which is, of course, not a transparent government. And so, we have to be very cautious, I think, as to what they say. But I think the intelligence services know what the real story is.</s>COOPER: Miles, is there anything, a commercial pilot could -- would a commercial pilot be aware of a missile heading in their direction? There's not, I assume there is not kind of warning systems in commercial airlines for that sort of thing.</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: No, the 737-800 is an advanced airliner. This one was three or so years old. A very well-experienced crew, but nothing on board that aircraft would let them know that they had become a target or that somebody was homing in on them with a missile. The system is built, Anderson, to have radar make the determination. In other words, the transponder on the aircraft is sending out specific codes which tell the world what it is and what it is not. Where the disconnect comes is the separation between the civilian air traffic control authorities all over the world and the military itself. And that particular surface-to-air missile battery that may have been involved in this or looks like it was involved in this, probably didn't have access to a lot of that data. It's as if they're watching a black and white 1960s TV as opposed to high-definition television at air traffic control. And so in that context, with that hair trigger alert, and that lack of data, mistakes can happen.</s>COOPER: And, Richard, I mean, I guess it sort of -- I was unaware that planes would be allowed to fly given the circumstances of what was happening in the region and only hours after missiles had been launched.</s>QUEST: This is something that clearly will be closely investigated. Look, most major airlines have been avoiding Iranian and Iraqi air space. U.S. carriers have been banned from going across there. I saw one confidential document from a European airline which talked about how they were going to circumvent those particular countries. And the implications and where they were going to have to land and put fuel stops and extra staffing on all of those sort of things. Now, why did Ukrainian International Airlines decide to fly that flight only a few hours after the missiles? That is an unknown. That is a risky operation by that airline and will go to the core on one side of it. But, you know, when you talk about what happened in this particular incident, was it a missile or was it not? There is a very simple way -- the Iranians can tell us. I mean, the Iranians know. Did they or did they not shoot it down? And I suspect investigators all around the world are going to spend a lot of time trying to analyze third-party evidence when really the Iranians have the answer, pure and simple.</s>COOPER: Miles, is it known at this point whether -- I'm not exactly sure how that particular surface-to-air missile works. I don't know it would actually hit a plane or it would explode nearby and send shrapnel into an aircraft. Or do we know if the aircraft itself -- I mean, essentially exploded in the sky? Or if it, if it -- you know, continued to fly or at least was sort of intact as it headed to the ground?</s>O'BRIEN: The SA-15 is designed to explode in proximity of the aircraft, and that's what we saw with that Malaysian 777 that was shot down by the same sort of surface-to-air missile system in Ukraine in 2014. And interestingly, they were able to triangulate the exact location of the explosion using the different microphones in the cockpit voice recordings. It actually the speed at which they approached those microphones allowed them to define exactly where it blew up, which was about a meter away from the cockpit. So that's the way these weapons are designed. It is a very sudden and catastrophic event and that's why no radio call came from this particular aircraft, or why we can suppose no radio call occurred in this case. If it had been a simple mechanical failure, an engine failure, the crew would most certainly have gotten a radio call out.</s>COOPER: Miles O'Brien, Richard Quest, Steve Hall, thank you very much. Just ahead, the smear campaign that Republican lawmakers have launched, accusing anyone who questions the president's decision in Iraq and Iran will -- were supporting the terrorists overseas. We're going to talk about it with one former top law enforcement official who has had enough. And later, new reporting on how soon we could see the president's impeachment trial begin.