the sister for all atheists. ♪ ♪ ♪ where is the rainbow i've been waiting for ♪ ♪ lit be a bright, bright sun shiny day ♪ >> come on now, sing it with us. looking for clues after a passenger plane drops from the sky. >> and the hope of finding survivors, families are in mourning. >> and the strained relations between israel and the u.s. plus italy's highest court is set to issue its final ruling in the amanda knox case. >> great to have you with us. i'm john vause. >> and i'm zain asher. this is cnn newsroom.

it could be days before they can start recovering the victims of flight 9925. the flight crashed in the french alps killing all on board. there's no word on what caused the crash, but one of the black boxes has been recovered. >> helicopter crews say the plane is in pieces. no piece is bigger than a small car right now. the head of one rescue team says the debris is scattered over ten acres, some in areas much higher than the mountain peaks. >> translator: our priority is to get as many bodies back as possible so that specialists of criminal identification may be able to identify them. but not only the bodies anything that can help to identify them such as personal belongings which will be scrupulously picked up and taken

away. >> students at a school near dusseldorf started a memorial for 16 teenagers killed in tuesday's crash. they were returning to germany after a student exchange program in spain. two of their teachers were also on board that plane. let's head to correspondent erin mclaughlin at the site in the french alps. so when will the recovery crews head out and when they do how difficult will it be to reach the site? >> reporter: hi john. the operation was suspended overnight. it's expected to begin again this morning. time for that though not exactly clear as you can still see it's dark outside. the location of the crash site is proving to be problematic for officials. the terrain there has been described as difficult, the location remote accessible

mainly by air. local officials say it's on a particularly steep part of the mountain. so weather in all of this of course going to be another factor. forecasters saying that conditions in this area are expected to get worse as the day goes on today. more rain and snow at some of the higher elevations on the ground particularly icy conditions also complicating things for officials, requiring specialist equipment to be able to maneuver about. john? >> erin is there any time pressure for the crews to get to the site or have they the option to wait out the bad weather for a day or two? >> reporter: well this is being described as a recovery operation. officials do not believe there are any survivors of this crash. that being said you know there were 150 people on board that

plane, from all over the world. australia, belgium, germany, spain, colombia and their families are waiting. i can tell you, john from having covered other plane crashes, this is a particularly painful time for those families. an absolute priority for them will be the repatriation of the bodies and to get answers to figure out what exactly happened. so from that standpoint time is absolutely of the essence. just to give you an understanding of where i am, this is a school not far from the crash site about six miles away. they're going to be setting up a makeshift morgue here at the school as well as basing some of the police operations. but it must be said that at this point, not a single body has been recovered and brought to that morgue so far. john? >> yeah it will be a slow difficult process.

erin, thank you. more now on what we know about the moments before the crash. germanwings says that the flight had just reached its cruising altitude 38,000 feet, about 45 minutes into that flight. then it began, you can see it here a rapid descent, falling to just 6,000 feet in eight minutes. air traffic controllers lost contact at 10:53 a.m. local time. that's when they believe the plane crashed. for more now, let's go to aviation analyst scott hamilton joining us by skype in seattle, washington. given the sort of controlled descent we've been talking about, people are assuming the engine clearly didn't stall, there was no engine failure without speculating too much what are the likely scenarios in terms of figuring out what may have caused this crash? >> that's a real good question. if it had been a cabin depressurization you would have

seen the airplane descend far more rapidly than it did. so this seems to be kind of a long controlled descent. that raises the question if it was an emergency, why did the pilots radio something or send something through the transponder to indicate an emergency? we don't have that. that then raises the question what were the pilots doing and we just don't know. with recovery of the cockpit voice recorder hopefully that will give us the answers within a couple of days. >> there's so many theories being thrown around including was there a problem with the autopilot. i want to talk about search and rescue. the conditions, when that plane was flying the weather was pretty good. now during this recovery, the weather conditions are getting worse. we heard our meteorologist talk about fog and snow talk about freezing rain, as well. in this kind of environment, how

do we ensure the safety of the search and rescue crews? >> well obviously you can have some mountaineers who are used to operating in this kind of environment. they have what would be the equivalent of our coast guard here that might be used to that mountain environment. but clearly with the expectation, with the airplane just pulverized the way it is you're not going to be looking for survivors, you're looking for recovery. with that being the case if the weather is too bad, you just stand down the recovery teams. >> quickly, i want to talk about maintenance for that particular plane. we heard there was an issue with the plane's landing gear doors that was repaired just a day or two ago. but, you know is that a huge problem? could that have been a factor in this at all, or is that minor

concern? >> well we just don't know. obviously the maintenance history is going to be one of those areas investigator also look at. they will look at whether this was a criminal act, they will look at the pilot history and actions, they'll look at whether or not there was some mechanical failure or an autopilot failure. they're going to be looking at all these types of things. >> unfortunately, we know they have recovered the cockpit voice recorder. that will give us the last two hours of conversation of audio of what was going on in that cockpit. hopefully that will give us some clues in the next few days. scott hamilton live for us there. thank you. >> you're welcome. >> erin touched on the weather in the region. let's find out how worse that will be. >> just about every sort of weather you can expert to see across the alps is going to be coming into play.

some freezing rain in the forecast some snowfall and wednesday a wash here when it comes to the weather pattern. one of the main concerns when you look at how steep the terrain is, vertical clones with hundreds of feet of debris scattered. the weather pattern as the plane took off in the early morning hours of tuesday, the storms stay to the east and south. clear skies, scattered clouds and fog pushing in. so we don't believe weather had much to do with this. but the rapid decline in the altitude going from 38,000 to 6,000 feet in under ten minutes is the concern. more is the vertical profile as the airplane took off over the western mediterranean. within 45 minutes, gets up to cruising altitude of 38,000 feet. marseilles is where we saw the air speed decline a little bit.

so that's a controlled descent, what the officials will be looking at. was there smoke in the cabin or pressure loss? that is all going to be analyzed. it came down at roughly 2,000 meters. when you get to this region of the alps, that's the rain/snow line. some of the crews are situated here because it's such a remote and difficult area to reach. this is where we'll see some freezing rain in the forecast. again, the plane went down in this region at 6500 feet. notice a wintry mix here. above that we get into snow. wednesday locks like a very challenging day when it kovs to recovery efforts over this region. >> thanks for that. this is another plane crash, another mass loss of life. this time 150 people 144

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their search for body debris and assets. >> french officials have recovered one of the black boxes. it's not clear yet whether that is the flight data recorder or the cockpit voice recorder. >> we are learning new details about 150 people on board. 67 germans were on board. among them 16 teenage students and their two teachers returning from a week studying in barcelona. at least one person from belgium. another from the netherlands, two passengers from columbia an architect and economist. and a nurse from australia was traveling with her adult son who was an engineer. >> germany's chancellor had words of sympathy and resolve for those with loved ones above this flight. listen. >> translator: i'm concerned with the depth of suffering that is brought to so many people.

my thoughts are with those people who have lost somebody. there are many germans among them. this suffering is incredible of the families. we will do everything to get the help that they need in these difficult hours. >> there is shock and unimaginable grief for the family members for those on board this plane. it was scheduled to land in dis dusseldorf germany. rosy tompkins joins us on line. what are the familyarrangements being made for the families? >> reporter: many of the families on hearing the news on the sell vision of the crash, a crisis center was set up here at the airport itself to provide support to the family members, medical support and

psychological support in the form of counselors to help them deal with the trauma. they will pay for family members to travel there and accommodations. among the dead 67 germans. you mentioned the 16 school students who had been on a foreign exchange in spain. also two german opera singers, details have emerged that they were tragically on board. they had been performing in barcelona. the female of the duo was traveling with her husband and baby. so more and more tragic details emerging. >> what's the latest on flight crews with germanwings? some had refused to fly after the crash. a number of flights had to be canceled. >> yes, john that was a statement that we had from the

airline on tuesday from the ceo. several crew members were too upset on hearing the news to travel so they didn't fly. and there were some cancellations. germanwings is an airline with a very strong safety record. the aircraft in question a very strong safety record. the pilots from the airline confirmed they had more than ten years flying experience. this is a nation that prides itself on its technological prowess and safety record. so all of these details contributing to the shock of this terrible accident. >> rosy tompkins on the line with the very latest. thank you. speaking of safety records,

we know the pilot had flown for at least ten years and had 6,000 hours of flying hours. >> there's not a lot to be gained from that side of the story. it's going to come down to some kind of mechanical problem. >> we'll have more on the plane crash. but first, u.s. lawmakers react to reports that israel spied on the iranian nuclear talks and leaked details to congress. we'll have more of angelina jolie's decision to take a very radical surgery for her health. more when we come back.

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yemen's president is appealing to the united nations to support military action to fight houthi rebels. >> the president fled to aden after the shia rebels took over the capital in january. >> reports say at least four people were killed when demonstrators clashed with houthis. iran backs the houthis, and sunni gulf arab states support the president. the u.s. says it will delay troop withdrawal from afghanistan. the plan was to cut the u.s. presence by nearly half this year. but president barack obama changed the timeline after meeting with the afghani

president. he expressed concern to u.s. officials over security in his country. listen. >> the president has requested some flexibility on our drawdown timelines. i've consulted with general campbell and my national security team and decided we'll maintain our current posture of 9800 troops through the end of this year. >> thank you for your commitment to submit a bill to congress for support of our security forces through 2017. there's much work that lies ahead of us. >> the u.s. military is providing training and support to afghan forces as they fight the taliban, as well as al qaeda. mr. obama still plans to withdraw all troops from afghanistan except for an embassy contingent by the end of next year. now to another story. u.s. lawmakers and administration officials are dismissing reports that israel spied on the u.s.-led iran nuclear talks. >> there are new signs that the relationship between israel and

the united states is only getting worse. senior white house correspondent jim acosta has the details. >> reporter: describing his relationship with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu as business-like, president obama said there's nothing personal in their disagreement on two key issues the iran nuclear talks and prospects for palestinian statehood. >> this can be reduced to a matter of somehow let's all, you know hold hands and sing kumbaya. he's pointed out that he didn't say never to a two-state solution but there could be a series of conditions in which a palestinian state could potentially be created. but of course the conditions were such that they would be impossible to meet any time soon.

>> reporter: making matters worse, senior obama officials complained to "the wall street journal" that israel is spying on the iranian nuclear talks and leaking details to congress. it's one thing for the u.s. and israel to spy on each other. it's another thing for israel to steal u.s. secrets and play them back to u.s. legislators to undermine u.s. diplomacy. the president tried to laugh that off. >> as a general rule i don't comment on intelligence matters in a big room full of reporters. >> reporter: how speaker john boehner denied receiving any classified information from the israelis. >> i'm not sure what the information was, but i'm baffled by it. >> reporter: as did the top two men on the house intelligence committee. >> we have not been believed by the israelis on anything that's in "the wall street journal" article at all. none of those cases have the israelis discussed with me anything that i would consider a classified or even all that sensitive. >> reporter: the israeli prime minister's office is denying it all, saying these allegations

are utterly false. the state of israel does not conduct espionage against the united states or israel's other allies. but the accusations are not completely new. just last month, the white house was openly complaining about israeli leaks. >> there's no question that some of the things the israelis said in characterizing our negotiating position have not been accurate. >> that was jim acosta reporting there. congress has repeatedly complained about not receiving enough information from the administration about iran. angelina jolie says she had surgery to remove her ovaries and the fallopian tubes to reduce her cancer risk. she underwent a double massectomy two years ago for the same reason. >> her doctor says testing for the gene mutation is essential.

>> it could be the most important thing that a woman ever does in her entire life in order to preserve her life. if you think about it in these families generation after generation of women and men will die from cancers, and until recently no one understood it. but now we get it. there's a gene. you can test for it easily, and you can save your life. >> cancer experts say jolie made the right call to have that surgery. still to come here the search for answers has just begun in the french alps. people are grieving for loved ones lost in that mysterious trash of flight 9525. plus later, we'll tell you a little bit more about that plane and their reputation for safety.

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half past the hour here. you're watching cnn newsroom live around the world. i'm john vause. >> i'm zain asher. rain and snow are threatening to complicate search efforts in the french alps after tuesday's crash of an airbus a-320. it crashed, killing all 150 people on board. french investigators have recovered one of the aircraft's two so-called black boxes. >> we're getting more information about the people on board the flight. along with spaniards, 67 were german two australians, two colombians a dutch national and

one belgian. 150 people were flying or germanwings flight 9525. u.s. president barack obama said nearly 10,000 u.s. troops will remain in afghanistan through the end of this year. the u.s. originally planned to cut that number down by more than 4,000. mr. obama says he still plans on pulling out virtually all u.s. troops by the end of 2016. the founding prime minister's body died on monday. he was credited to transforming the country. a state funeral is planned for sunday. we go back to the main story. the crash of flight 9525 has hit germany especially hard. there were 67 german nationals on board the flight. >> germ new has also suffered a blow to national pride.

>> reporter: germany tonight is in the state of sadness and mourning and also of course, in a state of shock, as well. this is a country that prides itself on its ingenuity and all of that extends to the sector of airline safety as well. it's one of the reasons why so many german politicians have come forward. angela merkel will head to the crash site tomorrow. the german foreign minister was there today in a helicopter describing the gruesome pictures he saw. in the early stages, it's all about the victims here in germany. one of the things that germanwings has done is put in place a crisis center. this is the place where the doomed flight was supposed to land here in dusseldorf. and many of the relatives on this flight have come here. they can receive psychological counseling and the same thing is

also happening in barcelona, which is where the flight originated. one of the other things that the germanwings leadership said it will do is it wants to put in place what they call a contact center where it's offering all of the relatives of those killed the possibility to be taken to the vicinity of where this crash happened simply to be closer to the place where their loved ones were killed. of course within this larger tragedy, there's other tragic events that are moving this nation. one of them is the fact that there was a class of school kids also on board this plane. 16 of them were coming back from an exchange in spain, them and two of their teachers were killed on this flight. also two opera singers from the area one traveling with her small baby. that's one of two babies killed on this flight. >> germanwings canceled a number

of flights. >> the airline says it is respecting the crew member's wishes but it will not significantly affect service. listen. >> translator: we need a crew for every flight and we didn't get the crews for some flights. some crews decided they didn't want to fly for personal reasons. these are personal reasons and we should not and cannot speculate. the consequences we had to cancel flights because we didn't have the necessary crews. but it's just some flights considering we have 400 daily. >> the recovery effort resumes at daybreak in the alps. cnn's anderson cooper spoke with one of the area's mountain guides who saw the crash firsthand. listen. >> what did you actually see when you got to the site of the crash?

how far apart was the debris spread out? [ speaking french ] use from the images we're seeing you don't see many large pieces at all. did you see any large pieces? [ speaking french ] >> what is the area like where the plane crashed? how difficult is it to get to that site? [ speaking french ]

after going into a rapid descent. so far, no one knows why. >> as usual, after these types of aviation disasters, there are a lot of theories about what might have happened. here's our tom foreman with more. >> reporter: this descent was somewhat rapid, but not so fast anybody would have noticed it until they were able to see the mountains right outside. that dispenses with the theory that it was a catastrophic fail your in the air. if that happened the plane would have come down much more quickly. the debris would have been scattered over a much wider area

on the ground. so if that is not what happened what are other possibilities? every analyst said look at the flight pattern. it is a direct descent that seems very controlled a straight line no sign of anything unusual. that would be consistent with the crew trying to get to a lower altitude and deal with some sort of problem. but we still don't know what that problem would have been. and if they had this kind of control, why wouldn't they have been veered away and gone to some of the airports nearby that they might have been able to reach safety. that brings up the possibility of what if they just didn't know they were crashing? this happens. sometimes pilots have false readings from instrumentation. they don't know how fast the plane is traveling. they don't know where it is in relationship to the ground or they become so distracted by some other issue that they just lose what's called situational

awareness. by the time they would have realized they were in deep trouble, they had no time left to do anything about it. >> tom foreman breaking down some of the possibilities of what may have happened. we do know they have the data recorder as soon as they get the information from that down loaded, maybe a week we'll know a lot more. >> the cockpit voice recorder does give you two hours in terms of audio sounds in that cockpit. so if there was something that went wrong that the pilots discussed, we would get more information from that. obviously, the search and rescue teams are working very conscientiously to rescue to take those bodies away. we're joined live now with more. so we've got issues with weather in terms of fog and snow in terms of freezing rain. you've also got the rugged terrain on that problem and problems with footing, as well.

walk us through what the rescue crews will be going through. >> the slopes are 60 to 70 degrees. imagine that. we know some professional repelling is going to be needed in some of these spots. we've had ice in recent days snowfall across much of the winter season. so the slick conditions are going to be prevalent, a lot of people are talking about when you look at the maps from barcelona to dusseldorf the straight line there would avoid much of the alps but the way this airline operates daily, it gets very close to here and pushes over the alps. here's the last point of contact, at least close to it as

it flew over marseilles. we saw the rapid decline in altitude about 32,000 foot drop in eight minutes. the data show within 45 minutes of flight the altitude was at 38,000 feet was going 500 miles per hour. that speed did not decline much. the altitude went down rapidly. so we're watching the next storm system. you can see the center of circulation here across portions of the eyeiberan peninsula. we know fog is settling in freezing rain will be a probability. we see a window on thursday with clearing in the forecast. wednesday, a complete wash when it comes to wintry weather and a

forecast. and dpusgusty winds, and this is something we'll follow of the next day or so. >> appreciate that. as you say, some difficult days ahead. >> especially when it comes to airlifting those bodies from that disaster area. thank you so much. we'll take a quick break. when we come back it will be several challenging months ahead for germanwings, the company behind tuesday's crash. we'll have an indepth look at their history, that's coming up. before i had the shooting, burning, pins-and-needles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet...

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very tragic moment for our company. everyone at germanwings is deeply shocked and saddened by these events. >> there are a lot of people in mourning as investigators search into clues what caused the night to go over over the french alps. richard quest has more. >> reporter: this is the ill-fated germanwings a-320 last year the airport it was heading for on the final flight. >> this is a tragedy, a tragic very sad day for germanwings and also for the whole lufthansa family. >> reporter: initial safety questions focused on the age of

the aircraft. first delivered to lufthansa in 1991. it's one of the oldest aircraft in the germanwings' fleet. >> as long as you have your maintenance schedule in place and follow all the procedures together with the manufacturer there's absolutely no issue with the age of an airport. >> reporter: lufthansa has an impressive safety record. the last incident was in 1993, when two people died in a crash in poland. >> they have a very, very good reputation in germany, and the reason for that is all the planes from germanwings are serviced by lufthansa technicians. >> reporter: germanwings started life in 2002 as a budget carrier to compete on cost with european rivals like air berlin. it's now fully owned by the lufthansa group.

germanwings flies 110 routes and has 90 aircraft. lowering cost is at the heart of lufthansa's strategy. in 2012 it made germanwings the point-to-point carrier for all the short haul flights, except those going to hubs like frankfurt. and it's now planning to consolidate germanwings under its regional brand eurowings. >> i think there's new markets, new customer groups to reach out for. the market is ready for it and lufthansa should put this offer together. >> reporter: the plans have sparked strike action by pilots. wiping around $250 million off the group's earnings in 2014. >> we have to maintain competitiveness, also on the cost side and do what it takes. >> reporter: for germanwings and lufthansa, now they face their biggest challenge as they deal with the aftermath of flight

9525. richard quest, cnn, new york. >> even though there have been several high profile air disasters in the past year an airline trade group says the global accident rate in 2014 was, in fact, the lowest in recent years. there were 12 fatal air accidents in 2014. according to new safety report from the international air transport association, compared to 16 aviation disasters the year before that. >> 2014 was the lowest number of fatal accidents since 2009. in all, the report says 641 air passengers died while traveling in the skies, well above the 210 killed in 2013. but 2010 had the highest numb of fatalities with 786 people dying. we're going to take a quick break here on cnn. when we come back in a few hours, italy's highest court will decide the fate of amanda knox the american convicted of killing her british roommate in

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government's request. iraqi forces are struggling to retake the city from ice militantmill -- isis militants. >> a pentagon spokesperson says the offensive is stalled and iraqi forces have trying to move forward. police in california are searching for a 30-year-old woman who is being held for ransom. denise huskins was kidnapped from her boyfriend's home on tuesday. >> the boyfriend is not considered a suspect, at least not now. her father made an emotional plea to his daughter's captor. >> the biggest fear is the horror that she might be going through. that's my biggest fear that she's going through such horror. please don't hurt her.

>> and police have not disclosed the amount of ransom that's being sought. former u.s. congressman jesse jackson, jr., is set to leave prison thursday morning. jackson will serve the rest of his 30-month sentence at a halfway home in washington. jackson pleaded guilty to using campaign money for luxury items. he received treatment for bipolar disorder at the mayo clinic in 2012. his lawyer says his misconduct was linked to his mental health issues. amanda knox's future is hanging in the balance. in the coming hours, italy's supreme court will rule on whether to uphold her conviction in the 2007 killing of her british roommate. >> her former boyfriend will also be decided. >> reporter: after more than seven years of legal wrangling,

italy's high court will once again decide the fate of amanda knox. experts say the odds are not in knox's favor. >> i did not kill my friend. i did not wield a knife. i have no reason to. >> reporter: the supreme court can either uphold last year's conviction or overturn the decision. it's a decision that for a second time found knox and her then boyfriend guilty of murdering 21-year-old british student meredith kercher. they have long claimed their innocence. they say they believe gaday acted alone. >> as this case has progressed the evidence that the prosecution has claimed exists against me has been proven less and less and less. >> reporter: the appellate court found the 2011 ruling that acquitted them to be absent of

logic rigger. it sentenced knox to 28 1/2 years behind bars in abstenia. >> from a statistical point of view frequently, the supreme court confirms the decision of the court of appeal. so in this case it should mean confirmation of the sentence. >> reporter: that means police will immediately arrest salechto. amanda knox remains in the united states and italy could request her extradition. experts say politics would be a likely factor. >> italians have to determine whether or not they want to ask for extradition under the current obama administration or wait and see who is elected. she would be better fighting an extradition trial and process in the united states than wondering if some bounty hunter is going to get her on an international

arrest warrant. >> reporter: under italian law, the statute of limitations on extradition is double the sentence so the court would have over 50 years to make that decision. so the high court may overturn the latest guilty verdict, which there will likely be another appeal trial. while the handling of this case has sparked outrage in the u.s. this kind of legal ping-pong is normal in italy. experts say the system is meant to assure the rights of the accused. the newly announced presidential candidate who led the crusade against obamacare will now be signing up for it. >> senator ted cruz says he will sign up for health coverage under the affordable health care act, even though vowing to appeal it. >> you and your family have been getting health insurance through your wife's job. her company has been goldman sachs. she's now left that to help you

with your campaign. so where are you getting your health insurance now? >> she's taking unpaid leave of absence from her job, so we'll presumably get health insurance through my job in the senate on the federal exchange. >> senator, for right now, the irony is just kind of unbelievable that you have made your name fighting against obamacare and you now are going to sign up to get your insurance through that very process, obamacare. >> listen it was the case before obamacare that federal employees could get health insurance through their jobs. that's not a new development. so yes, i'll get my insurance through my job like millions of other americans. that's not a shocking -- >> you take a subsidy from your job, which is the federal government? >> we will follow the text of the law. i strongly oppose the exemption that president obama illegally put in place for members of congress because harry reid and

the senate democrats didn't want to be under the same rules as the american people. >> that means you are going to take a government subsidy? >> i believe we should follow the text of the law. >> the law that you want to repeal? >> yes, i believe we should follow the text of every law, even laws i disagree with. >> it was a good interview. a spokesperson says mr. cruz will not take the government contribution to purchase the coverage. >> thank you so much for being with us this hour. i'm zain asher. >> and i'm john vause. stay with us. errol barnett and rosemary church will be up next. you're watching cnn.

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visit comcast.com/wireless to learn more. shock and sadness follow a deadly plane crash in the french app. alps. schoolchildren and babies among those killed. with the withdrawal of thousands of u.s. troops from afghanistan has been delayed. and convicted killer amanda knox could be just hours away from her next legal battle. hello, and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm errol barnett. >> i'm rosemary church. this is "cnn newsroom." it is 7:00 a.m. in the french