citizen in germany. >> tom, thanks so much. the investigation just beginning. check out our show page for video, blogs and extras. that's all for us on "the lead." i'm john berman in for jake. i turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." happening now, deliberate crash. tonight the unthinkable explanation for the air disaster in the alps. a prosecutor says the co-pilot locked the pilot out of the cockpit and purposefully flew the airliner into a mountain. we have new details on the investigation and why that co-pilot was training in the united states. locked out. you will learn how and use the co-pilot was able to keep everyone else out of the cockpit. is your airline changing its policy on cabin security? and decisive storm. after one u.s. ally is toppled by rebels another major ally launching a sudden and massive air strike. is a ground offensive next? i speak live this hour with the saudi ambassador to the united states. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

our breaking news, a cruel and stunning new twist to a horrific catastrophe. the airliner crash that killed 150 people in the french alps is now being called deliberate. the french prosecutor says the co-pilot wanted to destroy the aircraft. based on chilling cockpit audio, officials now say the co-pilot locked the captain out and ignoring the pounding at the door and the screaming that was going on put the plane into a descent that took it into a mountainside. the fbi has been called into the crash investigation and u.s. officials say intelligence agencies are still looking for a possible possible terror link. our correspondents analysts and guests are all standing by with the latest developments. but let's begin with our senior international correspondent, nic robertson. he's near the crash scene and has the latest. nic? >> reporter: well this was a day where the family members of

the victims of that crash got a chance to get close to that site. they couldn't get all the way there. the german authorities from lufthansa organized flights to bring them to france. the french authorities organized a memorial service in a field. this field just a couple of miles from the crash site itself. an emotional day for more than 100 family members who made the journey to southern france so they could spend time near the place where their loved ones perished. the grieving relatives arrived at the site just hours after french investigators described in chilling detail the final moments of germanwings flight 9525. marseille prosecutor bryce robin says it seems co-pilot andreas lubitz wanted to destroy the aircraft but it's unclear why. the audio from the aircraft's mangled cockpit voice recorder reveals the 28-year-old german

co-pilot was alone at the controls when the airbus 320 crashed, killing all 150 people on board. >> translator: we from lufthansa are speechless that the aircraft was deliberately crashed by the co-pilot. >> reporter: the recording reveals the co-pilot didn't let the captain back in the cockpit after he stepped out, presumably to use the restroom after the plane had reached cruising altitude. once alone lubitz activated the steady descent of the plane and he didn't respond to multiple efforts by air traffic controllers to reach him. >> translator: he used a button to lose altitude for reasons totally unknown but they could be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to destroy the aircraft. >> reporter: the pilot can be heard knocking and eventually banging on the door but it remained locked from the inside. from the audio, investigators say lubitz's breathing was steady until the plane crashed into the mountains.

there was no indication he was experiencing a medical emergency. but he didn't utter a word. officials say there was no way for the flight crew to activate any sort of distress signal from outside of the cockpit. the prosecutor says he believes the passengers were apparently unaware of what was happening until the final moments when screams could be heard on the recording. at this time marseille's prosecutor says he doesn't believe the motive was terrorism-related. the families also went to a church service today in the village behind me. this also the hope of the french authorities, to help give them solace but still such a long way from closure. so near to their loved ones but so many questions unanswered. those questions remain in the mountains, principally that data recorder that could help investigators solve more of the questions about why this happened precisely what took place, but for the family

members who have learned from the prosecutor today they won't be very likely to be releasing any of the bodies that are beginning to be removed from the mountainside unlikely to release them for a number of days possibly several weeks. a lot of dna testing to be done. >> very gruesome work. thanks very much nic robertson on the scene for us. in a cnn exclusive, the ceo of lufthansa says the co-pilot passed all his medical tests and gave no indication that he was unstable. he spoke with our senior international correspondent fred pleitgen who is joining us live from germany. what else did he say, fred? >> reporter: well the big question that i posed to him is whether or not the medical checks were then adequate and also the psychological checks. he said that he believes the lufthansa policy is up to standard but he also acknowledged that in this case this man apparently went through all the cracks and he believes there was no way to prevent all

of this. let's listen to some of the other things carsten spohr told me today. >> to tell you the truth, we have no explanation at this point. we at lufthansa have been for decades so proud of selecting the best people to become pilots training them in the best way, having them qualified in the best way. that something of this kind would ever happen to us is uncomprehensible and i think we just need to understand this is a single case which every safety system in the world cannot completely rule out. i think that's what we take as an explanation if you want to call it that. >> reporter: we have been talking about there might have been a medical emergency, there might have been some other event that could have caused the pilot to become incapacitated. you believe that the co-pilot deliberately steered the plane into the mountain? >> we do have a safety procedure in place in case the remaining pilot gets unconsciousness. there is a way to open the door from the outside, unless the person on the inside blocks it and this apparently has happened here. >> reporter: so he blocked it

from the inside as the captain was trying to get back in. >> from what we know he didn't allow access to the cockpit. that's exactly what the french authorities have so far informed us about. >> reporter: what did the captain try to do to get back in? is there a possibility to knock a door down at this stage of the game? >> after the terrible 9/11 accidents we have put in lufthansa like most other airlines doors into our cockpits which are not to be broken by manual force. they are not able to be opened with small weapons. so there was no way to get back to the cockpit for the captain in this case when the co-pilot was not allowing that access. >> reporter: in the united states, for instance if one of the crew members leaves the cockpit, there always has to be someone who goes in, a flight attendant or something. why was the co-pilot allowed to be in the cockpit alone? >> also in the united states, i understand that's only true for a very few airlines. most of the airlines around the world follow the same procedure as lufthansa.

that with low workload, the pilot can leave the cockpit, especially for physical need and returns to the cockpit as fast as he can. that's a global most accepted procedure which we have used at lufthansa for many many years. >> reporter: one of the things that lufthansa did say was that they were going to look at those procedures were going to see if those procedures are still adequate or whether or not they would adopt the ones that are apparently prevalent in the united states where at least two people need to be in the cockpit at all times. so that if one of the pilots decides he has to go to the bathroom or go out for some other reason a flight attendant would have to be in there to make sure that no one is ever in that sensitive part of the airplane alone. >> fred thank you. fred pleitgen in cologne, germany. three americans were killed in that crash and the third has been identified as robert oliver calvo, a u.s. national living in barcelona. the fbi has been asked to assist in this investigation. we are learning that investigators are moving boxes from the co-pilot's apartment, looking for clues to his

motivation. let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. she is working her sources. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well for the u.s. intelligence and law enforcement community right now, it is all about trying to assist in what the motivation was behind this incident. right now, u.s. officials tell me there is still no direct link to terrorism that they have been able to find but i have to tell you, one official telling me every intelligence agency and law enforcement agency around the world looking at this. this incident has shocked them and they are looking at everything they can. on the part of the u.s. there are basically three threads that they are looking at. it goes back it starts with the manifest. all of the crew all of the passengers focusing on that co-pilot. everything they could learn about him, was he truly suffering from depression looking even at his social media, what his contacts may have been on social media, and we do see boxes of evidence being removed from his home in

germany earlier today. that's one thread. the next thread the current threat stream against western aviation. there have been years now of threats against western aviation most of them non-specific most of them pretty general. but that is a constant worry. so again, u.s. intelligence law enforcement going back through that thread to see if there is any information that they can derive from that. again, looking at the recorders, still right now no nexus to terrorism but this remains an active investigation. >> it certainly does. barbara, thank you. joining us now, our cnn aviation analyst, former ntsb managing director peter goalz, law enforcement analyst tom fuentes, aviation journalist clive irving contributor to the daily beast, and via skype, our aviation analyst miles o'brien. you were on the scene and you are former fbi assistant director you go to this co-pilot's house, you are looking for stuff, trying to

determine is it possible there could be a nexus towards terrorism, something else. what are you looking for? >> they are going to try to take everything that would indicate what he might have been thinking what he believed in who his friends are, who his contacts are, his computer social media postings e-mails, phone calls, phone records, interview anybody that's known him or had association with him that could describe what his thought patterns were. they are going to try to get inside his head and as miles o'brien has said so many times, there's no black boxes inside their heads. >> let's go to miles. miles, once alone in that cockpit, the pilot had gone out of the cockpit, the door is locked the co-pilot then flying cruising at 38,000 feet activated that steady descent. it went down over the course of eight minutes or so. explain why you think he was doing that, this co-pilot. >> it doesn't fit the pattern, wolf. if you look at previous known

suicide, successful suicides involving airliners and sadly, this has happened before i'm thinking right now of course of the egypt air crash comes right to the tip of my tongue coming out of new york about 15 years ago. in that case also the captain left the flight deck and the first officer pushed forward quickly on the wheel and they went into a very rapid descent. so this eight or ten minute gradual descent is odd, to say the least. but again, how can we figure out what's going inside that mind. >> you can't figure it out. a little bit late now. peter goalz, you investigated the egypt air crash when you were in the ntsb. if you get -- right now they have the cockpit voice recorder. that's what they are hearing the audio. they don't have this yet, though the flight data recorder. if they get that would that be able to provide more information on what may have happened actually as far as the motivation of this co-pilot to deliberately take that plane

into that french alps? >> it would tell the investigators exactly what steps the co-pilot took to put the plane into a descent and it might give an indication of precisely when he started to engage in this act of mass murder and suicide. >> clive irving is it time to rethink the cockpit doors? because after 9/11 we all know they were intensified given what happened on 9/11 with the hijackers actually storming into the cockpits killing the pilots and then took those planes into the world trade center the pentagon and pennsylvania as well. is it time to rethink that? >> of course it does seem like that. the last thing we thought we would have to defend against among all the other threats to aviation the last thing we thought we would have to defend against would be the pilots. that's the surprising thing in this situation. i would like to refer to what

miles was saying about why did he choose that particular mode of descent. i have been wondering whether this wasn't premeditated because he would have known that he couldn't put the plane in a dive because the airbus has sort of flight envelope protection system the flight management system the computers which prevent him from -- it's there to prevent pilots from overcorrecting and taking extreme control actions to keep the plane within as it were the safety envelope. he would have known that the only way he could have done that would have been to have disconnected the flight management system and flown the plane manually which would have taken time. that's one point about was it premeditated. the other thing which i think a lot of people are asking is how could he have known the pilot would have left to go to the toilet, at what point. obviously he didn't know. he probably knew the pilot was in the habit of doing that but he wouldn't have known when he did it and it seems to me that it's entirely an unfortunate coincidence that this happened over the mountains. nonetheless, had this happened over normal terrain, he could

have still flown the plane into the normal -- until it hit the ground. just so happens the pilot left at a moment when the flight plan led straight over the alps and straight into that particular mountain which has made it much harder of course to retrieve the stuff. i think one important part of understanding what this pilot was doing would be to know was this a premeditated plan because it doesn't seem it could have been spontaneous like a sudden burst of madness. there must have been some disorder in this man's mind which led to this terrible point. we need to know that. >> we certainly do. maybe we will get some more clues. this investigation clearly intensifying. i want all of you to stand by. up next how is that co-pilot able to lock the airliner's captain out of the cockpit. we will show you how a security measure this time had disastrous consequences. after rebels topple a key u.s. ally another ally is leading a coalition in a massive air assault. is saudi arabia ready to take on iran? i'll ask the saudi ambassador to

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we are following breaking news today, shocking announcement that the co-pilot of the germanwings airliner locked the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately crashed the plane into that mountainside our aviation correspondent rene marsh has new and very disturbing information just coming in from the investigation. what are you learning? >> i just got off the flown with flight tracking website flight radar 24. they tell me they spent the last two days analyzing all of the data from flight 9525. in looking at all of the data which was streaming from its

transponder, they tell me they have been able to determine that someone manually programmed the auto pilot from 38,000 feet that was the altitude to 100 feet. as you know if you are approaching the french alps if you have programmed it to 100 feet there is only one scenario of how that could end up. again, based on the data analysis from flight radar 24 again, they said they spent 48 hours looking at this they were able to determine that within just two seconds, once the plane was at cruising altitude someone manually changed the auto pilot to reduce the altitude to 100 feet. >> that's pretty disturbing. i want miles o'brien to give us his analysis. you heard what rene is reporting. what's your analysis of that? >> it certainly fits as one more piece in the puzzle that we are trying to decipher here. it just brings out a point i have been talking about for years now. when a plane goes non-responsive for eight to ten minutes, it's

perfectly technically and financial possible for it to be equipped with the ability to stream out data including a camera in the cockpit. we need to understand what is happening in real time. we have been through a lot of aviation disasters this year and the airlines are resistant to it. regulators need to step in here. >> they certainly do. cameras should be streaming video live back to ground control so they have it if necessary. miles, stand by. want to bring back peter goelz, former managing director of the national transportation safety board. this is the cockpit of this plane. walk us through, for example, how a pilot or co-pilot in this particular case would actually go ahead and lock that door and prevent anyone from coming back in. >> let's take a look at the door lock system. here it is. it has three positions, normal unlock and lock. in the unlocked position the door is open it can be accessed. it would be in the unlocked

position at the gate prior to taxi way. the normal position the door is locked. it can only be accessed from the outside by the numeric keypad which the flight crew has the code they can enter the cockpit if allowed by the cabin crew inside. >> what happens if the pilot or co-pilot in this case puts it on lock as opposed to normal or unlock? >> once it's in lock you are banned from entering the cockpit for a full five minutes. no one can enter the cockpit unless the pilot allows you to and moves -- removes the lock position. but the cockpit is impregnable. >> what happens after five minutes? >> there is a 30-second period you have a buzzer activated that announces that the locking mechanism is going to be released and you have a

five-second moment when the door can be unlocked. but the pilot inside the cockpit can defeat that. he can simply relock the mechanism and there's another period of five minutes where you cannot enter the cockpit. >> so basically, in this particular case if the pilot had gone out, say he went to the men's room and he wanted to get back in the door was locked even if he's waiting that five minutes and then there's that 30 second -- if he starts pushing the right number the right button the co-pilot inside can still prevent him from going inside. >> he can relock the mechanism and the door remains unpassable. we will hear that on the voice recorder. there will be a distinctive click as he resets the lock. >> all of this created in the aftermath of 9/11. >> it was all done after extensive study after 9/11. this they felt was the safest way. one of the things they wanted to do was protect flight cabin crew members. the flight attendants. they are the last line of

defense and they didn't want to put them in a position where they could be held hostage or tortured to get access to the cockpit. so they wanted to make sure that the men and women who serve as flight attendants were not targets. >> stand by. we have a lot more to discuss. we have much more on the crash investigation. the ceo tells cnn the co-pilot was 100% fit to fly but didn't have to pass ongoing psychological tests. what about pilots for u.s. airline companies? we have new information. stand by. up next, we have more breaking news. two u.s. allies in the war on terror saudi arabia and yemen, now at war. the saudi ambassador to the united states is here. we will discuss what's going on after this. let's take a look at your credit. >>i know i have a 786 fico score, thanks to all the tools and help on experian.com. so how are we going to sweeten this deal? floor mats... clear coats...

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much more coming up on our top story, the stunning revelation that the catastrophic plane crash in the french alps was a deliberate act by the co-pilot. stand by. we have more on the breaking news. but there's other news we're following. huge news just days after the last u.s. troops were evacuated from yemen, saudi arabia and half a dozen other allies have launched massive air strikes on rebels there. both the saudis and egypt are threatening to send in ground forces right now as well. first on cnn, i will speak with the saudi ambassador to the united states. he is here. he announced the air strikes. but let's begin with some background. our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is standing by. what are you learning? >> reporter: tonight, the question is has the u.s. military stepped into a new

sectarian war in the middle east. in yemen's capital, devastating air strikes from saudi arabia. a new offensive to drive out iranian-backed rebels who seized control of the capital and key military sites. officials say the saudi campaign was quickly planned, catching top u.s. military commanders off guard. >> general, when were you told by the saudis that they were going to take military action in yemen? >> sir, i had a conversation right before they took action so it was shortly before. >> right before they took action? >> yes, sir. >> that's very interesting. >> reporter: the white house has already committed significant assistance. the u.s. military is helping the saudis plan bombing missions over yemen, providing targeting intelligence from satellites overhead and making surveillance planes and aerial refueling

aircraft available as well. the general says he doesn't know if it will all work. >> i don't currently know the specific goals and objectives of the saudi campaign and i would have to know that to be able to assess the likelihood of success. >> reporter: the u.s. military involvement as sensitive as it gets. saudi arabia is backing beleaguered yemeni president hadi who has pled miss country. the rebels are backed by iran. the u.s. worries terror groups will exploit the chaos. >> there's a lot at stake here particularly with al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and isis both active in yemen but let's face the facts. the u.s. is involved now in a proxy war between the saudis and iranians. >> reporter: iran condemning the intervention. >> it is a very dangerous situation and we advise against any escalation because we believe any interference in yemen will simply lead to

further loss of life. >> reporter: now the saudi arabia and gulf allies in the u.s. view are very nervous about iran's growing influence in the region. they see iran spreading across the area. that may be one reason they are undertaking some of this. but the u.s. very definitely stepping into it. the pentagon offering help to the saudis and help to the yemenis. what everyone is watching for is what will iran's further reaction be. wolf? >> we will get some information right now. thanks very much. these air strikes by the saudis were first announced to the world by the saudi ambassador to the united states here in washington and first on cnn. he is joining us right now to discuss what's going on. this is all-out war right now, mr. ambassador isn't it? >> our objective is to defend the yemeni people and protect the legitimate government of yemen. we will do whatever it takes to achieve that objective. >> there are now reports that some of these shiite houthi rebels backed by iran are actually targeting saudis on

saudi soil. is that correct? >> we are preparing for all eventualities inside the kingdom as well as outside the kingdom. we are determined to defend yemen, defend the legitimate government of yemen, degrade and destroy the capabilities of the houthis. >> are they in saudi arabia though right now, based on the last information you have received? >> we have almost four million yemenis in the kingdom of saudi arabia. we have to assume that most of them are innocent. so i don't want to prejudge any of this. >> but there's no battles going on on your soil as far as you know right now? >> not as far as i know. >> is this really for all practical purposes a proxy war between saudi arabia and iran which supports these shiite houthi rebels? >> this is really a war to defend legitimate government of yemen and protect the yemeni people from takeover by a radical militant group aligned with iran and hezbollah. the yemeni government has tried repeatedly over the past year to reason with them to negotiate with them to go through political process to resolve their differences peacefully and every time agreements were

reached, the houthis have reneged on every one. >> you say the iranians and their allies hezbollah in lebanon, a group the u.s. state department considers to be a terrorist organization what specifically are they doing in yemen right now? >> we have reports that the iranians are providing weapons and training and advisors to the houthis. we have reports of hezbollah operatives being in yemen. we know that when the houthis captured sanaa, one of the first things they did was release captured iranian revolutionary guards members and hezbollah members, release them from the prisons in which they were detained in sanaa. >> is the u.s. helping you? >> absolutely. we are very appreciative of the support we are getting from the united states. we are very appreciative of the support, whether it's political or logistical or intelligence. we are working very closely with the u.s. consulting very closely with the u.s. and we believe that as well as with our other coalition allies. >> you heard general austin,

commander of the central command, say he wasn't informed about your moves into yemen until just before you started. >> we have been discussing this matter with the united states in principle for many months. we have been discussing this matter in more detail as the time approached and the final decision to take action didn't really happen until the last minute, because of circumstances in yemen. so the u.s. had visibility in terms of our thinking and we coordinated and consulted closely with the white house on this. >> for all practical purposes this war in yemen, saudis your allies whether the emirates or kuwaitis kuwaitis they are all helping you and the united states is providing logistical support, intelligence support, it's really designed to prevent iran from gaining a foothold in the arabian peninsula as they have in iraq in syria, in lebanon, maybe in libya, elsewhere? >> its design is to prevent a radical militia from taking over a country. we have a situation where the

houthis have now control of the yemeni armed forces over heavy military equipment, they have control over ballistic missiles and control over an air force. i don't know any radical militia that has control over an air force. the fact they are supported by iran is not a good thing. we are determined to make sure yemen does not succumb to the aggression committed by the houthis or any of their allies. >> you know you are very worried about iran and its nuclear program, aren't you? >> everybody is, wolf. >> under what circumstances would the kingdom, saudi arabia build a nuclear bomb to try to counterbalance an iranian nuclear bomb? >> this is not something we would discuss publicly. i think the region is concerned about iran acquiring nuclear capabilities. we have been assured by the administration that all paths leading to a nuclear weapon by iran will be cut off. we have been assured that they will be very intrusive inspections that will ensure that iran does not acquire nuclear capability. we hope this pans out. everybody wants a peaceful solution to iran's nuclear

program. but it has to be a serious and solid agreement that is verifiable. we are also just as concerned about the interference by iran in the affairs of other countries in the region whether iraq syria, lebanon, yemen and other parts. we believe iran's behavior does not -- is not reassuring to people in the region. >> based on what you know you like this deal that the u.s. and other members, the p5 plus 1, the security council, germany, are putting together with iran? >> i can't say that we like it because we don't know the details. the assurances we have received from the administration have been positive but we want to see the details before we can make judgment. >> i certainly am not hearing any ruling out of saudi arabia countering if necessary by building its own nuclear bomb. >> this is not something that i can comment on, nor would i comment on. but the kingdom of saudi arabia will take whatever measures are necessary in order to protect its security. there are two things over which we do not negotiate. our faith and our security. >> one final question. because you and i have known each other for a long time.

as you know the u.s. a few years ago arrested some iranians the accusation was they were here in the united states to kill you, assassinate you, at a restaurant. this is personal for you, isn't it? >> no, this is not about me. this is about the security of my nation. this is about the security of my people. this is about the security of the region. this is about making sure that bad guys do not capture a country as strategically important as yemen from which they can launch operations that can harm all of us whether we are in saudi arabia or whether we are in the united states. >> you believe that they were in fact as the u.s. law enforcement community suggested, they were out there to -- they were ordered to come to the united states and kill you. >> i would like not to comment on something that involves me personally but i think the evidence is compelling and overwhelming. the individual involved in this has been sentenced to 25 years without parole. there are other individuals that are fugitives as a result of their involvement in this plot. like i said this is not about a person. this is about the welfare of a nation. >> you are committed to fighting this war in yemen as long as it

takes? >> we have said that we will protect yemen and protect its legitimate government. we will do whatever it takes to ensure that the houthi militias the radical group, does not take over yemen and its people. >> including a ground invasion. >> we will see what happens when the time comes. so far, we are focused on the air war. we have over ten countries that are part of this coalition, that are contributing air power. some will be contributing -- agreed to contribute ground forces should it be necessary. naval forces. but we will deal with the situation one step at a time. >> the saudi ambassador to the united states mr. ambassador, thanks very much for joining us. good luck. more breaking news just ahead. prosecutors say the co-pilot of the germanwings aircraft deliberately crashed the plane and the company's ceo tells cnn the man was 100% fit to fly. up next what kind of psychological screenings are required for u.s. airlines that you fly? stay with us.

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with more on what's different for pilots who fly for u.s. airlines. what are you learning? >> that lufthansa ceo says he's quote, speechless and shocked that the co-pilot could have done this deliberately but tonight, our investigation finds the psychological screening for pilots in europe the u.s. and elsewhere, is random and unreliable. lufthansa's ceo says there had been no sign of mental instability with co-pilot andreas lubitz that the 28-year-old had passed a psychological exam when he was hired. after that -- >> translator: once a year we have a medical test. there are no further tests that are expressly psychological. >> reporter: tonight, airlines are under fire for what critics say are dangerous gaps in the system. current and former pilots tell us the level of psychological screening for pilots around the world is random and often depends on the airline. commercial pilot les abend says his airline grilled him on his

personality personality. >> do you love your mother do you love your father do you abuse small animals. >> reporter: he says some airlines interview a pilot's friends to see if they have psychological or emotional issues. but government regulations are not as strict. the faa says pilots can't fly if they have bipolar disorder or similar problems. rules say pilots have to undergo a medical exam every year or six months. abend says those exams don't place an emphasis on psychological screening. lisa van susteren says that doesn't cut it. >> if the screening is merely adequate and they are lumping psychological screening in with medical screening, is it possible for the person to dupe the screener? >> it is absolutely possible. most psychological evaluations are simply checklists and a person will answer and the evaluator will look down to mark it on his paper, never looking to see what kind of body language maybe the person withdraws or does something that gives you a clue that there is some sort of stress or anxiety in answering the question.

>> reporter: another problem? pilots say the airlines don't check periodically to see if something's come up in a pilot's personal life that may lead to a psychological breakdown, like a marital or financial issue. and they are not required to check for that. it's up to a pilot to self-report. >> if he or she doesn't self-report, what happens? >> if you don't self-report, it's really going unnoticed. typically, what happens is if you have an issue, one of your crew members might recognize something like that. >> reporter: the faa did not respond to our questions about the criticism of that system. some current and former pilots argue that the rules don't need to be tightened, that the vast majority of pilots are mentally stable and that the self-reporting guidelines work. but critics say there are still some dangerous gaps in the system that out of fear of losing their careers, pilots are not going to self-report psychological issues or if they do seek treatment, they are not going to tell their bosses. wolf? >> brian todd thanks very much. let's bring back our aviation

analyst and former ntsb managing director peter goelz, our law enforcement analyst tom fuentes, clive irving and our cnn safety analyst, david soucie former faa investigator. guys stand by. we are getting more breaking news right now. we will take a quick break. much more after this.

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okay. [ male announcer ] introducing xfinity my account. available on any device. back to our aviation experts, why don't these airlines specifically do psychological screenings on these pilots? >> well it would be a massive task. there's another issue here which is that this is discovered because we saw something happen. this is the pattern in aviation. we have gone through 12 months where there have been serious accidents all the which involve us being wise after the event. why do we have to go down into oceans to find black boxes? now why are the psychological tests of pilots not tied.

the regulation of the world aviation industry is lax in many respects. this has shown another side of that story. it's very sad that we have to keep learning things after disasters, because we can't anticipate before a disaster that there with weaknesses in the system like this. >> certainly true. david soucie are you surprised that the french authorities, that prosecutor for example, they have been as forthcoming about the details that this being a deliberate act by that co-pilot to fly that plane into the alps? >> wolf i am so refreshed at the way that they are handling this. we have seen so many accidents over the last year. those have all seemed to had their little secrecy, little this little that. germans seem could be coming across very forthright and very up front about everything even though we are talking about a criminal investigation, which typically after that it shuts down. no talking at all. but that's not what happened here. they are very forthright.

i'm very proud of how they have handled this. they have done an excellent job of this. >> i want everybody to stand by. we have a lot more on our top story coming up. more on the breaking news. prosecutors say the air disaster was deliberately caused by the co-pilot who locked the pilot out of the cockpit and steered the plane into a mountain. now they want to know why. new details on what investigators are looking are for. the autopilot was reprogrammed from 38,000 feet to 100 feet as it approached the towering alps. in my world, wall isn't a street. return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. start investing with as little as fifty dollars.

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happening now, co-pilot

blamed. new information tonight about the man who apparently crashed flight 9525 on purpose locking out the captain and slaughtering a plane full of innocent people. did he tamper with the autopilot? killers in the cockpit. this isn't the first time a pilot has been accused of downing a passenger plane. a closer look at the potential risks to fliers around the world. at war. saudi arabia is promising air - strikes in yemen. will that escalate the conflict into a breeding ground for terrorists? i will ask britain's top diplomat. he is here in washington. welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you are in "the situation room." breaking news tonight. criminal investigators hunting for a mow tietive as to why the co-pilot crashed the plane. police search his apartment.

they are move boxes today. the ceo of lufthansa tells cnn, there was no indication he was unstable or mentally ill. chilling details emerge. officials revealing the co-pilot locked the captain out of the cockpit and intentionally -- intentionally destroyed the plane. our correspondents and analysts are standing by along with a former tsa chief. first, the latest from our aviation correspondent rene marsh marsh. >> details about what happened in the cockpit minutes before the jet was deliberately flown into a french mountain side. data from the plane suggests someone manually set the autopilot to bring the jetliner down. >> we can conclude that in all circumstances it's deliberate. >> deliberate.

the chilling word from a french prosecutor makes clear the crash was no accident. both the lead investigator and the lufthansa ceo say they believe lubitz locked the captain out. >> it seems to be true the colleague who was in the cockpit, the co-pilot, did not give the captain access. >> a flight tracking website tells cnn they have analyzed data from flight 9525's transponder and have determined someone reprogrammed the autopilot from 38,000 feet to just 100 feet. >> what it did was tell the autopilot i want to start down. my understanding was that 100 feet was set, which pretty much would indicate his intentions because 100 feet is below the level of the terrain. >> the cockpit voice recorder revealed the co-pilot was alive up until impact.

but he ignored calls from air traffic control. >> apparently he was breathing normally. he didn't say a word from the moment that the captain left the cockpit. >> investigators say they heard the captain banging on the cockpit door trying to get in. the door locks once someone leaves. a pilot can ring to re-enter and the pilot inside the cockpit can press a button to open the door. if that doesn't happen a code can be punched in on a keypad outside the door. but the pilot in the cockpit can override that by flipping a switch to deep the door shut. there are no rules that prevent a pilot from being in the cockpit alone in europe. >> the procedure in the u.s. is to always have at least two people in the cockpit. i never once conceived that this would be utilized for protecting passengers and crew members from another crew member.

>> perhaps most chilling in the final seconds before slamming into a 6,000 foot mountain passengers' screams are heard. the co-pilot in the cockpit remained silent. i spoke with a pilot who tells me that 100 feet is the lowest altitude setting on autopilot that it can be set for on this particular aircraft. today a number of airlines have since changed cockpit rules require more than one person in the cockpit at times. we're talking about norwegian, easy jet as well as air canada. and we expect others to follow. >> thank you. france has asked the fbi to help investigate the co-pilot and his possible motive. pamela brown has more and what we are learning about his background. what's the latest over there? >> reporter: i can tell you, french and german investigators will be looking through the items, personal belongings of

andreas lubitz. we know they retrieved items from his apartment. what we do know about him so far is only adding to the mystery. friends of the co-pilot say they have no explanation as to why he would have done the unthinkable. tonight, investigators remove boxes from 28-year-old german nativeytive lubitz's apartment. the ceo of lufthansa says he was an experienced pilot with more than 600 hours of flight experience a good record. >> translator: he was 100% fit to fly without restrictions. his flight performance was perfect. there was nothing to worry about. >> reporter: he passed his initial medical screening. the airline does not do ongoing psychological testing, leaving open the possibility something could have changed after he began his job at germanwings in

2013. the ceo raised questions when he said at one point interrupted his training for several months in 2008. he wouldn't explain why but said lubitz eventually completed his training. >> translator: they went to the aviation school in phoenix, arizona. ny underwent training there. there was an interruption with regard to the training. after, then the candidate managed to go through. he continued his training. >> reporter: a pilot who was a flight club member says he never showed any signs anything was wrong. >> as far as i'm concerned, i can only say he was a very normal young man, a very normal pilot. nothing out of the ordinary nothing at all. no accidents that i'm aware of. >> reporter: another flight club member said lubitz enjoyed his training. >> translator: he was a lot of fun. he was perhaps a bit quiet. he was just another boy like so many others here. he was well integrated and i think he had a lot of fun here. >> reporter: why he would

deliberately steer flight 9525 for nearly ten minutes into the french alps remains a mystery. >> translator: i can't understand it. we will have to wait and see for the investigation to continue. >> reporter: at this hour we know the fbi is in the support role. french and german investigators are leading the investigation. they will scrutinize his financial records, his relationships, his medical history and any political views he may have had trying to figure out what happened here. >> they have to figure out and learn the lessons of what happened. thanks very much pamela. a top airline executive is telling cnn what he knows about the co-pilot and his mental state. let's go to fred pleitgen. >> reporter: carsten spohr said to his knowledge there was nothing that would have

indicated that lubitz was mentally instable he had any sort of issues. apparently also there's a system in place at lufthansa where people are meant to notify the airline in case they see something that might be wrong with a pilot or with a cabin crew member. in this case apparently no one that he had worked with had ever raised any issues. let's listen to some of the other things that the ceo of lufthansa had to say who was really very shocked by what was going on. >> something of this kind would ever happen to us is uncomprehendible. and i think we just need to understand this a single case which every safety system in the world cannot completely rule out. that's what we take as an explanation if you want to call it that. >> could there have been indications that this person might have been mentally unstable? >> no. the pilot has passed all his tests, all his medical exams.

we have at lufthansa a reporting system where crew can report without being punished their own problems or they can report problems of others without any kind of punishment. that hasn't been used in this case. all the safety nets we are so proud of here have not worked in this case. >> reporter: wolf lufthansa said that those checks that they have they have been in place for decades. he said that the lufthansa has been doing very well with them. he also said that of course, in light of what happened here they would re-evaluate and see if they would do more psychological testing to see whether or not their pilots are fit to fly. >> i think all airlines should probably be doing that. tonight we know the identity of the third american on board flight 9525. robert calvo. he worked for a clothing company in spain.

crash victims were remembered today at a german school that lost 16 students and two teachers. more than 100 family members gathered near the crash site as the revelations about the co-pilot's actions were revealed to the world. nic robertson is joining us. he is near the wreckage. how did it go over there? >> reporter: wolf it was very somber and very solemn. seven coaches brought their 100-plus family members to the site that the french authorities said was the closest that they could get them to the crash site. the helicopters working on the recovery were flying overhead while they were gathered in the field. the field had been readied for the arrival of the families. flags representing the nations of the victims of the crash were hung. there was a wreath of flowers brought in. also there was a memorial plaque placed in the site on the memorial plaque with the names

we were told of everyone aboard the aircraft. we were able to see from a distance all the family members going individually or in small groups towards that plaque to have a look perhaps read the name of their loved one that was missing. a very tough time for the families to come to get a sense of how the recovery effort is going. also for them a stark reminder in the mountains there of how steep and how tough it is for the recovery operation. the family members were taken to a local church for a church service as well. the local people here offering homes for many of the family members to stay in. as we understand most of them have returned with the help of lufthansa and french authorities back to their homes in germany and spain, wolf. >> a sad story. thanks very much nic robertson in the french alps near the crash site for us. joining us is the former

head of the tsa. he helped lead the investigation into the egypt air flight flight 990 crash that was also believed to have been deliberate a deliberate act by pilot. thanks for joining us. when you were at the fbi before you went to the tsa, you oversaw the investigation of the egypt air flight 990 crash. remind us what happened in that instance. >> wolf, awes many of your viewers recall egypt air 990 took off from jfk to cairo. after takeoff and rising to cruising altitude the pilot, similar to this situation, got up to go to the lavatory and then the co-pilot locked the door and then put the plane into a steeper dive. the pilot actually realized what was going on came out and was able to get back in the cockpit, because we didn't have the reinforced doors back then

pre9/11. actually fought with the co-pilot to try to right the aircraft and was pulling on the yoke and was telling the co-pilot pull with me pull with me. and then the co-pilot was able to switch the engines off so the plane actually came up several thousand feet and then the engines went off and then the plane plummeted. by that time it was around 16,000 feet when the engines were shut off and plummeted into the ocean off the coast of rhode island killing all 230-plus souls on board. >> at that time you concluded that that co-pilot who was -- tried to bring the plane down he deliberately wanted to crash that plane into the water, kill everyone. did you ever figure out why? >> there's a lot of speculation about that wolf. at the time we did not conclude that. the fbi, of course joint terrorism task force, had the lead on that aspect of the

investigation. but it was ntsb it was with the navy salvage operations to bring up the remains of the aircraft and the human remains to try to find any physical evidence that would katie the aircraft went down after the black boxes were recovered and much better insight. but it was several months later before there was some additional information that came through some other agencies that led the law enforcement intelligence communities to conclude that the co-pilot had put the plane down in a suicide operation possibly to kill a number of egyptian military officers on board. there were 31 or so egyptian military officers. the question was, why would he want to do that? that was an open question that was never resolved. >> i remember that very very vividly. there are differences between that egypt air crash and what

has happened now with this crash. but there are a lot of similarities, aren't there? >> it's similar in the respect of the pilot stepping out, the co-pilot in this instance being able to successfully lock the pilot out. but it really gets to what some of your previous guests have been talking about in terms of the motive of why would this fairly young co-pilot want to do that. and so there's all types of steps that the french and german authorities along with the u.s. intelligence and law enforcement and homeland security is working on to try to help flush out that information about what motivated this person. was it something that he was mentally ill? the ceo of lufthansa indicates everything appeared to be fine. co-workers say the same thing. the question is at what point did he form the intent to commit this act? one of the things they have to look at in addition to all the

physical searches of his media, of his apartment, all those things is did he try to gain employment with germanwings to do something and was waiting either for a signal from a terrorist group or something else or was it something that was simply triggered by something that happened recently? was there somebody on the plane that he had an h an argument with? was there a jilted girlfriend? was he jilted? a number of things. they need to look at the passenger manifest to see if there's any connections that might help identify what that motive may be. >> should there be a rule worldwide, the entire aviation industry a rule requiring that there always be at least two crew members insuedide a cockpit? somebody else should go in a flight attendant, so there's never a case where there's one person in the cockpit? >> yeah. of course that's what we do

here in the u.s. there is the international civil aviation organization published recommended eded practices that cover that. but it is a recommended practice. it's not a required practice. between faa and tsa, we actually have it as a recommended eded practice but the u.s. carriers and those coming into the u.s. follow that procedure that if a flight crew member comes out, another one has to be in there primarily from a medical emergency perspective but obviously this is also of concern now. >> if somebody has a heart attack or stroke you want somebody else in the cockpit. stand by. we have a lot more to discuss. new information coming into "the situation room" right now. much more right after this. you can't predict the market. but at t. rowe price we've helped guide our clients through good times and bad.

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the crash of flight 9525, it was a deliberate act by the co-pilot. is there any other explanation you can think of besides a deliberate desire by that co-pilot to take down that plane, kill all those people on board, that would result in the pilot getting locked out of the cockpit, the plane descending until it crashed into the alps? >> there doesn't seem like there's any other explanation. the first thing that most people in the business would ask is what's the terrorist intent to do harm to western or

particularly american aviation going back to 9/11. and in december of '01 with the shoe bomb and then going up to the christmas day bomber from christmas day 2009 and then the cargo plot out of yemen in october 2010 another unsuccessful plot from the spring of 2012. there's clearly intent by -- whether aqap that's had this goal for years now isis isil maybe not so much other affiliate groups maybe not so much. that's the first question is there any indication through all the examination of information that's being done that would link this co-pilot to a terrorist plot. if not, then you have to just do that scrub of the individual in such a detailed way that it gives you some confidence that you will be able to determine

what his motive was. >> at this point the experts haven't seen any next usus to terrorism. thanks for joining us. let's bring in richard quest, peter goelz, tom fuentes, david soucie. jeffrey thomas the editor and chief and managing director of airlineratingings.com is joining us as well. the u.s. has a two-person rule in the cockpit when one pilot goes for example, wants to go to the bathroom a flight attendant goes in so there's not just one person there. is it possible to require that across the aviation -- the entire worldwide aviation industry? >> look absolutely. i think that the rest of the aviation community across the globe is going to follow the u.s. example on this and certainly this germanwings

disaster has shaken the industry. and i think every authority across the world will be taking a good hard look at their procedures. because the public confidence has to be -- the public has to be assured that the pilots are flying the plane, there's two people there so something like this can't happen again. >> peter, explain how it's possible that this particular case a co-pilot can lock the pilot out of the cockpit. >> well inside the cockpit there's a three position button. in the up position the cockpit door is open. middle position it's normal. it means somebody from outside the cockpit can enter through the use of a keypad and the approval of the -- of someone in the cockpit. in the lock position it's impregnable for a minimum of five minutes. >> this is a result of 9/11 when the hijackers got into the cockpit and crashed the planes as we remember. >> absolutely. we reviewed it.

people dug into this. what was the best procedure? it will be reviewed now. >> richard quest, the investigators say from the cockpit voice recorder that they did find this guy lubitz's breathing sounded normal. can they conclude with 100% certainty that the audio quality good enough to make a conclusion like that? >> once it's enhanced -- maybe not from an initial hearing. i was surprised when the prosecutor said that. he had only had the tape for about less than 12 hours. once it has been enhanced and they are able to listen to all the tracks then yes, absolutely they will be able to say that the breathing was regular, the breathing was normal. what is interesting is that -- i think it was tom fuentes who said this that in many cases where people are about to do -- commit heinous acts -- i think

i'm taking your lines. where people are about to commit heinous acts they do exhibit a certain calmness a certain peace which seems inexplicable to the rest of us. when i heard the prosecutor speak this morning, what i interpreted was he wasn't having -- the co-pilot wasn't having a heart attack wasn't having a stroke involved. one can only imagine and speculate what he must have been thinking and doing, because he was the man, according to the prosecutor who turned the autopilot and set the deadly course of the aircraft. >> david, do the flight attendants normally have the training that would be necessary to override a controlled descend if the pilot or co-pilot starts to take that plane down? >> you know i don't think they are. we talk about this two-person rule as being something that may

have prevented this. there's no promise it would. it would decrease the probability, i suppose as to whether it could happen or not. i think this is the part of the safety management system that we need to look closely at. before you implement a safety fix, you have to make sure it's the right one that's going to mitigate the problem at hand. i'm not convinced that that is nor am i convinced aviation psychology exams on pilots is going to prevent this from happening either. there needs to be some very very close look at what it is that actually happened here. once we know that then you come up with a strategy to make sure it doesn't happen again. as the ceo said although their safety net systems failed they have gone for a long time without any failures of this kind. there's a lot to look at here. that's what the safety management system at all airlines have is for. you can bet that's what they will use over the next two years or so before they come up weapon a final fix for this. >> tom fuentes, the

called in to investigate to learn about the co-pilot. what is the fbi doing? >> they will assist the german and french authorities to determine what was this co-pilot thinking what was the motivation? is he tied to an extremist group or not? did he exhibit suicidal tendencies or mental distress of some kind, financial problems marital problems whatever? they will look at his head basically. >> the fbi will have a major role in all of this. i want everybody to stand by. we will have much more on the breaking news. the coverage we're following of the crash of flight 9525. we will dig deeper on past incidents where a pilot was accused of downing a passenger plane deliberately. what more could be done to make sure this never happens again? stay with us. it's happening. today, more and more people with type 2 diabetes are learning about long-acting levemir® an injectable insulin that can give you blood sugar control for up to 24 hours.

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back with breaking news. german police have been searching the home of the co-pilot who is being blamed for deliberately crashing flight 9525 into the french alps. tom foreman is joining us with more on what he has learned. >> this crash is sadly far from the only case in which a pilot apparently intentionally crashed a plane and killed everyone on board. in truth, it takes very little effort to come up with a half dozen similar cases from the past two decades.

egypt air 990 takes off from new york to cairo, climbing for 20 minutes. the captain goes to the rest room and that's when investigators believe the co-pilot dives the plane. plunging almost 15,000 feet in a half minute. the captain rushes back, fights to save it. but all people die on impact. that was halloween 1999. the similarities to the crash in the french alps are eerie. >> translator: nobody can imagine this. >> it happens. another flight went into a river in 1997 killing 104 people. indonesian authorities could not determine the cause. american investigators said the captain did it on purpose. why does this happen? >> we really do not know very much. >> reporter: a clinical psychologist notes that while many suicides occur privately,

sometimes there's an element of rage against the world perceived insults and injustices making suicidal pilots like school shooters. >> they think, this is my time. i can go out and now you are going to actually talk about me. that's the mentality of you see what you did to me because i'm paying it back. >> reporter: on it goes. in morocco, 44 people died when authorities say a pilot smashed his plane into a mountain in 1994. in 2013 authorities say a pilot locked his partner out of the cockpit and purposely crashed killing 33. even in the current case of the missing malaysian jet, one hypothesis is that one of the pilots took the plane to its doom. such incidents are rare. but no one has figured out how to stop them. one of the problems may be

according to psychologists, that pilots are educated enough and piely ly highly functioning enough that they know how to hide mental health issues before they surface on top of which many times they want to protect their jobs and careers. they may not seek help even if they realize something is going wrong. we don't have all the details here. we know those are some of the concerns when these accidents occur. >> something went terribly wrong in these cases. tom, thanks very much. let's get back to our aviation experts. richard quest, if the co-pilot was trying to commit suicide, why would he do this in what's described as this controlled autopilot autopilot dissent? why wouldn't he put the nose down and dive? >> i wish i had an answer. i've been asking meselfyself that question. you can say that would have been the quickest way to have put the nose down. we don't know.

this raises the whole issue of what you know in the cockpit, when you know it whether there should be cameras streaming in real time wolf. because even though the result would have been the same we would have seen what was happening and it raises this question of psychological telling that tom foreman was talking about. this particular crash, this incident has gone to the core the heart, if you will of so many very touchy subjects in aviation. whether it's pilots who have resented certain things whether airlines who have not wanted to do things for particular cost reasons. many -- i'm mixing met fors s inging metaphors here. many chickens have come home to roost with this particular incident. >> the way this plane crashed, it was obliterated. are they going to try to recreate that plane as they have done in other crash incidents? >> probably only to a very limited extent.

they will try and mark off where the nose of the plane is where the tail where the two wings are, the four corners. if they -- when they recover the data recorder and they match that up with the voice recorder there will be no real reason to reconstruct much of it. they will take a look see if they can find the cockpit door. other than that i don't think much is to be gained from reconstruction. >> david soucie they did find the cockpit voice recorders. they still haven't found the flight data recorder. that's still missing. how important is it right now based on what we know? >> well it would be important if we could tell if that lock switch on the door had been moved to the position. in this case because this was a retrofit on the aircraft i doubt that's in the flight data recorder. in future aircraft i'm sure they have put that in there. that won't help us much at all at this point. >> are you surprised, tom

fuentes, that the former tsa director, he is speculating about terrorism? >> what happens is if you are an engineer you look for an engineering problem. if you are in law enforcement like john and myself you think a human is behind this a criminal act, an abtct of suicide. your background and experience from prior crashes does point you in a certain direction. in this case we have the airline basically saying that they believe the co-pilot did it on purpose. >> should there be psychological profiles routinely, peter, for the pilots every six months or so just to make sure there's not a problem? >> i think that's going to be the major take away from this tragedy, that the whole medical and psychological process of evaluateing pilots has to be looked at. it has to be strengthened. we have to think of really creative ways to accurately assess psychological conditions

without ruining a guy's career. there's a great reluctance on the part of pilots and understandably that if they reveal certain things they will get tagged within the company and their careers are going to be damaged. >> what do you think about that richard quest? >> i think peter put his finger on it. i'm not a huge fan of the idea of psychological testing regularly. what you will end up with is a vast infrastructure of retribution. you will end up with careers being destroyed. as many will point out the history of success of psychological testing is not that great to start with. there does need to be a strengthened enhanced reporting and for others to report that allows the issue to be dealt with without being done in any way that can harm somebody's career long-term. >> i want all of you to continue

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we're back with breaking news. a creme nal a criminal investigation into the co-pilot of flight 9525 who is being blamed for intentionally crashing the plane into the alps. four british citizens were among the 150 people on board. joining us is the british foreign secretary, phillip

hammond, visiting -- three or four? >> three. >> three british subjects. we're told -- show their pictures. maria traveling with her child, among others. it's an awful situation. what needs to be done to protect people, let's say a pilot or co-pilot goes crazy and decides he wants to kill himself and bring that plane down? >> let's not get ahead of ourselves. this is a line running. we have to get all the information. we have to understand exactly what did happen and if there are lessons that need to be learned from that then we have to learn them. we need to implement solutions fast. let's get the full picture before we jump to conclusions. >> if in fact this co-pilot decided he was going to kill everybody, should there be for example, international guidelines requiring all airlines around the world to mandate, for example, that there must be two people in the cockpit at any one time or there must be regular psychological evaluations of pilots?

a worldwide agreement on that. >> well there are worldwide aviation organizations and practice guidance across the world. i think we need to understand exactly what has happened. clearly, if there's a problem here everybody will want to fix it and fix it fast. >> saudi arabia, organizeing ororganizeing a coalition. going after the iranian backed houthi rebels. you with the saudis on this? >> yes. i was in saudi arabia on monday. we have given them an assurance we will provide political backing to the action that they are taking. the legitimate government of yemen is represented by the president. the houthi attack is an insurgency that has to be pushed back. >> the notion of the iranian involvement seems to be so concerning to the saudis the saudi ambassador to the united states he was here an hour or so ago. they are concerned that iran is

spreading its influence not only in yemen but in iraq and syria and lebanon, maybe libya, elsewhere. >> that's exact willyly the picture they see. they see iranian influence, to the north in iraq and to the south in yemen. they are concerned about the impact. of course they have more than a million yemen in saudi arabia. that's a source of concern. >> a war is about to take place over there. you are heading from washington to go to switzerland to meet with the secretary of state john kerry. is there going to be a deal with the iranians on this nuclear program? >> we hope so. we have made good progress over the last couple of weeks. i met with secretary kerry last saturday in london and i will go back this weekend. there are still going to need to be some big decisions that the iranians have to take to move towards this. >> like what? >> i'm not going to go into the specific areas where we still

have significant gaps. we have made lots of progress. in the iranians are prepared to make that leap to immediate our red lines, we can get a deal done. it's in everybody's interest to do this deal. >> is there any connection to what the iranians need to do to for example stop promoting terrorism or issues like that? is that part of the nuclear deal? >> we have kept their use of nuclear power is purely peaceful. that's separate. if we get a deal it will not stop us addressing iran's bad behavior around the gulf region. >> you're aligned with the obama administration on this issue? >> we're working closely with the u.s. administration and german and french colleagues and

the russians and chinese. we've got to be clear about this. we're not under any delusion that doing a nuclear deal with stop the iranians from interfering, meddling from other countries around the region. we'll keep the pressure. >> tell us about jihadi john. have you confirmed that jihadi john is muhammad emwazi? >> we have an investigation to hostages in syria, i can't comment any further on speculation about this jihadi john. >> everybody believes this is the guy who beheaded all those hostages including several americans. >> it's an ongoing police investigation. i can't confirm or deny that. >> can you tell us whether or not you're anxious to find this guy? >> absolutely. this is a murder investigation. the police are clearly looking for the murder.

>> the u.s. in a situation like this when they go after someone of his nature they don't necessarily need to find him, they just want to kill them. is that the british position as well? >> we work closely with the u.s. in iraq and syria. we're working with u.s. authorities to track down the murders of british and american and japanese hostages in syria. we'll bring them to justice. >> we'll seek to bring them to justice. >> thanks so much. appreciate it. good luck. >> we're back in a moment with the more on the deliberate plane crash.

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tonight criminal investigation is just beginning into the motives of a co-pilot who is being officially blamed for crashing a german airlining into the french alps killing himself and 149 other people on board. we're back with our aviation analyst and law enforcement analyst. you know it's already creating some momentum the speculation intensifying that mh-flight 370

which disappeared that maybe similar situation, pilot or co-pilot may have wanted to bring that plane down. you've heard of this revived speculation. >> absolutely. it's human nature. this is the only explanation that works on mh-370. we don't have the evidence. tom can verify that. the fbi has worked with the folks in indonesia, they've got nothing. >> if they ever find the two black boxes, they may have a better understanding what happened to that plane. >> they may. we'll have to see if that ever happens. in this particular case, it could happen they don't find a motive with the analysis on the co-pilot. they don't see anything wrong with him or any motive that comes up. >> you go into a 7-eleven there's camera there. they can record anything on but you go into a plane there's fo video recording and potentially could be streaming live back some place on the ground so we know what's going on.

why don't we have that? >> that's the most disappointing part of this whole past year of a number of aviation tragedies is just the slowness ico to act. they don't need to have a working group. passengers of the world's airways want is concrete steps so these questions are answered in a more timely manner. >> the technology is there to stream what's going on in the black boxes live to some reporting place on the ground as well. >> everybody wants cameras on police officers and i don't know of a case where police officers killed 149 people at one time. here is case that pilots have hundreds of people under their control, in their care. >> they got to do this. the technology is there. it's a little expensive. it's really important. we're going to stay on top of this story. thanks very much for joining us. you can follow us on twitter.

go ahead and tweet me wolf blitzer. join us tomorrow. you can watch us live or dvr the show. erin burnett outfront starts right now. tonight, breaking news. we're now learning that the co-pilot who took down flight 9525 reset the autopilot from 28,000 feet to 100 feet while in flight setting the plane on a kurs for course for disaster. they are scouring the co high -pilots home for evidence. how did he manage to keep the pilot locked ourt eded out of the cockpit? we'll show you what he had to do inside the cockpit. let's go outfront.