Transcripts For KGO This Week With George Stephanopoulos 201

KGO This Week With George Stephanopoulos March 30, 2014

Lots of ground to cover this sunday morning. Lets get right to the latest on the search for flight 370. With the clock ticking down on the black box batteries, more ships and planes have joined the massive effort to identify debris. Abcs david wright is embedded in the search. Good morning, david. Reporter good morning. From the deck of the ocean shield, an australian vessel built to handle the roughest seas. Subantarctic conditions. This ship is now getting set to ship out into the search area. Itll take three to four days just to reach the search area. Hopefully by then, search teams will have found the debris field from flight 370. Ten planes out looking. Several reporting they have spotted objects in the water. But until surface vessels are able to retrieve them, we wont know if theyre from the missing plane. The ocean shield will be searching under the water, towing a u. S. Navy pinger locatering like this season. Listening for the beacons on the black boxes. How big a noise does this thing make . You can see the size, in the water, you cant hear it. Reporter and a u. S. Navy submersible robot to map underwater wreckage and plan how best to salvage it. How long a journey are you preparing for . Were preparing for anywhere up to 45 days. And in a sign that malaysia is no longer calling all the shots, a retired member of australias equivalent of the joint chiefs of staff took command of the task force searching these waters. Time is of the essence now. Not least because the batteries on those black box recorders are running out. For this week, david wright, on board the ocean shield, garden island, australia. And Steve Ganyard joins us. Steve we just heard from david wright. The clock is ticking. And the batteries could run out by next week. This is make or break time. It sure is. If you remember in the past couple weeks down here in the lower search areas, we have been chasing ghosts on satellite images. But in the past couple days, an International Body of aviation experts looked at the data and said we think the best place to look is up here in the new search area. Its some 700 miles to the northeast of the old search area. The good news is these waters arent as rough, the currents arent nearly as difficult and some of the water is shallower. Its the size of the country of poland. And really were back to square one on the search area. And if the black boxes go silent, we may never know what happened. Exactly. And as david wright just said, coming off of a ship having to transit out here. It will take three or four dice get out there. And when they do their operations, they will work only as fast as a person can walk. Think about that. Searching poland at a walking pace. We have three to four days before the pinger runs out, time is of the essence. What a job. Thanks very much. And the crisis over ukraine. Overnight, crimea moved clocks forward two hours to be on moscow time. And with Russian Troops continuing to mass on the ukraine border, secretary of state john kerry will have last ditch di diplomacy in paris with the Russian Foreign minister. And terry moran is there. Good morning. Reporter the very fact that secretary of state kerry has flown here for the talks is a good sign. That is because there is so much tension right now, and so much uncertainty on both sides about what the other side might do. And ukraine remains on a hair trigger. This is the flash point of the world right now. Russian tanks and troops pouring up to the tense border between russia and ukraine. Routine military exercises . Thats what russia claims. But at the pentagon, deep skepticism. We dont have a full knowledge of their intent. But regardless, it does nothing to deescalate the intention. Reporter now there are up to 40 to 50,000 Russian Troops along ukraines eastern borders. What does putin want . Across the lands of the former soviet union, there are millions of ethnic russians, just like in crimea. Putin claims the right to defend all of them, whatever that means. President obama, in response, is rallying european allies and warning of the dangers of the new putin doctrine. In the 21st century, the borders of europe cannot be redrawn with force. Reporter fine words, but his real options are limited. The white house has ruled out a military response, and some european leaders are deeply reluctant to impose tough sanctions on russia that might derail their own fragile economies. So mr. Obama has tried another tack, belittling russia all together. Russia is a Regional Power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors. Not out of strength, but out of weakness. Reporter after crimea, some analysts say, that sounds unconvincing. The impression is putin has flipped the bird to the entire world, and what can the u. S. Do about it . If he were to take Eastern Ukraine and southern ukraine, the u. S. Wouldnt be able to do anything about that. Is that a position of weakness . Reporter with the talks in paris, russia is demanding that ukraine change its form of government, its constitution to give more autonomy to prorussian areas. And promise to be nonaligned rather than join europe. The United States is insisting that only the ukrainian people can decide that. And sergei is joining us now. Thank you, mr. Ambassador. The United States is making it clear that any diplomatic solution must include a pullback of Russian Troops from crimea. Is russia prepared to meet that position . First of all, thank you for having me. Secondly, what kind of pullback from crimea are you talking about . We are now in the territory of the Russian Federation. There are a lot of things that have happened. And one has to be very realistic about it. There was an expressed will of People Living in crimea to become a part of the Russian Federation at the moment when there was an unconstitutional takeover of power with the use of force in kiev. And they felt that this is the moment that this is threatening the way the life they wanted to conduct. So crimea is part of the Russian Federation, and how about Eastern Ukraine, sir . Can you state unequivocally that Russian Troops will not push into Eastern Ukraine . Well, we have said so many times that we have no intent, no interest in crossing the border. But does that mean you wont do it . We are not planning to. We have our forces conducting the exercises in the territory of Russian Federation. I would like to remind you. In the territory of the Russian Federation. That is normal exercise we are conducting. Moreover, we have offered transparency over the issue. And there were a number of overflies, including by our ukrainian neighbors and friends just for them to see there was nothing that was happening that would be threatening to their interest. You heard president obama label russia as a Regional Power acting out of weakness. Your response . If you consider russia a Regional Power, look at the region we are in. Its from europe to asia. Its a significant region in the first place. Secondly, i think those categorizations are artificial. We are a country with a lot of interest and things we can contribute throughout the world. But we certainly are not going to overstretch anyway. Will there be a diplomatic solution to the crisis . I hope so. And it is something we have been trying to work on for quite a long period of time. We have developed our own ideas. We understand what can be of help to the ukrainian people. Because the biggest problem, and you need to remember this, is not between the ukraine and russia, it is between ukrainian temporary government and the rest of the country. Its a country that certainly needs a revision of the constitution that would include a mechanism where the regions would be heard. And their views would be taken on board. And it is something that is important. And if the International Community can help the ukrainians to do this process, that would be helpful. Mr. Ambassador, thanks for your time this morning. Thank you very much. Now to Chris Christie, back in the news and back on offense an internal review cleared him of any wrong doing in the bridgegate scandal. The head of the investigations and the one in the legislature are here live. First the back story from jim avila. Stop. Chris christie got his mojo back. Can you get to it already . Reporter it took three months and there are 3 million for a handpicked law firm to find it. Clearing him of responsibility for the bridgegate scandal. It had knocked some of the swagger from the governor. Look at his face 76 days ago when the chief of staffs email humiliated the frontrunning president ial candidate. And look at him now, when asked why he was kept in the dark by staff. Thats not a revolving door where anybody can walk in any time and have at me willynilly. Im the governor of new jersey. Reporter he may be feeling good about the investigation he can control. But the next two he cannot, including one underway at the state house in new jersey, and the next critical one, the u. S. Attorneys probe. The federal investigation could take two years to complete. But with the endorsement of his own lawyers, governor christie began a media blitz this week that began with an exclusive abc news interview with diane sawyer. Report said i had no knowledge of it before it happened, nor did i authorize it or have anything to do with it. Ask thats the truth. Reporter the report and the governor blame that fired deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, who released a statement calling the report venomous and offered to cooperate with the federal investigation if granted immuny. For this week, jim avila, trenton, new jersey. And we are joined by the new Jersey Assembly man, john wisniewski. Thank you for coming in this morning. You have joined the critics, calling it a whitewash. But has your own investigation turned up any evidence showing that governor christie knew about the slowdown or authorized it . We havent had a chance to talk to some of the key players as this report hasnt either. Bridget kelly who sent the email that said time for traffic in fort lee. We dont know why or who authorized her. Its hard to believe, understanding how this Governors Office works, that she woke up and decided it would be a great idea to find traffic. You have not found any evidence yet. We have not and are not finished. Youre not finished. Any reason to believe that Bridget Kelly is going to talk . Shes made it clear through her lawyer shes only willing to go forward and speak to Law Enforcement authorities if she gets immunity. Waiting for the decision on the documents. She is a state employee. We believe we will have an opportunity to look at the documents. We believe they will speak volumes to move the investigation forward. But its too early to conclude the governor had nothing to do with this. Far too early. You had the same documents from mr. Wildstein thats gone to the committee again. Theres nothing to show he had anything to do with it. Theres the email to the governor where he marks up an exit statement for a man the governor said he barely new. That was weeks later. Is he so involved in crafting an exit statement for David Wildstein, yet had no knowledge. Its far too early to draw conclusions about who knew what in this investigation. But no key testimony, why not leave it to the u. S. Attorney . We dont know what were going to get. We are waiting for judge jacobsens decision. We ought to wait for that decision. We ought to look at the documents. Were still going through thousands of pages of documents. This report draws a lot of conclusions and speculation. Theres no foot notes to testimony that was taken or interviews that were taken. This report really rushes a judgment thats too early to make. Okay. Mr. Assemblyman, thanks so much for joining us. Randy master joins us now. You heard mr. Wisnieski said its a rush to judgment. We looked at 2,000 pages of documents and interviewed 70 witnesses, and as he admitted, we havent seen a shred of evidence that the governor knew anything about this lane realignment decision beforehand. If it were there in the hard evidence, we would have seen it. They have the documents responsive to our subpoena relating to the George Washington bridge incident. They have the same information we have. And he and his committee have been at this for five months. How do you respond to the charge of conflict of interest. Your own law firm was also working for the port authority. Is that a conflict of interest on its face . No, it isnt. The representation of the port authority, which has been cleared by the port authority, was something where both Governors Offices agreed that my firm should represent the port authority. We had access to their documents as well. Let me be clear. We have no incentive at our law firm to do anything other than get to the truth. We will be judged at the end of the day by whether we got it right, and, george, we believe we got it right. We had to work harder to get it right. So much hinges on Bridget Kelly. And her lawyers had a harsh statement on the report. Heres what it says. It says this report is venomous, gratuitous and inappropriate sectionist remarks concerning ms. Kelly have no place in an independent professional report. The only credible investigation is being conducted by the u. S. Attorneys office. If provided with the procedural safeguards, she will be fully cooperative. Shes not alone. Her personal life, describing her as emotional was sexist and gratuitous. Your response . Im glad you asked. We treated both David Wildstein and Bridget Kelly the same. They deserved the assessment that we gave both of them about their personal conduct and about their actions. Exactly the same way because they violated the public trust. And thats what the evidence showed, george. All of it relevant to not only their consciousness and guilt, but their culpability. And in Bridget Kellys case, if i say may say, Bridget Kelly not only sent the yeem, the ulterior motive. What is that motive . Im glad you asked that. We say what we know and dont know. We cant establish the motive because we didnt have the chance to question kelly and wildstein. But it was obvious to target the mayor of fort lee because of their exchanges. Bridget kelly not only sent the email that said time for some traffic problems in fort lee, she then, after the fact, when the governor sent his chief of staff to find out whether she knew about this beforehand, she called a subordinate that night and asked her to destroy incriminating evidence. She is at the heart of the problem, and so is David Wildstein, and treated like they should have been. They abused the public trust. They should be held accountable. Are you confident your report will not be contradicted by the u. S. Attorney . We are. We had no incentive to do anything other than get to the truth. For the skeptics, some have a visceral reaction to the bridge controversy. Reminds me of the movie line, they cant handle the truth. We believe we got to the truth, george. We will find out. Thank you very much. And coming up in two minutes, star wars, the new unexpected frontier in american manufacturing. David muir tracking whats made in america. But can those jobs secure our countrys Economic Future . Our experts weigh in on that. And Keith Olbermann breaks down baseballs new season in our sunday spotlight. Tlight. Really . So our business can be on at ts network for 175 a month . Yup. All 5 of you for 175. Our clients need a lot of attention. Theres unlimited talk and text. Were working deals all day. You get 10 gigabytes of data to share. What about expansion potential . Add a line, anytime, for 15 a month. Low dues, great terms. Lets close new at t mobile share value plans our best value plans ever for business. Spartanberg, south carolina, got a big boost when bmw announced a 1 billion investment adding 800 new jobs. Another victory for made in america. How much can we count on manufacturing to fuel our Economic Future . Our experts analyze that question after this report from world news weekend an consider, david muir. Reporter we first began asking the question three years ago. Does anyone check the labels anymore . Made in china. I know, i know, i know. Reporter that eyeopening number after world war ii, the 50s and 60s, fewer than one in ten products bought in this country were made outside the u. S. Today more than 50 of what we buy is made elsewhere. Three years later, and the headlines that some manufacturing is coming back. Even the president with his made in america message in the state of the union. We also have the chance, right now, to beat other countries in the race for the next wave of hightech manufacturing jobs. New goods stamped made in the usa. Reporter but this morning, a reality check. Are manufacturing jobs coming back . We were the first taken inside this factory, making computers in america again. These are desk tops. The computer maker, lenovo. Now with a factory near raleigh. So youre making computers. Yes. Reporter that had been made in china, now being made here . Yes. Reporter did you think youd see the day . No. Reporter and curtis richardson, his job was outsourced. Now quality control, making sure theres sound coming from the computer. Music to your years. Music to my ears. Reporter why bring jobs back . Lenovo telling us what many are saying. Once you factor in growing wages in china and fuel costs to ship, it now makes economic sense to bring manufacturing back. A lot of people argue that the jobs lost in the 80s and 90s will never come back. Different jobs, more highly skilled. Reporter some of those jobs bei

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