American Morning
Is recovering Flight 447 possible?
Today, an armada of ships is converging on an area about 400 miles northeast of the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha. Some are carrying submersibles that can work miles underwater, all to start piecing together the disaster of Air France Flight 447, which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean.
One expert said it could be the hardest recovery since the search to find the Titanic, which took decades. Underwater recovery expert John Perry Fish spoke to John Roberts on CNN’s “American Morning” Wednesday.
John Roberts: What will searchers be looking for at this point in their operation? And what kind of topography of the ocean floor are they going to be searching in?
John Perry Fish: The searchers are going to be looking for a very important piece of equipment called a digital flight data recorder… These record many, many parameters of the flight, the aircraft, its attitude, even the amount of force that one of the pilots might put on a pedal. And it’s very important to find these in order to find out what happened to the flight. Attached to each of these data recorders is what we call a “pinger.”
It puts out an acoustic pulse once a second for 30 days as soon as it's submerged in the water and these contacts are joined by electrical forces. So it's important to find these. And they'll be looking for these in an area that's fairly deep, as deep as a couple of miles and also part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is a mountainous area that runs all the way from Iceland down into the South Atlantic.
U.S. patients try stem cell therapies abroad
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/03/art_stem_family.jpg caption="Sierra Journey Factor, 8, has a muscular disease that her mom, Shaylene Akery, hopes can be treated in China."]
By Drew Griffin and David Fitzpatrick
CNN Special Investigations Unit
TITUSVILLE, Florida (CNN) - It's shortly after 5 a.m. when the phone rings, and on the line is a clearly anxious and worried parent.
"Sierra is having a lot of problems tonight," Shaylene Akery tells a CNN producer. "We have to take her to the hospital, but we still want to talk to you about her trip to China."
Her daughter, Sierra Journey Factor, is 8 years old and has a terminal disease called Type 2 spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disorder that affects parts of the nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. In addition, she has a restrictive lung disease and a kidney disorder. She has used a wheelchair since infancy.
Sierra's mother, her stepfather and her biological father, A.J. Factor, all know that Sierra is seriously ill. On the morning we met them, Sierra was treated at two hospitals before she was stabilized.
But the family is convinced of their next step - taking Sierra on an arduous trip to southern China, where they believe the little girl will be injected six times with stem cells during a 34-day stay. It's the kind of treatment not yet approved in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration.
Sierra's treatment will cost $26,500, which does not include the cost of travel and living for the extended family. Those costs would mean an additional $25,000, according to Akery.
"We are really walking into this blindfolded," Akery said. "It's scary, but everybody says it's so nice over there."
The family says it got most of its information from a Web site called China Stem Cell News, at stemcellschina.com, which boasts of dozens of anecdotal testimonials from loved ones who say their children or family members showed improvement after the stem cell treatments. The site offers no scientific evidence and no means of making contact except through a Web form. CNN used the form, but as of yet has received no reply.
What’s on Tap – Wednesday June 3, 2009
Here are the big stories on the agenda today:
- President Obama is heading to the Middle East. He's expected to touch down in Saudi Arabia this morning, with the goal of “resetting” relations with the Muslim world. We are live in Riyadh and previewing the president’s highly anticipated speech tomorrow from Cairo.
- Signs of debris, but no survivors from the Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic off the Brazilian coast. The U.S. Navy is joining Brazil and France in the search for wreckage – and answers. One expert saying it could be among the hardest recoveries since the search to find the titanic, which took decades! Investigators say the so-called “black boxes” probably survived, but they are not hopeful they will find them.
- A CNN Special Investigation. Every day, desperate Americans are flying to places like Peru, Mexico and China, seeking a miracle in the form of stem cell therapy. Many of them – parents with children who are sick, or dying. They're spending tens of thousands of dollars – despite the fact there's no scientific evidence it works. Drew Griffin talks to doctors, looks for answers and speaks to families that are literally putting everything on the line for an experiment.
We Listen!
Tuesday’s American Morning audience continued question and debate regarding the murder of Dr. Tiller and the issues surrounding abortion.
- Celeste: Dr. Tiller saved a lot of lives and was NOT A MURDERER! To repeat this abject foolishness and give voice to obvious lunatics is the height of irresponsible journalism! Please stop encouraging these fringe elements by giving them air time and commentary without the condemnation they deserve. Just because we have the right to believe and state what we want, DOES NOT require mainstream media to broadcast ill-advised, base comments from hate mongers. The "dumbing down" of the discussion of social issues for the sake of ratings is a disgrace!
- Arigg: Whoever said that the people who disparaged Dr. Tiller, calling him "Tiller the Baby Killer" (O'Reilly and that other crazy guy) can't be held accountable for his murder, should take note of the case of Charles Manson ... he never actually killed anybody, but his words surely persuaded others to commit heinous crimes. I think the world would be a better place of Bill O'Reilly's mother would have a retroactive abortion performed on her son. Our planet has way too many humans to support now, and if humans don't consciously try to prevent unwanted births, I'm sure the earth will balance herself out and get rid of this mass of crazed humanity. Those people should be held accountable for their evil words that drive wack-a-loons to murder innocent doctors
- Diane: The public needs to hear from some of the desperate women for whom Dr. Tiller performed late term abortions. Their stories would make it clear that he was not in it for he money and that these women did not make this decision lightly.
- Gabe: About the abortion doctor who was murdered in Kansas, what is not being asked is, why did he perform the late abortions that he did? Was it out of the mother's whim or were they done to save the mother's life? If the latter, then the doctor was not a killer of babies, as has been charged, but a saviour of women's lives. He should therefore be remembered as a hero as well as a good family and church-going man. And why is it that pro-lifers always give more importance to the fetus than to the woman who bears it? I think the woman, the mother, should come first. After all, she may already have other children and loved ones to look after whereas a fetus is but a blob of tissue, an unborn life. These so-called pro-lifers sure have their priorities mixed up.
Obama's Middle East trip
President Obama is hoping his visit to the Middle East this week will begin to "change the conversation" between the U.S and the Muslim world. He'll be trying to win over the hearts and minds of millions who are still very suspicious of America's motives. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright joined us to talk about the challenges facing the president.
Test case for Sotomayor?
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is on Capitol Hill today meeting privately with Senate leaders who could decide her fate. Meantime, the current Supreme Court justices will be judging Sonia Sotomayor in a different way when they consider her ruling in a race discrimination case.
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