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Erin Burnett Outfront

Sources: Debris Appears to Match Plane Like MH370; Trump Denies "Meltdown" Over Breast Pump Request; Interview with Donald Trump; Source: Boeing Says Debris Matches Jet Like MH370. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired July 29, 2015 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[19:00:10] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. Debris found off the coast of Africa, a source tells CNN tonight it is consistent with a Boeing 777. The same type of plane as the missing flight MH370.

Plus, barnacles found on the debris could be crucial in determining where the missing plane crashed. But are we any closer now to finding out how the jet with 239 people on board went down?

And an exclusive interview with Donald Trump. Why he called an attorney who asked for a break to pump breast milk disgusting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She wanted to breast pump in front of me. And I may have said that's disgusting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan in for Erin Burnett. I want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. OUTFRONT tonight, much more of CNN's exclusive interview with Donald Trump. But first, we have the breaking news in the search for missing flight MH370. Debris found off the coast of Africa appears to be consistent with the Boeing 777, the same type of plane as MH370 which of course banish more than 16 months ago. That's according to a source close to the investigation. The wreckage was found on a small island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. And thousands of miles from where the massive search for the plane had centered over the past year.

Rene Marsh is OUTFRONT on this breaking story. So, Rene, what more is your source telling you now about the similarities between this debris and MH370?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I can tell you, according to a source close to the investigation, I'm told that the initial assessment from Boeing of the photos of this piece of an aircraft is that it is consistent with the appearance of a Boeing 777, a portion of the 777's wing. The source says that there's a unique element to the Boeing 777's portion of the wing that is known as the flaperon. And they said they believe that they see that unique element in the photos. We don't have much detail on what that unique element is. But something that they are seeing in those photos of that portion of the wreckage that you are looking at there leads them to believe that this is, indeed, a piece of a Boeing 777. But we do want to point out, this is a preliminary assessment. And my source is stressing that, this is just their initial read as they look through the photos -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sure seems like it could be huge.

MARSH: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Again, stressing it's preliminary, but it's fascinating what they are picking up tonight. Rene, thank you so much.

Also tonight, crash investigators are now making their way to the island to try and get a closer look at this debris.

David McKenzie is OUTFRONT with that. And David, how soon before investigators do think are going to be able to determine whether or not this really is what everyone has been waiting for, MH370?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, experts say that it could be relatively quick before they can actually figure that out, because there should be markings, serial numbers on that piece of debris. If it is, in fact, MH370, that would quickly identify it as such. The authorities say they are going to work directly with the French aviation authorities to figure out exactly what this piece of debris is. And extraordinary, so many thousands of miles from the search zone. This search has been through many twists and turns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE (voice-over): After more than 500 days searching, this small piece of airplane debris possibly part of a wing could be the first piece of wreckage from flight MH370. The plane that vanished without a trace more than 16 months ago. Just seven feet long and about four feet wide, the debris was found by people cleaning the beach on an island of La Reunion, some 400 miles east of Madagascar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told myself it's debris and we walked closer to see better.

MCKENZIE: What did you see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a wing.

MCKENZIE: Most recently, ships have been scouring a huge swath of the southern Indian Ocean off the Australian coast. Today's discovery more than 2,6700 miles away from the search zone. MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia March 8th last year. Two hundred and thirty nine passengers and crew on board for Beijing. Its last communication came less than an hour after takeoff before the flight veered way off course and disappeared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good night Malaysian Three Seven Zero. MCKENZIE: The search began with 22 planes and 19 ships from eight

nations focused around the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea. But it soon expanded across tens of thousands of miles of the Indian Ocean. There have been multiple theories as to what brought down MH370. Could it that be in a mechanical failure and onboard fire or could the plane have been shot down? Did the cabin somehow decompress leaving the crew unconscious, turning it into a ghost plane? But the theory that's gained the most interest, a rogue pilot deliberately crashing the plane. Investigators have looked at the psychological profiles of the plane's pilot and co-pilot searching for a motive. But their families vehemently insists the men had no reason to crash the plane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:05:45] MCKENZIE: Well, this latest news is just preliminary findings from a very expert source, of course. And if it does turn out to be MH370, many, many more questions will be asked about how exactly it went down. And that's what Boeing earlier said on the record to us, that well, even if we find that this is the plane, how exactly did this all happen? We still do not know the answer to that -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely right. Huge news potentially, but still, it's just going to raise more and more questions. David, thank you very much.

OUTFRONT for us tonight, now our Richard Quest, aviation analyst Miles O'Brien, as well as David Gallo, the director of special projects at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute which is been involved in many search for missing planes.

Gentlemen, it's great to see you. Amazing some of these developments, that we're hearing. Yes, preliminary, but any doubt in your mind this is MH370?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: It's getting -- I mean, as the hours go on, it starts to look more likely than not that it is part of. But I caution, I have been successfully wrong on just about every count when I've heard debris was -- had been found during the first part of the search with the ping. So, well and truly bitten most definitely now shy of being definitive until we get that confirmation. But if it is what it allows us to say is that the plane did go down and it did go down in that ocean. It doesn't tell us where. We will need people like David Gallo's help like that. I mean, it doesn't tell us why. We need to make sure we find it. But it gives that measure of closure that at least we know it did go down.

BOLDUAN: One huge first steps. So, Miles, you heard what Rene Marsh was reporting that her source, her source close to the investigation is saying that there is a unique element that investigators see in the photos of this piece of the wing that points to a Boeing 777. They're not giving the detail what that is. But what could that detail be, do you think?

MILES O'BRIEN, PBS "NEWSHOUR" SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've been looking at some of the schematics and diagrams on the internet. And there's actually quite a cottage industry instantly out there of people who are connecting the dots between the diagrams and what they see on the ground there at Reunion Island. And it is quite striking. And there are some specific aspects of it, the way the fittings are put together and the side of it has some very unusual features which match up neatly. You know, this is unique. It's not like you go to the flaperon store and you pick out a flaperon and it fits on every airplane. This is designed for this particular aircraft. And the next step will be to -- because there is a pedigree to these parts, to check the serial numbers so you can dot the Is and cross the Ts.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely right. So, David, this is really where your expertise comes in. I mean, this piece of MH370, if that's what it is, would have been floating in the water for more than 500 days. The burning question then, how did it potentially get from off the coast of Australia to Africa?

DAVID GALLO, WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: That's a great question, Kate. Well, fortunately, the currents head in that direction. It's a big jar that rotates counterclockwise kind of from the search area over in that direction. There was plenty of time to do it. Just on the back of an envelope, less than a mile a day or ten miles a day would have done it easily. So, it could have been taken the currents. But, you know, I'm wondering if they have start begun an air search to the north and south of that area to see if there's anything else floating in the water, if that just floated up -- came ashore now.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And Richard, you kind of touched on this. But as you said, this may offer us some strong clues of how the plane crashed when they really start looking at this debris. But it likely clearly does not get to the burning question that everyone wants to know, especially the families, why did it crash.

QUEST: Oh, I'm sure that there are people, and having heard Miles' opinion in the last couple of hours about whether or not the flaperon was deployed or not, I don't think you can determine whether it was deployed or not from the pictures that we have seen. It will tell you how the plane went into the water very possibly. But it is a very -- it's a large piece. But it's a very small piece in terms of making extrapolations of how the plane went down into the water. You can do it by looking at the way wrench, the way it was torn. You can look at the various compression points and all that sort of stuff. In my view, it tells us not a jolt about what took place in the cockpit 1:19 as the plane flew.

[19:10:20] BOLDUAN: And Miles, when you really think about how this is all played out, after more than a year, millions of dollars spent on the search, what does it say that they may have found the plane simply by debris washing up on shore?

O'BRIEN: Well, that's usually the way it goes. Everything has been slow in this case. You know, David Gallo has a lot of familiarity with Air France 447. They find the debris. And then you backtrack and ultimately to the core of the wreckage. It's just that this process has occurred in a very remote area. We're just now seeing the debris. I would like to beg a point here, beg to differ with Mr. Quest here. If in fact the flaperon was stowed, in others words it not either turning the plane or slowing the plane down which are it's two functions, if it was stowed, it is much less likely it would have broken off so cleanly at it apparently did. So, either the plane was turning, interesting, that would be consistent with a stall spin scenario. Or it was deployed for it to slow down to fly more gently into the water. Those are two very divergent directions. One could be an autopilot scenario. And the other thing could be much more nefarious. But the fact that that piece is what we see is in it of itself a clue.

BOLDUAN: And we now definitely need to learn a lot more about what the flaperon is and we're going to be looking at that through the show. You can be sure of that. Gentlemen, thanks so much.

OUTFRONT for us next, we're going to take a look -- I want you to take a look at these pictures. This is the piece everyone is looking at. And these barnacles covering the wing, could they be the key to determining where this plane actually went down?

Plus, ahead Donald Trump in an exclusive interview attacking an attorney who asked to take a break so she could pump breast milk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I thought it was terrible. She's a horrible person. Knows nothing about me. I see her. She's now the great expert on Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:15:54] BOLDUAN: Breaking news. A major development in the search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Tonight, a source says that debris that washed ashore on an island near Madagascar is consistent with a Boeing 777, the same type of plane as MH370. It's been more than 500 days since the plane vanished with 239 people onboard. And until now, there hasn't been one piece of hard evidence to turn up.

Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT. Tom, you have been taking a closer look at this debris. What are you finding?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, let's talk about what we know about this debris. We know that it's about seven feet long. We know it's some three to four feet wide. Something like that. We know that engineers from Boeing have been looking at these very same pictures and they have seen something that tell them as you noted that this belongs on a 777 or they believe it does. Let's bring up a model and talk about where it might be. Some of our analysts have looked at this and it ruled this plane over here. But this would be consistent with something that you would find along one of the wings here, this flaperon we have been talking about.

So, some idea of what it is. We know what it looks like. We know where it might be. We can go through a checklist here of things that tell us whether or not it's likely to be part of this plane. First of all, it meets the criteria of type. It's the right type of piece. It has the right color to it. It looks the right way. You mentioned the barnacles on it. The condition is right for something that has been in the water for around 500 days. We don't have the identifiers yet. The truth is, most big pieces on big planes like this seat cushion from a different plane here have numbers on them that specifically link them to that plane. So, if you find a piece, you have found the plane in that sense. If they find the serial number on this piece and it matches the Malaysia air flight, then all this conspiracy theory talked about it having landed somewhere, that goes out the window, that is absolutely disproven at that point if they can get that. So, that's what we know right now -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Obviously, one of the big things that we don't know, there's still a huge question as they try to determine what this debris is of how it got there. Right?

FOREMAN: That's what we don't know. Let's get rid of all this and go to our maps for a minute. What do we not know? Well, we don't know how it could be there. Remember, all of the search areas, all of the talk for so long now has been based on the idea of Australia. The idea that the plane came flying down and wound up in the search area somewhere here off the coast of Australia. That's been all the calculations. So, why would this piece be way over here roughly the width of the United States away from these search areas? Could it have simply flown there? Well, let's move line over and I will slow you it cannot. Because if you look at this, really, this would be the stopping point.

It wouldn't go any further than this. It would run out of gas far short of its target. So, very unlikely that this was a miscalculation and it flew there. But rather what our analysts are suggesting is they think it still splashed in somewhere here and then these ocean currents that we have been talking about took over. And there are strong enough currents here that given enough time they could carry a piece like this all the way across there and have it wash up on the shore like this. So, what we have right now Kate is a combination of what we know and what we still don't know. And those big, big questions. How did it happen? And where did it go? Even if they determine that this is part of this plane, those could still be out there for quite some time.

BOLDUAN: Yes. So many questions. Tom, laying it out for what we know at least right now perfectly. Great to see you, Tom. Thank you.

And David Gallo is back with us along now with Mary Schiavo, she's the former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation and a CNN aviation analyst. So, David, I'm fascinated by this element. You can see these barnacles covering the debris in the photos that were released. And you say that could be key in determining where this plane went down. Explain.

GALLO: I think everything becomes a piece of the crime scene as if it were. So, you know, in fact, looking like a CSI Oceanic. So that everything growing on that bit of aircraft has been there for a reason. And the oceans aren't the same all the way across. There are certain patches of chemicals, certain animals like certain things, certain temperatures, certain water chemistry. So, I'm wondering if a good biologist can look at that as a little mini-ecosystem and help us understand the path that that piece of aircraft took across the Indian Ocean. I'm just not sure. I know that everything is on the record. So, there's probably something we can learn from that. So, we will have to wait and see. You know, so the piece is in the hands of the BEA, the French NTSB right now.

BOLDUAN: Right.

GALLO: And having worked with them, I can tell you they will get every clue possible. Every bit of information possible out of this bit of aircraft.

[19:20:42] BOLDUAN: Yes. And I mean, a lot of eyes in a lot of countries that want to get this answer right. So, Mary, when you look at this piece of debris, obviously we're talking about the location, the location that this debris was picked up. But also, when you look at the flaperon, if that's what we think it is, what are you looking at to try to start to determine how the plane crashed?

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Well, so many things. And most importantly, of course, the condition of it and the barnacles are significant, too. Because there are over 1,000 species of barnacles. Well over a thousand. And in other crashes, we have looked at marines, waters, animal life, sands that have come in with things, sands in the marine life to determine where it might have been. And then also, the significant point is because the 777 was completely reengineered and redesigned, it was a new plane designed by computers, the parts on it are unique to the 777. So, if this is a 777 part, it is most definitely MH370. There have only been two crashes. Two were Malaysian airlines.

One, the shoot now over the Ukraine, this one, the Asiana in San Francisco and one in London. And so, those couldn't have provided parts. So, we will know for a fact that it is a 777 that it's MH370. And I think people will also look at the direction if the plane had made a turn back. I think that's kind of be real significant now if the parts -- and they will search for other parts. But it might lead to theories about perhaps the plane had turned back to Kuala Lumpur and kept going.

BOLDUAN: Mary, real quick. We heard about the serial number that will be somewhere in this piece of debris so they can kind of link it back to figure out if it's from the 777. After 500 plus days in the water, can the serial number scratch off or wash off or anything like that?

SCHIAVO: Sure. The elements can take it away. They are painted on. It's very important for maintenance, because you have to keep track of every single part record on that plane for maintenance. And so it would most likely be on the inside. It's painted on. I worked -- did work many years later at the crash of Japan Airlines 123 Tokyo to Osaka, and ten to 15 years later those part numbers were still on some debris that was found on the mountain. So, it's possible. But even if it's washed off, the Boeing engineers will know because the 777 was brand new. There's nothing out -- there was nothing out there like it at the time it was certified to fly.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And David, this is just one piece of debris that's been found. Is it surprising that they haven't found more debris nearby? Does that tell you anything?

GALLO: Well, I don't know how hard they're looking right now, Kate. You know, there's aircraft in the air having a look north and south. But you know, again, you can't understand estimate the -- or overstate how important maybe emotionally this is to the families. Very sad, too. For the families and loved ones and friends of the 239 passengers on board. But it is the first tangible bit of evidence that a plane went down in the southern part of the Indian Ocean. And now the big trick is to find out where did it come from. Where is the center of the haystack? And I can tell you from having seen some of the survey data that they have collected already, is that we know pretty well where the plane isn't on the sea floor. So now things are starting to close in. You know, now that we have a piece of wreckage, that's great. And we have a huge area of the sea floor already mapped. And now I think things are beginning to close in or what might be looked at next.

BOLDUAN: So, Mary, what's your view on this? It ends up off the coast of Africa. In your view, does that mean that searchers -- they were looking in the wrong place for months?

SCHIAVO: Well, it's possible. Remember, the ocean there is -- as, you know, as David knows better than I, it's the mountain ranges, the Rocky Mountains under the water. So, it's possible that they could have missed it. But I do think that they will rethink perhaps the trajectory the plane took from the last ping from that aircraft itself.

BOLDUAN: Everything, David and Mary, that you talked about that ocean floor, and this searches, it's all coming back to me now, that thick sit being three miles down, it's all starting to comeback, as now the search begins once again. Thank you both so much.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

GALLO: Welcome, Kate.

BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT next, after an attorney asked for a break so she could pump breast milk, Donald Trump called her disgusting. Tonight in an exclusive interview, Trump doubling down.

And more on the breaking news, we're discussing possible debris from the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. My guest, the husband of one of the passengers on that jet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:29:11] BOLDUAN: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Tonight, an exclusive new interview with Donald Trump. The republican presidential candidate is now in the midst of a new controversy. A lawyer who once deposed him says that he called her disgusting when she requested a break to pump breast milk. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH BECK, LAWYER WHO ASKED TRUMP FOR BREAST PUMP BREAK: He had an absolute meltdown when I said that I needed the break and it was for breast pumping purposes. He got up, his face got red, he shook his finger at me and he screamed, you're disgusting, you're disgusting. And he ran out of there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT tonight, Dana Bash is here with her exclusive interview. And Dana, Trump is not taking that accusation lightly.

[19:30:08] DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. That's probably not a surprise to anybody who has ever watched Donald Trump at all, particularly when somebody comes after him so personally. He shoots back. That's definitely what he did with me today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: She said that you got up, shook your finger, screamed, "You're disgusting, you're disgusting", and ran out.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: OK. I watched that and I thought it was disgraceful. She's a terrible attorney. She lost her case to me. In fact, I won legal fees. The judge awarded legal fees, which is pretty rare when you get that.

But we beat her soundly. She's got a terrible reputation in my opinion. She's got just a terrible reputation. Other lawyers have called me up and say, how bad she was.

Bottom line, I beat her. And what happened is in the middle of everything, it wasn't breast feed. It was breast pump. She wanted to pump in front of me during a deposition.

BASH: She wanted to take a break so she could take the pump out.

TRUMP: Not true. In fact, if you ask my lawyer who was there, he said, I've never seen anything like it. She wanted to breast pump in front of me.

And I may have said that's disgusting, I may have said something else. I thought it was terrible.

She's a horrible person, knows nothing about me. I see her, she's now the great expert of Donald Trump.

BASH: I guess the question isn't so much that she's an expert but she does have an experience which she clearly doesn't think --

TRUMP: Excuse me. And it's a bad experience. She lost.

BASH: Right. TRUMP: And that's what the country needs. The country needs somebody that's going to win. We always lose. We lose on trade. We lose to China, Japan, Mexico. We lose to everybody.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could win something? I beat her so badly. She's a vicious, horrible person.

BASH: Because you are not a politician, we don't have your voting record to go on. We don't have -- you know, we have your experience as a businessman, and part of your experience are legal issues.

TRUMP: Well, let me explain.

BASH: I guess the question is --

TRUMP: Let me explain.

BASH: Can I just --

TRUMP: So many people are on television that don't know me and they are like experts on me. You know, when Michael Jackson died -- I knew him very well. Everybody was talking about Michael Jackson. They didn't know him. They knew nothing. Some of them never even met him.

And I sort of laughed to myself. Here they are talking about Michael Jackson. They never met him.

BASH: But she -- I don't think anybody is saying she's an expert on Donald Trump.

TRUMP: Well, she claims to be.

BASH: She's recounting an experience she has. My question for you is --

TRUMP: Excuse me. It was a bad experience. She lost.

BASH: Right. But my question for you is, people are looking at that. They're thinking, OK, if he blows up at a lawyer in a deposition --

TRUMP: I didn't blow up. I didn't blow up.

BASH: -- negotiating, what would he do -- what would you do if Putin challenged you?

TRUMP: Excuse me. Oh, believe me, he would be -- I would do very well with him. I get along with people.

I didn't blow up at a deposition. I don't blow up. I'm a person that --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: She's wrong?

TRUMP: She made it up. She made it up. BASH: One of the things I do want to ask about that was in "The New York Times" this morning, they went through some of your depositions, quoted you under oath saying, "I'm no different from a politician running for office. You always want to put the best foot forward," saying that you exaggerate.

TRUMP: Well, I do want to put the best. You can call it exaggeration. Of course, I want to put the best foot forward. I'm not going to say, oh, gee, everything is terrible. I'm a very optimistic person. I'm optimistic for the country.

Of course, I want to put --

BASH: Do you exaggerate?

TRUMP: Everybody exaggerates. I guess I do. I want to say good things.

OK. So, I have space for rent. Somebody walks in. Am I supposed to say, this space is no good, don't take it, it's terrible? Or am I supposed to say, this is beautiful space, don't you love it, isn't it wonderful, look at the view?

BASH: Will you exaggerate in the White House?

TRUMP: The word -- I don't think the word "exaggerate" is a good word. I want to put a positive spin on things. I want to put a positive spin on the United States. If I'm president, because we have a country that's not respected. We're very down. The United States is very down. We don't have good news anymore. We don't have victories anymore.

So, I would certainly want to promote the United States as a great place. People are laughing at us all over the world. They think we're stupid. And we are. I mean, we're being led by stupid people. We're being led by people that don't have a clue they're incompetent.

BASH: One other question about the quote. You said, I'm no different from a politician running for office. Have you considered yourself a politician? Because you are out there saying that you're not.

TRUMP: I became a politician a few months when I decided --

BASH: This is several years ago.

TRUMP: Yes. But politicians running for office try and put a positive spin. I think that's OK. I mean, what are they going to do, put a negative spin in? I think they try and put a positive spin.

A politician is a person that generally speaking should be uplifting.

BASH: Do you consider yourself a politician?

TRUMP: Well, now, I'm a politician but I'm not acting like a politician because I tell the truth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Exaggeration, is it optimism only? I mean, to hear him someone who is now a politician acknowledge that he exaggerates, I can't decide if it's shocking or refreshing.

BASH: You know, that's the issue. The fact is, the reason why Donald Trump is leading in all the polls, not just nationally, but he is doing extremely well in New Hampshire, in Iowa, is because he defies convention.

[19:35:10] BOLDUAN: That's right.

BASH: Convention, of course, is a politician -- somebody who is running for president -- has admitted to exaggerating, it's like game over. Donald Trump, his numbers are probably going to go up because expectations are different for him. That actually is the kind of thing that appeals to people.

BOLDUAN: And also, especially talking about defying convention, flip- flopping as the worst words in politics ever, but he readily acknowledges it.

BASH: He went from advocating single payer system Canadian-style, government-run, you know, socialist --

BOLDUAN: Right.

BASH: -- healthcare model to the left of the most people in the Democratic Party, to being a conservative Republican in 15 years. He wrote that in his book 15 years ago. Again, game over for most people. Not Donald Trump, at least not yet.

BOLDUAN: Defying convention. And that's not all of it. Dana is going to stick around because there's more of this.

OUTFRONT next, more of Donald Trump in an interview. Now he is invoking a GOP hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Ronald Reagan was a long time ago. He was somebody that liked me a lot. I liked him a lot. I helped him a little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And back to our top story as well. I will talk to a man whose wife was lost on MH370.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Back now with more of Dana Bash's exclusive interview with Donald Trump. Trump who was once a registered Democrat, is now running as a Republican candidate for president, he has accused -- he's been accused of flip-flopping on some key conservative issues, including abortion. Dana asked Trump about that today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: On the train up here, I bought your 2000 book, "The America We Deserve".

TRUMP: Right.

BASH: $7.99 on Amazon.

TRUMP: Good.

BASH: I contributed to the empire.

And so, in reading it, there were a couple of things that jumped out. One is on abortion. At time you said that you were pro-choice. Now you've changed, right?

TRUMP: Not strong, but I am pro-life. I had an experience with a friend of mine who was, frankly -- they were going to abort their child, which they ended up having. Their child is like this magnificent person. It had an impact. I have seen that a couple of times. But I'm pro-life.

BASH: You're pro-life. But you do think there should be exceptions for rape and incest?

TRUMP: Yes. And life -- the health of the mother, the death, because, you know, you have cases where the mother may die. It's basically Ronald Reagan had the same thing. He had the three exceptions.

BASH: If you are the Republican nominee, you would be the effective leader of the Republican Party.

TRUMP: Yes.

BASH: Would you make sure that that exception or those exceptions would be in the platform?

TRUMP: Well, I think it would be something I would discuss seriously with the people in the Republican Party. I'm actually getting along very well with the people at RNC right now. I think that would be something certainly we would be discussing.

I do agree with -- I mean, Ronald Reagan was a long time ago. He was somebody that liked me a lot. I liked him a lot. I helped him a little bit. And he had the exceptions also. It would certainly be something I'd want to discuss with the Republican Party.

BASH: Last question. You are going to head abroad to do some business for a couple of days. The debate is a week from today. Talk about a Donald Trump debate prep. Are you going to be reading on plane? Are you going to be reading on the plane? Are you -- how is that going to work?

TRUMP: Well, I own one of the great resorts in the world, Turnberry in Scotland. And they're having the Women's British Open, you know, for years, I was going to go to this tournament. Now, all of a sudden, I'm going to put it down for a day and a half or something.

But I feel an obligation do it. It's biggest tournament I think in woman's golf. It's tremendous -- it's one of the biggest tournaments in golf. So, I'm going to go there for a day and a half, two days. I'm going to be back immediately.

I have to be who I am. You know, these other people -- I know they have their debate coaches and they have their pollsters and they don't say anything without the pollsters knowing exactly -- and they pay them hundreds of thousands and some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.

BASH: I'm sure you are brushing up on policy, right?

TRUMP: I am. But, you know, I brush up all the time. I'm reading constantly. I'm watching your show and others. I'm constantly brushing up. I mean, every time I turn on the television --

BASH: So, no formal debate prep?

TRUMP: I watched Mitt Romney where he locked himself in a cabin to a week and he wasn't able to speak. Something happened to him. It wasn't a good picture.

Barack Obama, he studied and he wasn't great either. But I would say that certainly he was horrible on the first debate and not good in the second two. But Romney was not good.

So, I am going to be Donald Trump. I think if I'm not Donald Trump, it's not going to look good. I will do my best. I've never done it before.

BASH: Who is your biggest competition?

TRUMP: I don't know. I mean --

BASH: Who are you most looking at? I mean, you know, you are a competitor.

TRUMP: I don't know. You don't know what's going to happen. You know, you're up there and you are talking. You don't know who is coming at you.

If you watch you and everybody at you, they're all coming at me. Whatever it is, it is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: He might not be doing any formal debate prep, but he's I guess nine other competitors who will be on the stage, Kate, of course, they are and have been for months and months.

BOLDUAN: I can't tell if he's lowering expectations or he really is not prepping. I think that's just one thing we're not going to --

BASH: They actually could be one in the same. BOLDUAN: You are absolutely right.

Now, he has gotten into trouble with his own party. But now, I found it fascinating that he told you now he's getting along with everyone. That clearly is not stopping him from taking jabs at his GOP rivals and also, of course, Democrats, namely Hillary Clinton, right?

BASH: Yes. I mean, I actually said to him, it seems as though you have mellowed. It was a week ago that he was going after the Republican Party as treating him very unfairly. Now he sounds very different.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VDIEOTAPE)

BASH: Can I ask you a couple of questions before we wrap up? You mentioned that you are getting along well with the Republican National Committee.

[19:45:00] TRUMP: I am.

BASH: And I also notice that your tone has changed a little bit. You softened a little bit.

TRUMP: Really? Wow.

BASH: You don't think so?

TRUMP: I'm glad. Well, I get criticized by Bush. He said, tone, tone.

I understand what he is saying. But we need energy, we need a strong tone in this country.

BASH: About the Republican National Committee, I know that you have been talking to the chair, Reince Priebus.

TRUMP: I have.

BASH: So, can you give me some insight into the conversations? Why are you so much more positive now? Is it just because --

TRUMP: I don't think I've changed. I think that -- you know, I've gotten some amazing polls. Look at the poll in New Hampshire. And you look at the poll in --

BASH: What about the conversations you have been talking about?

TRUMP: I think that the conversations are very nice. I respect him.

Look, the best way to win is for me to win the nomination and I will beat Hillary. Believe me. I will beat Hillary.

Hillary -- I don't know if she's going to be able to run, because what she did is a criminal act. She burned up e-mails. She got rid of her hard drive.

She had subpoenas from the United States Congress. General Petraeus was destroyed for doing far less. I mean, they destroyed this general's life and what he did is far less than what she has done.

So, I don't know that she's going to make it. I don't think it's going to be Bernie Sanders. I think other peoples are going to probably going to join the race eventually, like may be Biden and other people. I'm not so sure she's going to be in the race, because what she did is a criminal act.

And the only reason she's maybe and probably not going to be prosecuted is because all of the prosecutors are Democrats. Otherwise, she wouldn't have a chance. What she did is far worse than Petraeus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now, I should say that it is not clear technically whether she committed any kind of criminal act, for the record.

But I think on the political side of this, this isn't the first time he actually has said to me that he doesn't think that she's necessarily going to be the nominee. Remembering back to 2008, Obama was nipping at her heels and eventually became the nominee. The question is, whether or not he's right? Does he know something about Joe Biden? I mean, who knows? Wouldn't put anything past him.

BOLDUAN: Who knows is for sure. I mean, the fighting has all been to this point all on the Republican side.

So you are seeing -- for the most part. You are finally seeing with him he is starting to sharpen his attack against Hillary. You can see where he's turning his attention a little bit.

BASH: Absolutely. And, look, I mean, that is -- there's nothing more unifying among Republicans than to go after Hillary Clinton. That's an absolute applause line standing ovation line, standing ovation line, red meat, whatever you want to call it. Everybody on the Republican side who really is a member of the base wants to hear that. So, that's not a surprise.

You know, maybe it's a surprise to Hillary Clinton if she's watching because he used to contribute to her. They used to be friends. I think she went to his wedding.

BOLDUAN: One of the front pews. Another bit of the interesting Donald Trump.

Dana, you took him on. Thank you so much. Great to see you.

BASH: You, too.

BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT for us next, back to our top breaking news story. Debris found that could be missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:55] BOLDUAN: We have more on the breaking news in the search for missing Flight MH370. Debris found off the coast of Africa appears to be consistent with part of a wing from a Boeing 777, the same type of plane as MH370. That is according to a source close to the investigation.

MH370 disappeared more than 16 month ago now with 239 people onboard.

OUTFRONT tonight, K.S. Narendran, his wife was on the plane.

Mr. Narendran, this is understandably such an emotional and stuff topic for you and so many families of Malaysia Flight 370. After all of this time, what's your reaction to this news?

K.S. NARENDRAN, WIFE OF PASSENGER ON MH370: Hi. I think this is very early days yet. All we know is that a small part has been found. It seems to suggest, initial reports are, seems to suggest that it would be a 777's part. It's still a little early to suggest that it does belong to MH370. So, I think it is premature to either feel that it is all coming to a close or that we are even closer to the truth.

BOLDUAN: Is that feeling in part because there have been so many fits and starts with this investigation over the past year? So many possible sightings and then those hopes dashed?

NARENDRAN: Absolutely. It just has been such a roller coaster over the months. So, it's a little hard to believe that -- that we would come across a part that is thousands of miles away from where it is generally believed to be located.

So, just (INAUDIBLE) notion, it is a little hard to believe at this point in time. So, one would look to be a little more sure before one can, you know, start thinking about what the next steps could be.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and allowing yourself to really probably feel anything at this point.

If this would be confirmed to be a part from the Boeing 777, if this is confirmed to be debris from MH370. You say this only one critical step. What are your lingering questions even beyond that?

NARENDRAN: There is any number of questions. We are talking about a small part of a large airplane. So, you know, the basic question that arises to me at least is, you know, so where is the plane? And where are passengers? And what really happened? Why might something have happened? Who is responsible?

So, any number of questions that spring up. So, to me, it is a very small piece of -- what shall I say a more devolving, evolving, emerging scenario to me here. To me, it raises more questions than it answers at this point in time.

BOLDUAN: So, what for you now?

[19:55:00] With this news lingering out there, obviously waiting for confirmation, do you just sit and wait for a phone call of some sort?

NARENDRAN: Do you have any idea or suggestions for anything that I could do? I don't think so.

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly, that seems to be the case.

NARENDRAN: In fact, I would imagine it would have been easier for families and others who are interested to be afraid of what has emerged once there was some confirmation. It is a little too early to even think about the possibilities here. All that it raises are prospects. That's all that is.

BOLDUAN: Well, that's all there is right now.

Well, everyone, you have to remember that not only are they looking for a missing plane, but they're also talking 239 souls on board, one of them your wife.

Mr. Narendran, thank you so much for your time.

OUTFRONT for us next. We have a very special OUTFRONT announcements that you will not want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUIAN: And a very exciting personal note from the OUTFRONT family tonight. Erin and her husband Dave have welcomed a baby girl into the world. Colby Isabelle Burnett Rubulotta weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds 5 ounces. She is already getting a whole lot of attention from her big brother Nile. Colby as beautiful as her mama.

And, Erin, please enjoy time at home with your family now. And know that all of us can't wait to see you back here very soon.

Thanks so much you guys.

"AC360" starts right now.