Return to Transcripts main page

Quest Means Business

Right-Wing Extremism a Focus of Investigation of Jo Cox Murder; U.K. Mourns the Loss of MP Jo Cox; Russian Athletes Face Rio Olympics Ban; EgyptAir 804 Flight Data Recorder Recovered. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 17, 2016 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00] RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Good Evening from Birstall, in West Yorkshire in northern England. I'm Richard Quest.

Around the United Kingdom solemn memorials are underway remembering the murdered Member of Parliament, Jo Cox. And throughout the course of the

day we've learned more about the chief suspect. The person who is in custody in connection with her death.

The other stories that were following and they are quite enormous in nature. Russian athletes say they are being unfairly punished as the IAAF

extends its ban over doping concerns. And investigators are closer to finding out what took down EgyptAir flight 804. They've now located the

flight data recorder and retrieved it from the sea. We have all of these stories, full comprehensive coverage in the hour ahead.

Good evening to you, tonight the United Kingdom is unified in shock and grief after the murder of a Member of Parliament, Jo Cox. There are few

answers for the morning public about what motivated the suspected attacker. His name has been named as Tommy Mair.

The West Yorkshire police now say they're investigating whether Mair has ties to right-wing extremism. Officials believe the attack against Jo Cox

was isolated and targeted. And were getting more details about the brutal murder. A local official has told CNN that the suspected gunman lay in

wait for Cox before the attacks. CNN's Nic Robertson has done much of the reporting on this. He joins me from Birstall. We also, Nic, got that very

detailed press release or statement from the West Yorkshire police, which went into the questions of right-wing extremism, mental health issues.

Please bring me up-to-date.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: the mental health issue is one that we've heard about. There have been questions about

Thomas Mair's mental capacity, and the police say in their statement that he is seen two medical examiners while he's been in police custody a little

over 24-hour's now. They both examined him and they believe and see him fit to continue to be detained and to continue to be questioned by the

police. So this is an early indication that they consider him fit in well for the process that he must now go through, which is to begin to explain

to the police precisely why he murdered, allegedly murdered, Jo Cox.

We've also learned from the police more about how they are treating the reports. We understand that he had purchased paraphernalia, printed

material, literature from a white supremacist organization in the United States. A sort of a neo-fascist nature, very right wing material about

bomb making and about guns. And how he'd also purchased the editorial material from South Africa, from a pro-apartheid group. The police now say

that they're investigation is looking at as a significant part looking at that issue of his right-wing affiliation. The question therefore must be

foremost in their minds was his attack politically motivated? Whether or not it was politically motivated. The reaction in this town has been one

of complete and utter sadness. This is what we saw today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): They came young and old to say their goodbyes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never trusted politicians until I spoke to Jo and she changed my mind. Ten minutes that's all I had with her before the

election and she just changed my mind that people can work for the good of mankind. I'm very sad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I live around here and I just think it's such a cruel act and so full of hate that is just disgusting really.

ROBERTSON: A town in morning joined by the nation's leaders, together they paused and silence.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: if we truly want to honor Jo, then what we should do is recognize that her values service, community,

tolerance, the value she lived by and work by, those are the values we need to redouble in our national life in the months and in the years to come.

JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER LABOUR PARTY: She was taken from us in an act of hatred, in a vile act that his killed her. It's an attack on democracy

what happened yesterday. Is the well of hatred that killed her.

ROBERTSON: Jo Cox was 41. She'd been in her job just over a year. But such is the love that this usually quiet West Yorkshire town is bearing its

heart and it's painful. Doubly so knowing her alleged killer lived among them.

[16:05:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think if it's a part of this community then you should know better, really. And there is no excuse for it at all.

ROBERTSON: With each well-wisher, more flowers left at the statue overlooking where she was murdered.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Every message here so heartfelt. Read this here, "Jo was a great friend to Batley High School. Jo Cox will be deeply missed

by us all." And then this card here, so touching, "We will miss you and your smile and your kindness." It is a heard some fear they may never

lose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think so. You know, how can it. Yes, someone's lost her life, murdered, so.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Birstall a town, a community forever changed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Now, Nic Robertson is still with me. Under the laws as to how long that they can hold Tommy Mair with or without charge, and of course, we

have this other report that the police say he's been medically examined and been found fit to be in detention and fit to be questioned. What you make

of that?

ROBERTSON: It seems to fit with what we were hearing from neighbors here earlier today. A neighbor who told us that she has been a nurse for the

last 40 years. That she knew Thomas Mair since he moved into the house behind me here when he was eight years old. So she's known him for a long

time she says. She talks to him. She observes his daily life. His gardening, his going to help his mother with her shopping several times a

week. She says she hasn't found him to appear to be mentally unstable. Of course, we know in the solitude of his house, we know certainly the

allegations are that in the solitude of his house he was purchasing right- wing paraphernalia and propaganda. But his neighbor say he did not exhibit any signs of mental instability, Richard.

QUEST: Nic Robertson who is just 15 minutes away from where I am, outside the home of Tommy Mair. Thank you, Nic.

People here are in shock over the brutal death of Jo Cox. And it's put the safety of politicians firmly in the spotlight. Earlier this year there was

a survey of 239 MPs and it revealed that one in five has faced some form of attack. Some of the feedback from the MPs include that there had been

repeatedly punched in the face. Another said that somebody had come at him and hit him with a brick, and a hammer, or hit them with a brick.

Jo cox is the third MP to be seriously attacked in recent years. The former government minister Stephen Timms survived a stabbing attack in

2010. And then the MP Nigel Jones survived a samurai sword attack in 2000 by a constituent deemed to be mentally unwell. His assistant Andy

Pennington was killed.

And today part of the West Yorkshire police statement says, "We've been engaged nationally with the pulse of Westminster on the home office to

review the security arrangements of MPs generally. And we are continuing to provide the appropriate advice and guidance to MPs locally and

nationally and seriously considering any concerns."

QUEST: So, I'm joined now by one of Jo Cox's fellow MPs who is Mike Gapes. Mr. Gapes, you hear this issue -- first of all before we talk security,

obviously, this is a truly awful day for really for democracy in that respect. When you agree?

MIKE GAPES, BRITISH MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, LABOUR PARTY: I think what we have is a targeted assassination of a Member of Parliament, and

internationalist, a compassionate woman, who try to make the world a better place, both through international development and support for human rights,

and support for refugee children. And she campaigned against barrel bombing in Syria. She did so many good things in her short, just over a

year, in the House of Commons. And she is a great loss to my party and to our Parliament.

QUEST: Now on this question of security, do you believe that you and other MPs require a higher standard of basic security. Never mind if you are on

a particularly difficult mission, or your overseas, or your cabinet members. Do you believe you need more security?

[16:10:00] GAPES: I think there is a problem, because if we are to do our job as constituency members we have to be open and accessible and in touch

with our constituents. Most members of Parliament, as I do, live in the heart of our communities. People know where we live. They see us taking

our children to school. They see us going in the shops. We walked down the street. We get on the buses and the trains, and that is part of

Britain and Britain's democracy.

And we can't let terrorism or threats of this kind damage and undermined our democracy. And so I think we have unfortunately, you can never be

secure. There will always be a danger for all members of Parliament. If we have an open democratic society then unfortunately you cannot be

isolated from your community.

QUEST: Yes, but how, sir, do you square that circle to allow for a level of security that gives you peace of mind and real safety, but at the same

time does still provide access to your constituents?

GAPES: Well, we obviously take sensible precautions with regard to, for example, I have a list of people that I will not give appointments to.

Because they've been aggressive or abusive to me or to my staff. And I operate an appointment system. I don't have people just walking in any

time. But when you are walking around your constituency, you attend events and functions, you have to be open. When I went to the station this

morning I had five conversations on the street with different people. I had people talking to me while I was on the train. I had people always

stopping me to say hello. And you cannot as a Member of Parliament, as a representative of your community, you cannot be isolated from that

community. And occasionally there are people who wish to harm, and you take sensible precautions. But you cannot protect elected representatives

and retain the accountability of a democracy. This is a dilemma we face and we live with it all the time. But I have to say in 24 years as an MP I

only ever felt frightened about four or five times.

QUEST: Do you believe that once campaigning restarts for the U.K. referendum on EU membership -- do you believe that the events of the last

day have any effect whatsoever?

GAPES: Well clearly the parties have suspended campaigning as a result of the murder of Jo Cox. There will be no campaigning at national level over

the weekend. The House of Commons has been recalled to pay tribute to her on Monday. And the referendum is on Thursday next week. So clearly I hope

that the tone of the campaign will change as a result, but the campaign will have to go on in some level after this weekend. And we just hope that

people understand that the kind of language that we've had and some of the tone of the campaign, which has been a bit unfortunate and very negative in

some respects, is not helping the general atmosphere. But I can't say that's directly related to this murder. I think we need to wait for trial

of and the outcome of that trial before we get the real conclusion of this.

QUEST: Mike Gapes, thank you, sir, for taking time and talking to us this evening. I appreciate it.

GAPES: Thank you.

QUEST: Now, there has been one of the very large stories of tonight, we need to bring to your attention. It looks unlikely that there will be any

Russian track and field athletes at this summer's Olympics in Rio. IAAF has decided to extend its band on Russia over its alleged failure to stop

doping. It means a banned from the Rio games could be confirmed as soon as Tuesday. The head of the IAAF's independent task force says, "Russia is in

denial over its doping problems."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUNE ANDERSEN, NORWEGIAN INTERNATIONAL ANTI-DOPING EXPERT: The head coach of the Russian athletic team and many of the athletes on that team appear

unwilling to acknowledge the nature and extent of the doping problem in Russian athletics. And certain athletes and coaches appear willing to

ignore the doping roles. A strong and effective anti-doping infrastructure capable of detecting and deterring doping has still not been created.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:15:03] QUEST: CNN World Sport, Amanda Davies has been speaking to Seb Coe, the IAAF president. Amanda is with me from Vienna. We look at this,

I mean, I guess many of us thought naively, perhaps those of us not as familiar. But Amanda, I thought a fudge would have been put together to

have allowed the Russian track and field to go and take part.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: I think that was very much the fear, Richard. But in the recent days particularly, I think everybody felt there

was no other option for the IAAF then to uphold the suspension. The evidence was just weighing to heavily against the Russians. It was always

going to be a really, really tough ask for them, wasn't it? There was that report that was so explosive that came out only six months ago. We've

talked about widespread, systematic state-sponsored doping ingrained in the culture of Russian athletics that has been there for 30/40 years. To be

able to overturn that and change the whole culture within just six months was always going to be very, very tough.

Yes, there's been organizational and structural changes, but as you talked about the evidence that was submitted by the task force led by a Norwegian

anti-doping expert, Rune Anderson, was just that the attitudes haven't changed in time. And everybody felt that this was the easiest decision to

make really. We were expecting a vote from the IAAF Council, but it didn't even get to a vote. There was a unanimous decision that not enough of the

reinstatement criteria that had been set out in November had been met. And Seb Coe, who as you said, is the president of the IAAF, a former athlete

himself, said that although he has sympathy for those clean athletes who at this point will not be able to compete at the Olympics games in Rio,

ultimately this is about athletics and the integrity of sports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEB COE, PRESIDENT, IAAF: It is very important and you will be surprised if I said anything other than this. That somebody who had competed

internationally for many years, my sympathies will always be with athletes. But we have to deal with this issue. We have to deal with this issue and

we have to make sure that for generations to come the athletes are competing. The public have confidence in what they're watching, and that

we have athletes in safe and secure systems. And the message that we put out today, I think absolutely underpins that.

DAVIES: given what Russia has said at the IOC meeting next week, how concerned are you that there might be some come back from this. That your

decision won't be final.

COE: well, look, you know, there is always recourse to the court of arbitration. Some athletes may choose to do that, and it may be supported

in that. The eligibility of an athlete to compete internationally resides with the International Athletics Federation and that is clear and that is

understood.

Davies: But if Russian athletics take action as a whole, how concerned would you be?

COE: Well, that is potential and we will deal with that. But the decision that was made today was a unanimous decision and I think it was in the best

interest of the sport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Amanda, there are some interesting sidelines to this. Firstly, Russia can appeal. And I'd be interested to hear your views if that could

be successful. But then you got this possibility of those athletes who can prove they are on a clean regimen, from being allowed to compete, but under

no flag, as a neutral competitor. I mean, that's a nonstarter, surely.

DAVIES: It was very interesting speaking to the IAAF representatives after that press conference. And what they think is that all that allows the

door for his maybe three or four, certainly no more than a handful of athletes to be able to claim their cleanliness and their innocence and

stake their claim to be able to compete at the Olympic Games. They say that those athletes who want to compete under a neutral banner have to be

able to prove, not only are they absolutely clean, but they have had no link whatsoever with the Russian system.

[16:20:00] That means not having lived in Russia in recent times. Not having worked with a Russian coach. Not having worked with the Russian

anti-doping system. So they feel that that is a very, very small number. And that is what Sebastian Coe is going to talk to the IOC, the

international Olympic Committee, about next week. But when you talk about the appeals process the IOC potentially next week could open another door,

but Mikhail Butov, who was the Russian member on the IAAF Council said to me earlier that they won't appeal as a federation as a whole, but they are

getting their lawyers to look at every possible avenue for their clean athletes to stake their claim. But the problem, Richard, is do we know

what a clean athlete is anymore?

QUEST: Amanda in Vienna for us tonight, we thank you.

Tributes from the British capital, to the small streets here in the market town of Birstall. All in remembrance and honoring a fallen MP, in a

moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: The U.K. Parliament is to be recalled on Monday so that Jo Cox's fellow MPs can pay tribute to her. Hundreds if not thousands of people are

gathering at a Parliament Square just next to the palace of Westminster where a vigil has been held. Obviously, flags are now flying at half-mast.

The Prime Minister David Cameron and the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, were both here in Birstall where they laid their flowers in memorial. They

were joined by the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, in the shadow foreign secretary. The PM and the leader vowed that all she stood

for in life will not be forgotten in death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: if we truly want to honor Jo, then what we should do is recognize that her values service, community,

tolerance, the value she lived by and work by, those are the values that we need to redouble in our national life in the months and in the years to

come.

JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, LABOUR PARTY: Jo was an exceptional, wonderful, very talented woman. Taken from us in her early 40s when she had so much

to give and so much of her life ahead of her. It's a tragedy beyond tragedy what is happened yesterday. In her memory we will not allow those

people that spread hatred and poison to divide our society. We will strengthen our democracy, strengthen our free speech. She was a truly

wonderful woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: CNN's Will Ripley is in London for us tonight. He's in Westminster. Will Ripley, the vigil that has taken place, tell me what's

happening tonight.

[16:25:00] WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The crowd has pretty much dispersed here, Richard. And what we're seeing now is what we've seen

throughout much of the day. People gathered here at the spontaneous memorial that has just continued to organically grow as more people dropped

off flowers and tonight they are now lighting candles. But at its peak when there was a two-minute moment of silence when Big Ben struck 8 o'clock

there was easily more than a thousand people who gathered here.

Many people who got off work, they learned about this on Facebook or other types of social media and they came here in silence. And you're looking at

these faces, Richard, and there were young people, there were older people. But they shared this look of disbelief and real sadness for what this

country has lost. What the vulnerable community of migrants have lost. Because they have lost a voice for the vulnerable, for the migrant

community, and also just the family of Jo Cox, those two children and her husband who will not have their mother moving forward.

QUEST: Now one of the things of course, where you are in Parliament Square one of the busiest areas in London, now we know, Will, that Parliament is

to be recalled on Monday. So there must be a feeling, I mean, this is so rare. This is so unusual. This attack on democracy is so serious. That

that must be being reflected in what you're hearing there.

RIPLEY: Absolutely, and the Palace of Westminster as you know, one of the most iconic landmarks in London, and so tourists were coming and they were

shocked to see this behind me. I just got off the plane from the United States this morning. I've been out here all day in the sense of disbelief

of almost confusion about how this could happen here in Britain. As an American who has experienced many mass shootings that the feeling out here

almost reminds me of right after Columbine in 1999 when mass shootings were still something very new for us in the United States and there was that

sense of shock. Whereas now, even after the tragedy in Orlando this week, people were horrified, but it's something that the country has dealt with

time and time again. That simply not the case here.

A shooting death, especially of a 41-year-old MP who got into the government, into the House of Commons because she wanted to server

constituency. She was meeting with the people in her community. Listening to their concerns despite the fact that she was being threatened and she

was getting hate mail as a result of her view that Britain should stay in the European Union with his big referendum coming up next week. She still

did her job, because it's what she loved to do. And the feeling of loss here is just so prevalent, Richard.

QUEST: Will Ripley at the Palace of Westminster in Parliament Square. Thank you, sir. Now, campaigning for the EU referendum won't start again

until at least the weekend, maybe as late as Monday for the big national events. And when it does it will likely have a very different tone from

the debate we saw before this week's events.

Charles Grant is the director of the Center for European Reform. Charles Grant joins me now from London. Look, I'm hearing this again and again.

People are talking about the difference in tone. The lack of vitriol, less poisonous, but Charles Grant, we do not know if there is any connection yet

between the referendum, right-wing extremism and the murder.

CHARLES GRANT, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR EUROPEAN REFORM: No, clearly there is no direct connection at all. And nobody like me, hopes the remain side

wins, is blaming the Brexit side for the murder. However, what people are saying quite widely in the country, is that the atmosphere of xenophobia,

or of hostility to migration, of English nationalism that has been conjured up by some of the more extreme Brexit campaigners, creates a climate in

which perhaps the sort of mad psychotic behavior of the individual that killed Jo Cox is perhaps more encouraged and more permissible. That is

what some people believe.

QUEST: do you see any -- I don't say connection -- but do you see any similarity in the sort of febrile atmosphere that we are seeing in the U.K.

over say the referendum. And for example the very heated environment in the United States with Clinton and Trump and the similar sort of in some

cases, xenophobic policies or suggestions. Are we getting to a situation where it is, play the man not the ball?

GRANT: I think that there are similarities, but the similarities is a little more profound perhaps than what you just said. In that one thing in

common between those who support Trump and those who support Brexit is a great hostility to establishments elites, to experts. And in the

referendum campaign here Michael Gove, a leading Brexit campaigner, has said we place too much faith in experts. Because all the experts or most

of them say we should stay in the EU. And I think Trump again, likes to go against the elite, against the establishment, against the big institutions

in the international organizations. There's a very strong similarity there.

[16:30:00] QUEST: Sir, thank you for joining us tonight, I appreciate your time.

Jo Cox traveled the world helping others. The former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said, "The very last place that she should of been

in danger was in her hometown." And so tributes have been pouring in for her global aid efforts. Will continue that as our coverage continues after

the break. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Good evening to you from Birstall in West Yorkshire in northern England. I'm Richard Quest and we will continue with our coverage. The

reaction and the investigation into the death of Jo Cox. Allow me though, please, to update you with the latest on that and the other news headlines

that were following for you on CNN.

Hundreds if not thousands of people have gathered in Westminster to remember Jo Cox the British MP who was shot and killed on Thursday. The

British Prime Minister David Cameron and the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, travel to the constituencies here in Birstall, where they

paid their respects. The Prime Minister urged the United Kingdom to pause and reflect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Today our nation is rightly shocked. And I think it is a moment to stand back and think about some of

the things that are so important about our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: The Iraqi Federal Police say they've been recaptured the mayor's office in Falluja from ISIS. The city fell to the militants in 2014 and

has been retaken with the help of shared militias and U.S. air power. Iraqi counterterrorism forces have now surrounded the city's main hospital.

Doctors Without Borders says it will no longer accept funds from the European Union in protest of the EU's migration policies. The humanitarian

group says the EU plan which sends some migrants to Turkey has left thousands of people stranded. The group received more than $60 million in

EU funding last year.

UAFA says it will open disciplinary proceedings after violence marred Croatia's match with the Czech Republic at euro 2016.

[16:35:02] several flares were thrown onto pitch from the Croatian end before fans started fighting with each other in the stands. One appeared

to explode as a steward tried to clear it from the pitch. The game was stopped for several minutes. The Czech Republic went on to score a late

equalizer and the game finish 2-all.

Is worth just pausing just a moment and reminding ourselves with all the tributes and all the memories that have come in about Jo Cox. The actual

events that took place on Thursday's attack. According to the West Yorkshire police, which put out a statement about this. Jo Cox was shot at

about 1 o'clock in the afternoon local time. Just as she was meeting with constituents in the building behind me here in Birstall.

The police say a 52-year-old man was arrested close to the scene of the attack shortly thereafter. Weapons including a farron, which was illegal,

according the police, has been recovered. At 1:48, less than an hour after the attack, the 41-year-old politician was pronounced dead by her doctor

who was working with the paramedics.

The police have said that right-wing extremism is, in their words, a priority line of inquiry into the killing. And new details about the

suspect have emerged throughout the course of the day. Our correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, is also and West Yorkshire tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Britain remains in a state of shock and outrage after the violent murder of

parliamentarian Jo Cox. And now details about the suspect have emerged. 52-year-old Thomas Mair is in police custody, British media reports. He

lives alone in this house near Leeds. His neighbor shocked at the news.

DIANA PETERS, SUSPECTS NEIGHBOR: This is totally unexpected. He was very mild-mannered. Kept himself to himself and would never I would've thought

ever even thought of doing this, never mind actually doing it.

PLEITGEN: Labour MP, Jo Cox, devoted a lot of energy fighting to help refugees and people affected by conflicts around the world. Leading to the

question, could racism have been a possible motive in her killing? Thomas Mair appears to have shown interest in white supremacy in the past.

Purchasing material from the American white supremacist group the National Alliance as late as 2013 according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. And

also subscribing to a South African pro-apartheid groups magazine in the 1980s. There are also questions about Mair's mental health. His brother

Scott Mair reportedly telling "The Sun" newspaper that he had, "A history of mental illness, but has had help. We are struggling to believe what has

happened. My brother is not a violent man and is not that political."

According to English media reports, Mair received treatment at this mental health clinic outside Leeds. The clinic staff would not confirm the

reports. Mair also volunteered as a gardener at this park.

PLEITGEN (on camera): Local staff here have confirmed to us that Thomas Mair volunteered here as a gardener, both in 2010 and in 2011. They

describe his presence here as sporadic. Now the local newspaper, he was also quoted as saying that volunteering as a gardener here had done a lot

to help with his apparent mental issues.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Thomas Mair has not been officially indicted as this complex investigation into the murder of Jo Cox in the possible

motives for the killing continue to captivate a nation in disbelief and mourning. Fred Pleitgen, CNN Leeds, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: One of the reasons, of course, tonight that we're remembering Jo Cox is not just as a Member of Parliament who has been murdered, but also

as a humanitarian. Her charity work took her to some of the world's most dangerous environments. Jo Cox went to places like Darfur, Uganda, and

Afghanistan. She worked for Oxfam for many years. And eventually, of course, took that passion to Parliament where she called for the U.K. to

play a greater role in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JO COX, LABOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: does the minister also agree that we urgently now need a mechanism with clear consequences to deter further

barbaric attacks on civilians. I have raised repeatedly in this place the need for a no bombing zone. Will he look again at this now? What is the

U.K. also doing to work with all those of influence over parties to this conflict, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, and Russia to put pressure

on all sides to stop all attacks on civilian targets including hospitals?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:40:01] QUEST: We're joined now by a friend of Jo Cox, Nick Grono, is the chief executive of the Freedom Fund, and antislavery organization.

Nick, we're grateful that you are joining us tonight. This interest, this passion for humanitarian work, particularly course, whether it's Darfur or

Uganda or Syria, do you know where it came from?

NICK GRONO, CEO, THE FREEDOM FUND: Well I think Jo from her college days was deeply passionate about the vulnerable in the marginalized. And when

she was growing up those are the values that were instilled in her and her whole working life. And not just in working life but her whole life was as

committed to living those values. She cared passionately about these issues.

QUEST: In Parliament, she never missed the opportunity to raise them, as we just heard then, and whether it was embarrassing the minister or

demanding answers on something like a no-fly zone or a stronger more muscular response against Assad in Syria. Didn't she?

GRONO: She absolutely doing it and not just in Parliament, she raised it directly face-to-face with the Russian ambassador here in the U.K. She

raised it with anyone who could make a difference. Anyone who had an ability to help shape and change the responses to the horrible conflict in

Syria and many others causes that she believed in. She was relentless and she was fearless and she was passionate and she was tremendously effective

at driving change, and representing those it didn't have a voice.

QUEST: One of the fascinating things being here and West Yorkshire tonight, I was talking to a local person, Nick, and then I said, look it

seems -- it is a million miles away from West Yorkshire to the bombing in the killing fields of Syria. And the person said, "Absolutely not,

Richard. You are wrong. There is a strong Muslim community. There is a refugee community." And so I ask you, Nick, she was able to bridge this

gap and make her work overseas relevant in her own constituency, wasn't she?

GRONO: You know, Richard, you've got it exactly right. I mean, she was such a powerful advocate. She was a truly special politician. You know,

she believed that her constituents believed in the big causes as well as the local causes. She believed very passionately about representing all of

those that were representative of those that were born in the U.K. and those that were born overseas. An amazing to us about inclusion and

supporting and celebrating diversity, which makes it all the more horrendous that she was brutally murdered in this way when she is going out

trying to build support for these really important issues and causes.

QUEST: Nick Grono joining us, the chief executive of the Freedom Fund. We thank you for that.

In what has been a very busy weekend, you'll be aware of the full news agenda that we brought you each evening. Tonight there is now a possible

link to solving the mystery of EgyptAir 804. We first of all, as I told you last night, the cockpit voice recorder had been recovered. And now the

second black box, the flight data recorder, has also been retrieved. It could tell investigators what caused the crash.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:33] QUEST: The second black box from EgyptAir flight 804 has been found. And that brings us almost certainly closer to finding out why the

plane went down. The flight data recorder has been recovered. It was damaged, but investigators were able to re-salvage what they call the

memory unit from the device. It was a similar story with the cockpit voice recorder. The wreckage was recovered from the depths of the Mediterranean.

The plane was carrying 66 people, crashed last month.

The boxes have been sent to Alexandria in Egypt for analysis. If further work is needed, then they will go to France or at least the BEA and the

NTSB also offering assistance. Joining me now from Washington, Peter Goetz, CNN Aviation Analyst and former managing director of the National

Transportation Safety Board. I'm very glad to have you, Peter. One of the things I noticed -- I mean first of all, do you expect them to get a good

read, bearing in mind they have got the memory chips and they are solid- state. They are not like the old tape.

PETER GOETZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes, I expect that they will get a good read. It may take them a week or more, but they will get a good read,

because as you indicated, this is solid-state technology. They will get the 25 hours off of the data recorder that's looking at it. And they will

get a two-hour read off the voice recorder.

QUEST: Now, I was surprised that both of them had been so badly damaged. And the reason I knew, again you will be much more familiar, these things

are designed to withstand tremendous forces. Arguably greater forces than this what had happened here. I'm thinking of German wings. I'm thinking

of other cases, where there have been pretty much intact. What does this tell you, do you think, about what might have happened? The veracity.

GOETZ: it really was -- these were tremendously damaged. And as you said, they are very armor plated. These are heavy pieces of equipment. That

they were smashed as badly as they appear to be tells you that the plane entered the water at an extremely high rate of speed and probably entered

knows first. I mean, I think once we get a look at the wreckage underneath were going to see a terrible tale of destruction.

QUEST: Of course, the Mediterranean Sea will give up its secrets and it will be these memory chips that will reveal all. Are you leaning one way

or the other yet, Peter? Have you heard sufficient, in any regard, that you can think of cause?

GOETZ: It was absolutely essential to make a guess, and Richard, you're putting tremendous pressure on me. I am leaning towards a mechanical and

pilot explanation. That there has been no terrorist claim of responsibility for this tragedy makes me think that something was going on

in that cockpit. And you know pilots are not trained and not experienced to fly at these altitudes. And the Airbus with the sideslip controller,

you know, it doesn't have a wheel like a Boeing plane. The sideslip controllers are very sensitive. And I can work out a scenario where

something was happening and pilots were overreacting and over manipulating the side sticks. But were just going to have to wait and see.

QUEST: Peter, I actually am fully with you on this in terms of the idea of mechanical leading onto pilot. And I'll go further and I'll say we have

two previous examples, Air France 447, AirAsia 8501, and I'm wondering at what point do you think we have to question the fly ability in extremists

of these modern aircraft.

[16:50:00] GOETZ: Well I think, you know, those are two excellent accidents to look back at. And the issue is, are we giving our pilots

enough training and enough experience at flying their aircraft potentially unusual attitudes or difficult situation. I don't think we are. And I

think we're seeing an increasing number of incidents where pilots are not able to diagnose what their plane is doing, and not able to get a solution

on how to fly their plane.

QUEST: The sheer complexity of the modern cockpit. Peter, wonderful to have you on the program tonight. And obviously, once we get more

information from those recorders will be back you to help us analyze and understand what it means. Thank you, sir, thank you.

Our coverage continues and the Vicar of Birstall will be joining me as we remember Jo Cox. This is CNN, good evening to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: There is a somber tone here as you would expect in Birstall, and indeed in large parts of the U.K. following the murder of Jo Cox. The

Reverend Paul Knight, is the Vicar of Birstall and the Reverend joins me now. Good evening, sir. This is your parish. Your church is just across

the way. To the extent that Jo Cox was one of your parishioners.

REV. PAUL KNIGHT, VICAR OF BIRSTALL: Yes, and that she served this area and she's been a part of this area for so long. Particularly, of course,

while she had been serving as a Member of Parliament.

QUEST: Had you met her much? Had you been able to see her much?

KNIGHT: I had met her. She was such a bubbly person and enthusiastic and determined. She was a lovely girl.

QUEST: And her parents, of course, still live in the area. That she has strong family connections, which made it all the more important that she

became the MP.

KNIGHT: That's right, and she was so proud to be able to work on behalf of the people that she had grown up with. And a number of my parishioners

have said, "Oh, I'm so proud of her, because my daughter, my son went to school with her." They knew her. So there's so much contact there.

QUEST: What do you tell the people here who have to understand and make sense of the senseless?

KNIGHT: Well it is senseless and were all reeling from that really. And it's just --

QUEST: As a man of God you're familiar with the refrain, how can God let this happen?

KNIGHT: Yes, that's right. As if God would take over our lives in order us to do everything.

[16:55:00] Your point is that God is with us in the good times and the bad. That's the whole theme of the Bible. That he's there comforting us not

take us out pain, not take us out a difficulty, but eventually helping us through them and make a stronger through the difficulties that come. So

when I'm with people who've just lost a loved one, parents who just lost a child, and those are the times that people want to know what support they

can have from family and friends and from God who's there.

QUEST: And we had the Prime Minister here today, didn't we?

KNIGHT: We did.

QUEST: Did you see the Prime Minister?

KNIGHT: More than that, he came to the church in a private visit and he lit a candle there. He wrote in the condolences book.

QUEST: This is after he left here.

KNIGHT: He went straight --

QUEST: He went straight down here to your church.

KNIGHT: There were about a dozen of us there and he and Mister Corbyn spent about 20 minutes with us there for their own reflection as well.

Because I know that they are going much of what the rest of us are going through in the loss in the bereavement that they're feeling.

QUEST: Reverend, thank you, sir, I appreciate your time coming to talk to us tonight.

KNIGHT: God bless you.

QUEST: Thank you very much indeed. The Reverend Knight there talking to us.

And so we come to an end to our program tonight, which is from Birstall. I'm Richard Quest in West Yorkshire. They investigation continues. The

man is still being questioned by West Yorkshire police. In a matter of a few hours in a few days perhaps the market square will return to normal.

But this is one place in Britain that will never quite be the same.

I'm Richard Quest. The news continues because around the world this is CNN.

END