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Possible Wreckage AirAsia Flight 8501 Found At Sea; Congressman Steve Scalise Under Attack From Both Sides Of Political Aisle

Aired December 30, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE COORESPONDENT: They thought that there was a lot of indications that the North Koreans or whoever was behind this, you know, did a lot to try to pretend like this was coming from elsewhere. And so they even -- they used credentials belonging to I.T. professionals inside the company, for instance, you know. So those are the types of things that they say point to North Korea, you know, the possibility remains that North Koreans might have hired outside help to carry this out. But the North Koreans are responsible according to the FBI.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: I want to expand on that possibility, Mark. If a former employee is working with North Korea in some way, you're a federal prosecutor. What kind of charges are we talking about here?

MARK RACH, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, of course it's always possible. And the charges here, you wouldn't have the normal kind of charges like espionage, what you would have is computer fraud and computer theft, theft of property, theft of information, destruction of property, extortion is another possibility, the -- there's a statute called the economic espionage act or theft trade secrets. So there's lots of things these people could be charged with in this kind of a case.

But again, I'm still not convinced that it was North Korea. The way we look at it, we say, you know, look, they use tools that the North Koreans have used. Well, the hackers share tools all the time. They had a motive. North Korea had a motive. Well, so did an insider.

And then the final thing that the FBI says is well, we have secret information that we can't share with anybody that points to North Korea. And make it difficult to argue against that because you can't see the secret information.

CABRERA: You don't know what you don't know.

Yes. Mark Rach, Evan Perez, thank you, both. We appreciate it.

RACH: Thank you.

CABRERA: Up next, we saw after flight 370 just how a disaster can be made even worse by how the officials handle it. We're looking at AirAsia's approach and respond how it's making a difference as Richard Quest joins me live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CABRERA: We're just a couple of hours away from daybreak where the hunt for AirAsia flight 8501 has turned from search and rescue to search and recovery. Debris from the airbus A320 has been found about six miles from plane's last known location. And the outline of what appears to be the plane on the ocean floor.

Now along with the wreckage, bodies, at least three of them according to the head of the national search and rescue agency. And as wreckage and bodies are pulled from the sea, the hearts of the passengers' families are just breaking. One family especially heartbroken with four family members aboard that ill-fated flight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA EDANG WIRAMI, LOST FOUR FAMILY MEMBERS (through translator): I saw her name on the manifest and wondered if that was really my daughter's. First, I saw my son-in-law's name. I didn't tell my husband because I didn't want him to panic. It was only after I saw my daughter's name and my two granddaughters' names on the list that I told him.

When they explained that not only did they find debris but also found bodies floating in the water, everyone became hysterical, especially the mothers. One mother even blacked out.

Deep down in my heart, all I can do is accept the situation and give this to God. I know this is a big tragedy, but why did this happen to my daughter? I know everyone dies when it's time, but I believe in an afterlife so my way to cope with my loss, I will pray more often and give this to God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes has apologized for the crash. He promises the company will honor its obligations to the families.

I want to bring in our aviation correspondent Richard Quest. Fernandes, he's been out front since the beginning of this crisis. What do you think, Richard? How is the airline handling it all so far?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony Fernandes is one of those CEOs that is right out of central casting. He's larger than life. He's very colorful. I've known him for many years, and interviewed him lots and lots of times. But what's interesting here is that it's his first full-scale airline crisis for the airline that's been around for 12, 13 years. And he's in shock like everybody else.

But what he's done, and it's typical of Tony, he has come to the forefront. If you look at the tweets that he has sent out. First of all, he's a modern CEO, so he's using social media. And what he's been tweeting. This is crucial this one. I as your group CEO will be there through these hard times. We'll go through this terrible ordeal together. In other words, I'm not a corporate suit. I'm not just somebody appointed by the board. This is my airline. And I'm going to see it through and make whatever's necessary. And if you listen, Ana, if you listen to what he said, it becomes clear just how much he's been affected.

CABRERA: Well, he's definitely taking responsibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY FERNANDES, CEO, AIRASIA: The only slight benefit is that for the people in there, there is some closure. This is a scar with me for the rest of my life. It doesn't change anything. And -- but, very little percent, there is at least some closure as opposed to not knowing what's happened and holding out hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, here's the interesting thing, all airline CEOs are told to prepare for the day. The day when they get a phone call in the middle of the night. They practice, they have routines. They know what their role is. But I tell you nothing. I've spoken to them when they've told me. Nothing prepares them for the moment when they have to sit down and realize that hundreds of people have died because of their company.

CABRERA: And he has not shied away from the cameras. He's not, you know, tried to hide any information. And as you mentioned, he's used all platforms besides tweeting. AirAsia is also responding on its web page, taken the usually bright red logo turned to gray. You see it here. It's that circle there in the upper left corner. There's also a box where you can actually click on to get updated information. So, Richard, do you think these small steps have an impact?

QUEST: No question. No question at all. AirAsia built its reputation on its slogan, now everyone can fly. It is the southwest of Southeast Asia. You know, the easy jet. And it's AirAsia in that part of the world. So very much reputational issues are crucial.

That's what it does measures. Tony Fernandes is also the chairman of Queens Park Rangers football club. He's also a Formula 1 team. He has two hotels. So this man's PR instincts are first, are supreme, but also he knows that the future of his airline depends on how he and his colleagues respond to this crisis. And, I have to say, from what I've seen, it's been exemplary.

CABRERA: Interesting. Richard Quest, thank you always.

Up next, this is what it looked like when crews recovered an old plane from the bottom of lake Michigan. How they did it and how it might relate to flight 8501 next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: At some point, crews will have to go below the surface of the java sea to start looking for the wreckage. CNN got interesting insight into what that might look like from a much smaller search on this side of the world near Chicago. Some of the story we first brought to you in May. Here's CNN's George Howell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From up here, the waters look vast and the horizon seems endless. But for this team of salvagers and divers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Airplanes kind of look like airplanes. And so, we're looking for an image of an airplane.

HOWELL: In no way is this the proverbial search for needle in a haystack. Because like the search for AirAsia flight 8501, the crew here knows roughly where to look. And after years of searching charts and records, they find themselves on the verge of a big find.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst of the crash, the more the restore is likely because it proves how good they are. They put it back together.

HOWELL: The depth of lake Michigan, not more than several hundred feet in this area. The team uses sonar to find the exact location and within a matter of minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right there. Right there. See it? Yes. Mother. Look at that.

HOWELL: They find what they're looking for. Divers drop in and take us down below. They capture these stunning images of a world war II bomber that crashed into lake Michigan nearly half a century ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, the engine sank first right away, the other part floated a little bit. And the pieces are there, but about 100 feet apart.

HOWELL: Back then, the great lake served as a training ground for aircraft carriers and pilots learning to land on the short runways. This SBD dauntless dive bomber crashed, though the pilot survived. Salvage expert (INAUDIBLE) hopes to raise money to raise the plane and put it on display in Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You show one of these things a 6-year-old the first time they see them, their eyes light up.

HOWELL: A successful mission finding the submerged plane. But (INAUDIBLE) still hopes to recover the wreckage before locating and raising more planes from the world war II era still sitting at the bottom of the great lakes. The one thing this team knows for certain, persistence and patience do eventually pay off.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: George Howell is joining me live now.

George, I know you reported this story in the spring and one part of your story that caught me is the fact that water is even deeper in parts of it then where this plane wreckage may be for 8501. What's the status of that other search you profiled?

HOWELL: Well, you know, we reached out to the national history and heritage command. And we found out, you know, that the effort to raise this plane and others, Ana. It's temporarily suspended. Mainly because of cost. You know, the cost to recoup and maintain these planes. But as you mentioned, we're looking at something very similar here. The search here in lake Michigan as basically shallow waters. It will be very similar for crews there in the java sea.

CABRERA: All right, George Howell, thank you.

Up next, we'll talk with the son of a passenger onboard flight 370 who has some advice for the families of flight 8501. And for the first time, he talks about the voice mail his mother left for him just before getting on flight 370 that is still missing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Families of the victims aboard AirAsia 8501 are grieving their loss after the flight crashed into the java sea. And there is one group of people who really know all too well what those families must be going through.

Flight MH-370 vanished ten months ago without a trace. Now as CNN's Will Ripley explains those affected by the MH-370 tragedy feel empathy even as they must now relive their own pain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anguish becomes anger. For the families of Malaysia airlines flight MH-370, days of waiting turned to weeks and now almost 10 months. For them, the news from Indonesia brought everything back.

STEVE WANG, MOTHER WAS ON MH-370: The fear about losing someone, the pain, and maybe the desperation.

RIPLEY: Steve Wang feels for the families of AirAsia flight 8501. He knows what it's like to sit at the airport and wait for a plane that never comes, to hope against all odds the person you love may still be alive.

Even after ten months, you're still hoping for a miracle?

WANG: Yes. Though it is painful, but I don't want to give up.

RIPLEY: Wang's mother was only 57. He hasn't spoken her name since March when MH-370 disappeared.

WANG: No, I never said it.

RIPLEY: You've never said your mother's name out loud?

WANG: Yes.

RIPLEY: He still listens to the voice mail she left him just before boarding the plane.

WANG: She want me to pick her up from the airport. And she said I just bring her coat. It's hard to believe that a man my age will cry suddenly.

RIPLEY: So you just turned 26 and your mom wasn't there for your birthday for the first time.

WANG: Yes.

RIPLEY: Of the 239 people on MH-370, 154 were Chinese. Hundreds of relatives spent weeks at the Beijing's Veto hotel. In the grand ballroom, walls became giant message boards, full of prayers for their parents, for their children to come home. Today, it's all gone.

WANG: Nobody talks about it. What will they do? Will they keep on searching for the plane or just give up? I don't know.

RIPLEY: Wang prays for the families of flight 8501.

WANG: I just want them to be strong. Because you are not alone.

RIPLEY: He also prays every day for his mother, one of 239 souls on MH-370 still missing.

Will Ripley, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Up next, a Republican congressman now responding to the revelation that he spoke to a proud white supremacist. But he is getting support from an unexpected source.

And hear the phone conversation between President Obama and the couple that had to move their wedding because of his golf game.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: President Obama gave these couple of newlyweds a pretty good present after he affected their plans initially. The happy couple had to move their wedding ceremony at the very last time because of the president's tee time. Now, the wedding was planned for the 16th hole at the Marine Corps Base. When the president wanted to play the course, they got booted. They had to move the ceremony. But afterwards, the president was apologetic saying he didn't realized they had their wedding and he actually called the couple personally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Congratulations! Sorry for the change of plans, but it sounds like you guys are going to have a good wedding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much. And you're more than welcome to come to the reception at the officer center.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is an open bar.

OBAMA: (INAUDIBLE). Everybody would have to be named.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Congratulations and thank you both for your service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: A lot of laughter there. The couple went on to joke with the president that they actually saw him playing to which he replayed, that must have been kind of painful.

Well, sticking with politics but switching gears a little bit, House Speaker John Boehner is now standing behind Louisiana congressman Steve Scalise as the House majority whip that has come under attack by Democrats largely for a speech that he gave to a white supremacist forum in 2002.

Scalise said he didn't know who group was at the time and he condemned their views. Democrats argue Scalise's explanation, doesn't have to (INAUDIBLE).

Joining us now with more on potential political fallout is Rachel Smolkin. She is CNN digitals executive editor of politics.

Rachel, thanks for being here. We know the congressman issued a statement this afternoon about the time Speaker Boehner came out in support of him. Let's listen.

I will let you do the pleasure of telling us what was said.

RACHEL SMOLKIN, CNN DIGITALS EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF POLITICS: Speaker Boehner is putting his full support behind Congressman Scalise, trying to put this matter behind them. Congress is coming back next week. Republicans are preparing to take over both chambers of Congress and this is not the way they wanted to do it, not the story that they wanted to be dominating the news and the headlines.

Congressman Scalise today said he deeply regrets speaking before this white supremacist group 12 years ago. But the statement is short on details. It does not make clear whether he knew at the time that he was speaking in front of this group or not. So the statement itself is not likely to be the end of the story here.

CABRERA: He kind of just said I spoke to a whole bunch of different groups at the time. It was anybody who would listen to me, basically. Do you think the statement is going to call on the critics?

SMOLKIN: It's not likely to. Again, it's short on details. Yesterday, he spoke to the New Orleans Times (INAUDIBLE). He said he likely spoke to this group. Today he issued a more assertive statement saying he deeply regret this. He shouldn't have it.

Right around the same time Speaker Boehner put out a statement giving his full support to Congressman Scalise. So clearly trying to put this behind the Republicans during this holiday week before the New Year begins. But Democrats are not likely to let that happen and it's important to note, it's not just Democrats who have been criticizing the congressman. A number of Republicans, including conservative Republicans, have criticized him as well.

CABRERA: But House speaker John Boehner has said that's the number three Republican there, Scalise, is going to keep his position as majority whip. You mentioned throwing his full support. I understand there's also some support coming from an unlikely source. Explain that.

SMOLKIN: There is. Congressman Richmond, the state's soul democratic legislator in the Congress had come to his defense saying that Congressman Scalise is not a racist. That they worked together. That he knows his character.

It is interesting to note that even though national Democrats have pounced on him, he is getting the state support. But we will see if the support holds out, if there's another incident that comes to light or more details that come to light about this incident. That could change things.

CABRERA: Does that have any, you know, implications for the new Republican-led Congress starting this new year?

SMOLKIN: Well, it does in the sense of slowing down the momentum. The Republicans hope to have coming off a very successful midterm election for them has now been blunted by this. They had Congressman Grimm resigning this week and then just as they were getting past that, we have the congressman Scalise episode that came to light and again has dominated the news. They really want to be talking about President Obama and cutting taxes and keystone. They don't want to be talking about a speech to a white supremacist group in 2002. So we'll see if they can get their footing back as the new year begins.

CABRERA: All right, Rachel Smolkin at CNNpolitics.com. Thank you.

And finally, an update now on former president, George H.W. Bush. The family's spokesman says he was just released from the hospital today. He is now resting at home. Bush 41, as he is known, was taken to Houston Methodist hospital last week after experiencing shortness of breath and he stayed in the hospital through the Christmas holiday. The former president is now 90, if you can believe it. The family spokesman also says he's very grateful to the doctors and nurses for their superb care.

That does it for me. Thank you so much for being here. "The LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.