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Thousands Pay Tribute to Slain NYPD Officer; Bad Weather Plagues AirAsia Recovery Efforts; 7-Year-Old Survives Plane Crash, Walks to Get Help; New York Honors Fallen Police Officer; Tragedy Exposed Division between NYPD and Mayor; Weather Hampers Wreckage Search; Remember the Dead; Roger Ebert's Rocky Road
Aired January 04, 2015 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thanks for joining me this evening. Six o'clock here on the East Coast.
Our top story today: a sea of blue paying tribute to a fallen hero. Thousands of NYPD officers lined up for more than a mile today to honor slain Officer Wenjian Liu at his funeral. Look at that image.
Liu was gunned down in an ambush on his patrol car last month along with his partner. He was remembered as a devoted family man, a hardworking cop, a proud new husband. He had just married his wife a few months before he was killed.
His widow trembled with tears throughout the ceremony and she thanked her family of blue for attending today's service.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEI XIA CHEN, WIDOW OF OFFICER WENJIAN LIU: He was always there when anyone needed something. When Wenjian wasn't working, Wenjian cared a lot for the Chinese community. He always wanted to do his best to help and support. The very community that he was part of, Wenjian (INAUDIBLE) well-loved by his friends, colleagues, and our extended family that is here today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: I think her words touched so many people today.
Our Sara Ganim joins me now.
You were there, Sara. What did his family have to say? I know other family members spoke as well.
SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Poppy. I was there and it was incredibly powerful to hear from them, but also very insightful for those of us who didn't know Officer Liu personally, we got to learn a little bit about who he was. For example, we learned that he loved to fish. We learned that he was very generous with the Chinese community here in New York City. We learned from his younger cousin that he went by the name Joe after he moved here to the United States with his parents when he was just 12 years old. That younger cousin also told a very adorable story about how he was much younger, he was upset one day and Joe gave him the very first souvenir that he ever got when he came to the United States.
I want you to listen to what that young cousin had to say. It was very moving for the crowd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COUSIN OF SLAIN NYPD OFFICER: He was the most caring and thoughtful cousin that anyone could have. He would go out of his way to make sure we were always happy and taken care of. He put pride and honor into our family. He was a role model for many, myself included, and will continue to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GANIM: Poppy, you mentioned that sea of blue. And I have to say, I was sort of near the front of it, but you could see nearly a mile down the road, there were hundreds of police officers ling the streets but then thousands as you looked the long way.
And many of those came in from out of town. They were not just NYPD. We knew that JetBlue flew in for free more than 1,100 police officers from different jurisdictions across the country. I saw and talked to many of them. I saw officers who came from as far as California, Virginia. I saw officers who drove in from Cincinnati so that their patrol cars could also have a presence there.
It was really amazing to see the amount of people that came together. Not just police officers but also members of the community.
HARLOW: A remarkable scene, a remarkable moment.
Also, what stands out is a controversial moment when we saw, Sara, some of those officers turn their back when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio gave his eulogy. This despite the fact that their commissioner asked them not to do that, again, at this funeral.
What was your take?
GANIM: That's right. We know that they did it last week at his partner, Officer Rafael Ramos' funeral, and they did it in what appeared to be much larger numbers last week. Probably because that memo was issued, a plea, pretty much, asking them not to do it again.
I did see some officers turn their backs, but in my opinion, it was much, much fewer numbers than we saw last week. Maybe out of the 450 that I could see just in front of me, maybe 50, and some of those were even out of town officers.
The pictures that we saw from last week's funeral, those were incredibly powerful, and the memo mentions that because it says, look, you know, this is a funeral, and this is something that I heard from many of the people there as well, there's a time and a place for that grievance with the mayor, but this funeral was not that time and place. And so, we saw a lot of officers who did not participate in that. Felt that this was a day to remember Officer Liu and not to speak out against the mayor.
HARLOW: All right. Sara Ganim, thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting.
Let's talk more about the funeral with three former NYPD detectives, Harold Thomas, Michael Sapraicone, and also, Tom Verni.
Thank you for being here, gentlemen. I appreciate it.
Let me go to you first, Michael. I want you to listen to the sound coming from Pat Lynch, the head of the Police Benevolent Association, after the funeral, defending those officers who did turn their back. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK LYNCH, PRESIDENT, PATROLMEN'S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION: I think it's a very emotional time for every New York City police officer, and every citizen. We buried two hero police officers. Police officers feel like they were turned upon by city hall and we have a right to express our opinion as well and they did respectfully. Not inside a church, not inside the service, but outside where it should be done, on the streets, like we have a right to do. This was an organic gesture that started on the streets of New York and it should be respected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Still, Michael, their boss, their commissioner, Bill Bratton asked them not to do this. What's your take?
MICHAEL SAPRAICONE, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Poppy, first I want to send my condolences to the Ramos and the Liu family --
HARLOW: Yes.
SAPRAICONE: -- to thank them for the ultimate sacrifice their family, their husbands, and fathers took. The sacrifice that the three of us I'm sure had thought about many times and thank God that we never had to take that.
But I think this is an inappropriate time for this. Certainly, there's problems between the New York City Police Department and the mayor, and that's not the time right now to deal with this. Those are issues that have to be dealt with at another time and another place.
This is a respect for two officers who gave that the ultimate sacrifice. I'm not -- when one says, I understand what he's talking about, and as a police officer, we all understand that, but this is a time when we need to think about Detective Liu and Detective Ramos, and what they went through. HARLOW: And I wonder what you think, Harold. I mean, you served for
29 1/2 years and instead of all the focus being on this amazing man that Officer Liu was, 32 years old, you know, came to this country at 12 years old as a Chinese immigrant, built this incredible life for himself, just got married. We're talking about more officers turning their back. This takes away from -- do you think this takes away from him?
HAROLD THOMAS, RETIRED NYPD POLICE DETECTIVE: Yes, it did. I mean, it was a beautiful -- it was a beautiful service. When you hear them eulogize him, I thought to myself, wow, this is the kind of guy you want to be a police officer, he sounds so compassionate and like he really was good at his job.
And for them to mar that moment, you know, to -- I think it was just a stain when they turned their backs. It was very disrespectful. The family invited -- they wanted the mayor to be there, so they should have respected the family's wishes.
HARLOW: Tom, let's talk about this, as someone -- you served for 22 years. Some of the comments who stood out to me today, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton saying Liu believed in the possibility of a city free of fear. FBI Director James Comey giving a eulogy, saying, we make a life by what we give and they have chosen to make the most remarkable lives, especially for those of us that they protect.
Talk to me about being a beat cop, being on the streets, leaving your family every day to go do this. The sacrifices made that Wenjian Liu made.
TOM VERNI, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: He made the ultimate sacrifice. I think we all knew taking the job that we did that there was always a possibility that we might not come home or might not come home in one piece. And I'm sure we've all had experiences that we've had people that weren't the most pleasant people to deal with. And when you're in this business, you're not dancing with angels.
So, we -- I'm sure between the three of us, we could trade a number of war stories to corroborate that. But being a community policing officer, beat officer which the NYPD no longer has beat cops -- don't forget, they lost 7,000 or 8,000 police officers compared to what they had prior to 9/11, just through attrition. And they didn't rehire that amount as those people left.
So, that's a big problem, too, because there's a manpower issue where in order to have beat officers in those precincts, you need to have officers available to do that. Aside from -- now, it's no longer cops and robbers. It's cops, robbers, and terrorists.
It's a whole significant portion of the NYPD that goes 24 hours, 7 days a week to counter what happens in the terrorism realm which Harold could, you know, relate to, and then we go out and fight your day-to-day crime as well. It's something we all think about from the time we put the uniform on to the time we walk back in and go back and do it all again tomorrow.
HARLOW: Yes, and the beautiful images today, seeing that sea of blue --
VERNI: Yes.
HARLOW: -- out there. We'll play them for you again if we can put them on the screen. A remarkable scene, all those people, thousands upon thousands honoring this great officer and all that he did for all of us.
Gentlemen, thank you. We'll be back with you later in the show to talk more about this.
Coming up next after a quick break, we're going to talk about another top story. AirAsia Flight 8501, the search for the wreckage and recovering the bodies. Will search teams catch a break? The weather has made the hunt for the plane nearly impossible and left several questions unanswered, but there could be hope as the weather turns.
We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Well, today marks the eighth day in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501. A preliminary report from Indonesia's weather agency says bad weather was likely a factor in the crash. Still, though, there is that question of what brought this jetliner down. What they are saying is that ice may have damaged the jet's engines, weather also hampering recovery efforts. Crews battled big waves today as four more bodies were pulled, recovered from the Java Sea.
So far, crews have recovered remains of 34 of the 162 people onboard.
Our Paula Hancocks of on a boat in the search zone throughout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're within sector four of the search area for the AirAsia flight, and today, most of the crew on this ship certainly and other officials were hoping for a break in the weather to be able to give the teams a real chance to try and find bodies and debris.
Now, as you can see, the conditions are less than ideal. Many of the crew here are keeping their eyes peeled to see if they can see anything, as we are within the area where some bodies and debris have been found. But you can see how challenging it is, the fact that as soon as you see something in the distance, it disappears behind a wave, and then it's very difficult to try and spot it again.
Now, the captain, himself, I just spoke to him, he said he's not particularly happy to be out with this kind of boat in these kind of weather conditions. He said this is not necessarily a big challenge for the bigger boats but for this small boat, it is. And you can see the conditions for yourself.
But, of course, what his mission is, at this point, is to deliver supplies and specifically deliver equipment that will help in the search for the so-called "black boxes" to one of the largest ships up ahead. We've been told by so many officials that the biggest obstacle in trying to find all of the bodies and trying to find the fuselage and main parts of the plane is the weather.
And, of course, it is monsoon season here in Indonesia. It is not going to be calm conditions out here. And as you can see, it's certainly not.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, on the Java Sea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Paula, thank you for that. We'll have more on the severe weather that is really hampering the search effort coming up here at the half hour.
But, right now, let me bring in Alan Diehl. He's a former NTSB investigator, author of the book "Air Safety Investigators: Using Science to Save Lives One Crash at a Time." Also with us again this evening, retired U.S. Navy diver Bobbie Scholley, and CNN safety analyst and former FAA investigator, David Soucie, and author of "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Why It Disappeared and Why It's Only a Matter of Time Before This Happens Again."
Thank you all for being here.
Let me begin with you, Captain Scholley. The searchers are having a very hard time battling, battling this weather in the Java Sea. Walk us through a procedure trying to recover most importantly these bodies, all of these bodies and I know time is of the essence, and then they're grappling with all of this very difficult weather.
CAPT. BOBBIE SCHOLLEY (RET), FORMER U.S. NAVY DIVER: Yes, it is a very challenging diving and salvage operation because of the weather and the seas. The divers are standing by, they're waiting for any break in this weather in order to get divers in the water. The ships and the sonar equipment is out there mapping out the debris fields so that the divers know exactly where to launch as soon as they get any break in the weather.
And I understand from reports today that some of these big items of debris are in a little bit shallower water than what I had heard previously, maybe even shallower than 100 feet. And that's good news because now the divers, especially the scuba divers, can stay down a little bit longer than I had previously heard. So, if they're in less than 100 feet of water, then the scuba divers can stay down for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, if they can get in the water. But we still have to wait until the weather clears a little bit more to get them in the water. And then they still have problems within those currents on the bottom of the ocean and the poor visibility.
HARLOW: And let me ask you this, Alan, this preliminary report from Indonesia's weather agency says that the engines of AirAsia 8501 may have iced. We don't know for sure. This is preliminary. I want to qualify it with that.
But given that, could that bring a plane down?
ALAN DIEHL, FORMER NTSB ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR: Well, absolutely, and of course, we know there's several types of icing. We saw problems in a crash called air Florida where the crew didn't turn on the deicing/anti-icing. Of course, hail is often part of these thunderstorms. We saw DC-9 go down in Georgia in 1977.
So, it could be a factor, but until we get the black boxes, this is all speculation in my opinion.
HARLOW: David, as a former FAA investigator, it's surprising to me, frankly, that we get this preliminary report from the weather agency saying that we don't even yet have the black boxes. Do you think it's just too soon?
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: It really is, and it is extraordinary that they would have put this out at this point. Sure, there's weather. Sure, there's ice. It's too early to conclude that that had anything to do with this accident and I'm quite surprised in my investigations and all those in the FAA, NTSB.
It's a matter of gathering the information first. The analysis comes subsequent to that. And to put information out like that right now and speculate is really extraordinary. I'm not sure why that happened.
HARLOW: Because there's lot of concern, especially, David, given what happened after MH370, all the misinformation to families. What should the airline be doing? I know the CEO there has really been pretty quick to jump on any speculation and say, we're not sure yet.
SOUCIE: That's right. And the CEO has done a fantastic job, think, of doing just that.
The other thing that's happening is that the passengers and the families -- excuse me, the families of the passengers -- have been briefed. They're continually being briefed. The NTSB and FAA have started after investigations, a daily routine of doing that.
The information has to go to those family members first. If it leaks out to the news or the team starts separating the information, it can really paint a picture that is not accurate whatsoever. All of those facts and details are interconnected and have to be put out together as an analysis and as a good report and not simply leaked out like it was in 370.
HARLOW: Right. All right, guys, thank you very much. Stick around. We're going to talk about this a little bit later in the hour.
Also, our experts are going to answer your questions. So tweet us your questions about AirAsia Flight 8501, #8501qs.
Also coming up next, another heartbreaking plane crash and a 7-year- old showing courage beyond, far beyond her years, desperately trying to find help for her and her family as the sole survivor. That's ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Well, Sailor Gutzler's family was heading home from Key West, Florida, on Friday. Her father, it is believed, was piloting a twin engine Piper PA-34 plane heading from Mt. Vernon, Illinois. But there in rural Kentucky, Sailor's whole world was ripped away. The plane crashed killing her mom, her dad, her sister and her cousin. It ended up on the ground upside-down.
She was dressed in just shorts and a t-shirt, fighting, fighting for her own survival. She had a broken arm. It was 38 degrees outside and she ran for help. She knew she needed to get help.
But first, she tried to wake her family. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. BRENT WHITE, KENTUCKY STATE POLICE: After trying to raise -- after trying to raise her family and get them to communicate with her, I think even touching some of them as she was coming out of the aircraft, after she was able to -- she told us she was able to get out using her uninjured limb. And in doing so, she did not see any lights at all at the house. She thought about, as I've already stated, trying to use a stick somehow. Obviously, the woods was damp. It was misting. That wasn't successful.
So, she just started walking to find help, and she could not see any lights at all until she got out of the wooded area that she'd been wandering in for probably a considerable amount of time, and once she saw the street light, or a light there by Mr. Wilkins' home, that's where she -- that's the direction she headed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Wow. And that house where she went and knocked on the door belonged to Larry Wilkins, the man you see right there. He opened the door and saw her covered in scratches, walking through briers and bushes in the dark. He called 911.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITE: Mr. Wilkins said she was very shook up when she got to the house, but he had already begun tending to her injuries with a washcloth and getting her cleaned up. But I was literally struck by how calm she was able to -- and the ability for her to give us information, you know? She was obviously distraught but probably in shock, but she was able to amazingly give us very detailed information at that time. She indicated to us that she believed her family was deceased, but that she hoped that they were just sleeping.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: And joining me now to talk about this, absolutely incredible, incredible ordeal, David Soucie, former FAA investigator, and also the author of "Why Planes Crash."
David, it is remarkable. Have you ever heard of anything like this before? Sole survivor in a crash of a six-seater plane?
SOUCIE: I'll tell you, it's more common than you might think. I've done two accidents, in fact, in which this was the case.
One of them was a very famous person that was up in Aspen, and I can't use her name, but she was in a helicopter accident, and everyone else died in the accident except for her. And she made her way out and during the investigation, we were driving up in snowmobiles trying to find out where this helicopter had crashed, and here she came walking right down the road. It was just -- it's an amazing feeling to know that someone survived.
The second accident was an aircraft that I was doing the investigation, there was no evidence that there was any kind of survivor whatsoever. We were at the accident the following morning and I was sitting there asking my colleague, boy, I wish that there was a survivor to tell us what happened, and indeed, the pilot walked up right behind us and said, I'll tell you exactly what happened.
So, there's always a reason for hope in aircraft accidents. And although I don't want to give out false hope, but families can and should continue to hope.
HARLOW: But how, as an investigator, then, do you deal with a 7-year- old girl being the only survivor? In terms of obviously you want to ask the survivor what happened, but you have to tread carefully when you're talking about a 7-year-old who lost her entire family.
SOUCIE: Yes. It's so important not to have that person alone, especially a child. That person needs to be with someone that loves them, that they trust, that can spend time with them. It's a balancing act, though, because as time goes on, if it's some quizzical or some riddles that need to be answered, you have to get the answers quickly or they'll soon forget the shock and the trauma will take them completely out of their mind as if it never even happened.
So, it's a balancing act for sure, but the most important thing is to keep their mental health and their stability in check and have someone with them that they love and care for, lot of times we use models or things like that to ask them to communicate with us what happened, but rarely talk directly to that survivor.
HARLOW: Yes. Absolutely. David Soucie, thank you for joining us.
Our thoughts with the entire family, especially 7-year-old Sailor right now. Appreciate it.
SOUCIE: Very much.
HARLOW: Coming up next, in New York, the police commissioner right here in this city asked his force, all of his officers, not to turn their back on the mayor. Today, once again, some officers defied him. The NYPD now standing divided, not just against the mayor but some of them defying their own commissioner. How can we move forward? How can the wounds be healed? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Well, we have been following the funeral of New York City Police Officer Wenjian Liu here in New York City. You're looking at the Empire State Building, a live shot for you now of that. Lit in blue in honor of that fallen officer. A touching tribute from the city to those two officers, Officer Rafael Ramos and officer Wenjian Liu who were shot and killed in December.
Thousands of police turned out today to show their support for Wenjian Liu. He was gunned down sitting in his patrol car with his partner, Officer Rafael Ramos back on December 28th. The 32-year-old had only been married for a couple of months. He was tearfully remembered today by his widow as her hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEI XIA CHEN, WIDOW OF WENJIAN LIU: A caring son, a loving husband and a loyal friend. You are an amazing man. Even though he left us early, I believe that he is there with us and his spirit will continue to look after us. He will keep an eye over us so as to protect us.
Wenjian's my hero.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: It was a beautiful ceremony for a man who will be remembered by everyone. We all thank him for his service.
Let me bring in three retired NYPD detectives who served this city for a very long time. Harold Thomas, Tom Verni, and also Michael Sapraicone.
Thank you all for being here today.
Let me start with you. What stood out to you most today in the service that we saw for this officer?
HAROLD THOMAS, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: Just the testimony on what type of man he was and what type of officer he was. You know, if more NYPD officers were like Detective Liu, we wouldn't be having these problems that we're having today. That's my belief.
HARLOW: Really? So what are you saying? Are you saying that you think that there is a problem within the NYPD?
THOMAS: There's a small percentage of officers that I think at times abuse their authority and cross the line.
HARLOW: So your reaction, guys, to that?
MICHAEL SAPRAICONE, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Obviously there's a problem, and it's a communication problem I think to begin with. I mean, there are some contractual problems and this is something that has to be worked out. They have to sit down. I know they began to sit down. But we need to have unity among the leaders in the communities, among the police officers, among the police officers and leaders.
So it's a discussion that this is -- this is kind of like an eye in a way. This isn't -- the real problem isn't what's going on with the officers turning their backs. The problem is there's been so many disgruntled employees, so many problems with the way the police are looking at what the mayor's done and what the mayor is looking at the way police are handling things. This needs to be sat down and worked out.
HARLOW: Tom, there is going to be an overhaul, a three-day training -- retraining of all of the officers.
Reacting to what Harold said, I'd like your reaction. Do you think that there is a systemic problem within the NYPD? I mean, he said if more officers were like Officer Wenjian Liu, we wouldn't have this problem. Do you think that this retraining is needed?
TOM VERNI, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, I think there's always room for improvement when it comes to training. There's always -- you can always train cops better than what they currently are, without a doubt. And -- I mean, I think we could probably all agree that, you know, we've probably dealt with officers that aren't the most pleasant people. But by and large, I think -- I think the overwhelming majority of officers are professional.
They go out and do a very good job day in and day out. Put themselves out there to risk their lives on the behalf of others selflessly, and do follow the rules and regulations. But as Harold had mentioned before, yes, there are definitely some without a doubt. There's always a lot of rotten apples in the barrel, especially a barrel as big as the NYPD.
HARLOW: I think -- and I was going to say, I think you're talking about thousands of people in any profession, right?
Let me -- let me show you this video, we'll have some images of some of the officers today at this funeral who did turn their back when Mayor de Blasio was speaking and they did that partly in response to some comments that he made on December 3rd. So let me have you listen to those.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: Chirlane and I have had to talk to Dante for years about the dangers that he may face. Good, young man. Law-abiding young man. Never would think to do anything wrong. And yet because of a history that still hangs over us, the dangers he may face, we've had to literally train him as families have all over this city for decades in how to take special care in any encounter he has with the police officers who are there to protect him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Harold, in your opinion, did those comments -- did they warrant the reaction that we've seen from -- some of the officers? THOMAS: No. I don't see why people are getting so offended about it.
It's just a reality. I can only speak as an African-American who grew up -- I was born and raised in Brooklyn and I know what it's like to be stopped and frisked. I know that, you know, you can have an interaction with the police and it can go from zero to 100 real quick as a modern rap record goes.
I know that, you know, it can turn really negative real quick. And sometimes it's the person's fault and sometimes it's not. You know so to have that conversation with your child, you know, I think that's anything any responsible parent would do. Like I said, I had to have the same conversation with my son.
HARLOW: We'll see what happens moving forward because now that these two officers have been buried, we do need to move forward as a city, the police force, the mayor, for everyone that lives here in New York City.
Guys, thanks you very much for joining us. Thank you for your many years of service to this city as well.
THOMAS: You're welcome.
SAPRAICONE: Thank you.
HARLOW: Coming up next, search teams could finally get the weather they need to find Flight 8501, that AirAsia flight. We have been looking at your Twitter questions about the missing plane and any clues to finding out what may have happened. We'll answer your questions next.
You can tweet us #8501qs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: Dawn is breaking on the ninth day since a commercial airliner went down in the waters off Indonesia. So far only a few pieces of the plane, some of the wreckage, 34 of the victims have been recovered. Today the remains of four more people who are on board AirAsia Flight 8501 were pulled from the Java Sea. 162 people were on that plane. Only nine of the 34 bodies have been identified thus far.
As for the plane, the main wreckage is still hidden in the water, but search crews say that they can see a piece of the wreckage more than 50 feet long on the bottom. They used sonar to find it. Getting to it is the problem especially with this difficult weather. High winds, high waves, really awful conditions for searchers to spot things floating in the water. Today, it was supposed to be a big improvement in the weather, but it wasn't.
CNN's Tom Sater joins us from the CNN Weather Center.
Tom, it seems like they can't get a break.
TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: For the last three days they've had to suspend at least a part of the operation. They're working with windows. When the weather, you know, gives them a little bit of a break, then they get out.
But it's more than just these tropical downpours, Poppy, and it's more than just a bad and inclement weather at the search area. It's all the staging zones from Surabaya Airport well to the south, to Pangkalan Bun, up to the north and the coast of Borneo. More on that coastline here as well.
The winds have lightened up. And that's great news. We're looking at the best weather in the last five days I think and that is beginning right about now. It's almost 7:00 in the morning. So the sun is up. We have a little bit of a drift in the winds. The waves are not going to be 10, 13, or 16 feet high.
Now the ocean current has been moving northward. And that's when authorities on the coast of Borneo have told local fishermen, do what you can on your daily catch to look. And they're also going to send teams here. But this is not a pristine beach. This is not where we have sands where in a distance you can see something drift onshore.
This is heavy vegetation, jungle like, thick reeds and heavy grasses, very marshy. In fact even with all the runoff, anything that does get lodged into this could be covered with that mud and muck and the silt that comes off from the heavy rain. So this is a tedious process. And they do believe that there are items that are most likely on that southern coast.
When if t comes to the winds, the best news we've had in days. The bright colors of yellow and orange are not to be seen. The last three days, almost the entire Java Sea, was covered with winds that were in excess of 25 to 35 miles per hour. And that is not the case.
Doesn't mean they're not going to have rain, Poppy. There's going to be rain, but at least the seas are down enough where even teams from the USS Sampson got out to test on their gear. With the USS Fort Worth is there as well. And they've got a tow fish, it's a side scan sonar. I'll show you a picture of that.
We do have some rainfall in the area and it's building in from the east. This is not untypical. I mean, this is going to be this way. On a scale of one to 10 we're not going to find days that are 7's, 8's, 9's and 10s. But we'll take a 6 even though rain has moved into the area. But here's that towed fish. So at least they're getting an idea that the waves are coming down. They can deal with that.
And it's just been about safety really, Poppy, getting the dive teams to their locations.
HARLOW: Yes. Let's hope they can get the best weather possible.
SATER: Right.
HARLOW: To do the important work they need to do.
Tom Sater, thanks very much. Appreciate it.
And all of you out there have been sending us your questions on Twitter about this plane. There are still so many questions so let's get to some of them.
Joining me now, our experts Alan Diehl, former NTSB investigator, also Bobbie Scholley, former Navy captain and Navy diver, and CNN air safety analyst, former FAA investigator, David Soucie.
Guys, thank you all for being here. Let me get to this first question. It's frankly a very hard one to ask. But a lot of people are writing it into us saying some of the bodies that the searchers are finding are naked, they don't have any clothes on. And they're wondering if there's any significance to that.
What's your take, David?
ALAN DIEHL, FORMER AIR FORCE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR: Poppy, is that for Alan?
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Definitely evident -- sorry.
HARLOW: Go ahead, David.
SOUCIE: Go ahead. Was that for me? OK.
HARLOW: Yes.
SOUCIE: Yes. The bodies are definitely at this point considered evidence and there's things that you can draw from the bodies, but as far as being naked or not, or having clothes, there's some clues you can get, but after the fact that these bodies have been in the ocean as long as they have, it'd be hard to determine whether it was from open air fall or if it's from tumbling in the water. So at this point, it'd be too early to say which one caused that.
HARLOW: And, Alan, if you wanted to weigh in on that as well because I know time is of the essence here in terms of recovering these 162 victims.
DIEHL: Absolutely, Poppy. I guess I might disagree a little bit with David there. I've worked with these kind of accidents before, and if you find the bodies unclothed, that suggests they were probably -- and I stress the word probably -- ejected at high speed. What I had to do as an NTSB investigator is look at the -- once they identified the bodies, look at the seating chart and that may tell you how the aircraft broke up in flight.
Now, yes, sometimes the water can remove the clothes, but the clothes come off differently when it's high speed wind blast, Poppy.
HARLOW: It's just so hard to think about.
Bobbie, let's talk about the search. One question that we got in is this. Why can't military submarines be used in searching for underwater debris from the AirAsia Flight? It's a good question.
BOBBIE SCHOLLEY, FORMER NAVY CAPTAIN AND NAVY DIVER: It is a good question, but I think they have all the right assets out there with the surface ships and with the side scan sonar. Those are the right assets for searching for what they're doing and to map out the debris field.
We want a map of that debris field that then the search commanders can map it out, give the coordinates to the divers, have the divers set up where they need to be, so as soon as the weather clears, get the divers and the ROVs down there to look at it with their eyes, to see what they have. Whether it's an aircraft wing or whether it's the fuselage with the victims and the black boxes. Those are the best assets for what we're searching for, not a submarine.
HARLOW: Understood, guys. Thank you very much for the expertise.
For all of our viewers, keep sending us your questions about this plane. We'll do our best to get to them. Thank you very much.
Also as we continue to follow the story, the CEO of AirAsia accompanied the body of the first crew member identified in last week's crash home to Surabaya, Indonesia. She was a flight attendant who had a passion for flying and died fulfilling that dream. The woman's family shared their memories of their beloved daughter with our David Molko.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Step by step, toward their final resting place, each bearing a number, each number a soul. Casket 4 no longer nameless but identified as the first crew member of Flight 8501 still wearing her uniform. Her name, Khairunisa Haidar Fauzi, or Nisa, as she's affectionately known by her family, including her father Haidar and mother Rohana.
HAIDAR FAUZI, KHAIRUNISA'S FATHER (Through Translator): Nisa is an obedient daughter. She's always tidy. She loves to learn. Lots of her friends love her.
ROHANA FAUZI, KHAIRUNISA'S MOTHER (Through Translator): Just like her dad.
MOLKO: In the family hotel room, Nisa's parents smile and even offer a laugh as they share their memories.
(On camera): She cared about her family.
R. FAUZI: Yes.
MOLKO: Very much.
(Voice-over): Pictures from their daughter's Instagram account show a poised young woman with a giving heart, her mother says, and an adventurous spirit that took her hundreds of miles away from the family home in Sumatra.
R. FAUZI (Through Translator): It's a dream. It's fun. She's never complained. She already knew the risk.
H. FAUZI (Through Translator): She knew the risk but she loved this. It was her dream. She loved traveling. MOLKO: Their reflections in our interview suddenly cut short by a
phone call. The call no parent ever wants to get. Leaning on Nisa's two older brothers and cousins, their smiles vanished, replaced by a sense of urgency and finality.
A few hours later, a solemn transfer of remains. Her parents say they've already made preparations for their daughter's burial as she begins her final journey home.
R. FAUZI (Through Translator): Good-bye. Good-bye, Nisa.
MOLKO: David Molko, CNN, Surabaya, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: When the Academy Award nominations are revealed the late legendary film critic Roger Ebert may be on that list. Not as a critic but as the star of the new CNN documentary about his life. Here's a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER EBERT, FILM CRITIC: The name of our show is "Opening Soon at a Theater Near You," two film critics talking about the movies, and this is Roger Ebert with the "Chicago Sun-Times." And right over here is Gene Siskel from the "Chicago Tribune" and Channel 2 News.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gene and Roger were sitting kind of pinned in director's chairs looking into the camera, very seriously. Talking about the movie.
EBERT: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" just had the audience tearing up their seats with joy.
GENE SISKEL, FILM CRITIC: Yes. And also tearing up a little of my enjoyment of the film, they were applauding even during the credits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was stiff and wooden.
EBERT: When Foreman backs up and tries to make his big points about the establishment and --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But there was something there. It was interesting to hear two people who knew what they were talking about talk about a movie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Joining me now, Michael Musto, film critic, author and columnist for out.com.
Thanks for being here.
MICHAEL MUSTO, COLUMNIST, OUT.COM: My pleasure. HARLOW: I love this movie and not just because it's a CNN movie
airing tonight at 9:00. It is a great film. It is --
MUSTO: And I'm pretty sure it's going to get that Oscar nomination. It really is terrific.
HARLOW: And you do think it is going get the Oscar nod.
MUSTO: But it doesn't only tell Roger's story. A new story of his battle with cancer is evolving as you watch the film because he actually died four months after it was filmed. But he was incredibly brave in opening his life at that point to the cameras.
HARLOW: But that was part of him. He wanted everyone to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. He wanted them -- he wanted people to know that maybe he wasn't the nicest guy before he met his wife, Chaz, who really transformed him personally.
MUSTO: It is a worth in all documentary, and Chaz is as brilliant as Roger was but she has more on her feet on the ground and she was a stabilizing force for Roger. Of course, one of the running themes is his ongoing battle with Gene Siskel.
HARLOW: Right.
MUSTO: His rival critic. They were rivals before they even hit the television set. They were rivaling for who was going to be the king of the Chicago critics. Once they hit their TV show "At the Movies" they really became vicious. But what you see in the film is a grudging respect that they actually had for each other.
HARLOW: And in the end, their -- you know, their widows said that they loved each other.
MUSTO: You could see the love because they wouldn't have battled each other unless they thought they were worthy opponents.
HARLOW: Sure. And respected each other. One little known fact about Roger Ebert, I didn't know this before watching it, he also co-wrote the cult classic "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." You reviewed it calling it that 1970 fantasia of drugs, music, and lunacy. How important was his contribution to film writing?
MUSTO: Extremely important. He wrote not just that film but other cult films with Ross Myers, the cult director. And that movie in particular has become a classic for the midnight movie crowd. It's influenced by Charles Manson and rock 'n' roll and all kinds of things of that era. And it's actually pretty hilarious, knowingly so. It's not unintentionally funny.
HARLOW: And there are some great clips from it, by the way, in the documentary. You have made some Oscar predictions. You think that this is going to make it on the list. I wonder what stood out to you most watching this, and just about Roger Ebert. What was it about him that made him so special? MUSTO: He really loved life and he loved movies, and his reviews were
intelligent and brilliant but accessible so everyday Joe could read them and yet the intellectual crowd loved him.
HARLOW: That's what I felt. Like he wasn't pressured to, you know, use the smartest word or the most complicated word in his reviews. He so wanted to talk --
MUSTO: Yet he won the Pulitzer Prize.
HARLOW: Yet he won the Pulitzer.
MUSTO: But also he wasn't afraid to evaluate his opinion of a movie. And as years went by, he would say, you know what, I like this movie better than I thought. And Siskel had an opposite point of view where he would say, we have to have a very stringent set of rules here about movies.
HARLOW: Interestingly, Martin Scorsese is in the film. And he became friends with Scorsese. But then even after that friendship would give him some pretty tough reviews on I think "The Color of Money"?
MUSTO: He could not be bought. You know. And that's why people respected him even more and wanted to befriend him. And one thing he learned by Siskel as a negative example, is that when he Siskel developed cancer, he didn't tell Roger. Roger was very hurt. This is in the movie as you'll see. And Roger vowed that he would be the poster boy for whatever illness he ever came down if that happened. And it did happen.
HARLOW: And he showed -- you'd see it all.
MUSTO: And you know what, he kept writing, through the cancer, through the procedures. He couldn't talk or eat properly. But he kept on writing those reviews and it kept him going. And when he finally died, he was at peace. He said I had the life that I want to.
HARLOW: And many would argue his voice came to life even more when he could no longer speak. But he spoke through his writing.
Thank you so much.
MUSTO: You're going to make me cry again.
HARLOW: It was -- I cried throughout. It is a fantastic film.
MUSTO: Get the tissues out.
HARLOW: Thank you so much. Get the tissues out. For coming in.
You can see this amazing journey of Roger Ebert. Watch it tonight right here only on CNN, "LIFE ITSELF," 9:00 Eastern.
I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. We'll be back in just a moment. Quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thank you so much for joining me this evening. 7:00 Eastern here. And we are following what is a very sad day for people here in New York City. An incredible sight today on the streets of New York. Take a look.
Thousands of officers, NYPD officers lined up for more than a mile honoring their fallen brother, Officer Wenjian Liu, his funeral held today. He was gunned down, assassinated in his patrol car just last month along with his partner.
