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NEWS STREAM

Bush Fires Threaten Homes In Southern Australia; Search Area For AirAsia Debris, Victims Increases; A 7-year-old's Harrowing Survival Of Plane Crash; Wenjian Liu Laid To Rest; Cars Dominate Opening Of Consumer Electronics Show

Aired January 05, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Krsitie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now more victims from the crashed AirAsia flight have been found, but stormy weather is hampering recovery efforts.

Bush fires threaten homes in southern Australia.

And why the latest battleground for technology is your car. We're live at the Consumer Electronics Show.

The aerial search for victims and debris of the downed AirAsia plane has been called off for the day, but the search continues on board ships at

the surface.

Now these images show some of the debris that's been recovered so far, but the progress has been slow largely because of persistent storms across

the region.

And a short time ago, this was the scene in Surabaya. Here you see a somber procession with coffins carrying the remains of three more victims

are brought ashore.

And all 37 bodies have been found, 13 of them have been identified, only a fraction of the 162 on board.

Now nine days into the operation the plane's black boxes have yet to be recovered.

Now Paula Hancocks spent more than 15 hours on a search vessel to see what conditions the crews are up against.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The deserted beaches of west Borneo, Indonesia, belie the horrors out at sea.

More than 100 nautical miles to the search zone, calm waters and sunshine soon disappear.

(on camera): Now we've been on the sea now for about four hours. We've got another three or four hours to go. And as you can see, the weather has

started to close in the closer we get to this crash location. But we're being told that even though these waves are fairly high, and you can see

it's a lot choppier than it was, that this is still considered fairly good weather. This is better than it has been for some days.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The crew look for debris and bodies. One of them spots something. He's unsure what exactly. The captain calls it in. A

larger ship in the area will investigate. This search and rescue boat has a specific mission, to deliver a pinger locater to help with the vital search

for the so called black boxes. But the captain is nervous about the weather.

"I feel a heavy moral burden," he says. "I have a responsibility to keep those on board safe. But it's so important to help find bodies and

debris. Larger ships can cope with these conditions," he says. "This is not a large ship."

Sector four (ph) of the search zone, the contact boat is in sight. Time to hand over the equipment. Easier said than done.

(on camera): One of the men who's in charge of that equipment was going to jump across, but, quite frankly, he doesn't want to now. He said

it's simply too dangerous.

(voice-over): Next job, transferring the boat from which to operate the equipment. A task the crew struggles with until dark. He will have to

admit defeat, at least for today. An exhausted crew returns to land with only half a mission accomplished.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, in the Java Sea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: As you saw just there very, very difficult conditions at sea.

Now over the weekend, the search area was revised. It has been extended eastward on the surface of the water.

Now the head of the Indonesian search and rescue agency says the current has likely caused bodies and wreckage to drift in that direction.

But the priority surface and underwater zones highlighted in red on the map here, they remain the same.

Now we have learned that the families of the victims will be allowed to visit the search zone if they choose to.

Now trips are being arranged that will take them to the area by boat so they can throw flowers into the water, or simply grieve closer to the

site where their loved ones were lost.

Now for now many have been gathering at a central location in Surabaya.

Now David Molko shows us what it's like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is where the families of those aboard flight 8501 have been spending their days. It's an auditorium

inside East Java Police Headquarters. But for these families it's a place of agony, a place to grieve and a place to wait.

I want to give you a look around. This caught my eye here on the front wall. This is a list of the 162 passengers and crew onboard the

flight, 162 souls presumed lost at this point.

Nearby, there's a medical area. This is where families have been coming and giving information about their loved ones -- dental records,

fingerprints.

On the other side of the room, a prayer hall, a space for quiet contemplation, room to think. Family members telling me that's all they

really can do at this point is wait and think about what may happen next.

More than a week now into the search and families say they're growing tired of not having enough information or enough results about their loved

ones. They can, though, come look here about the search plans for the day. This shows the shifts in the priority area 28 today.

Over here, the plans for the airplanes and helicopters over the search zone in the Java Sea. This one, perhaps the most sensitive, a list of all

the remains that have come back from the search zone to the police hospital in Surabaya. At this point, a few of the names been filled in. Some of

them, though, are just numbers awaiting an identity, a person, a soul.

Well, there's frustration here with the pace of the search and of course the weather. Inside this room, there is still hope.

Imam Sampurno (ph) had four relatives on board the flight, including two young grand daughters. And he tells me in his heart of hearts he still

believes they might be alive.

David Molko, CNN, Surabaya, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now let's go live now to Surabaya for the latest on the search. CNN's Anna Coren is there. She joins us now live. And Anna, how

close are authorities to finding the main body of the plane and the black boxes?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kristie.

A very good question. The way that they're going at the moment, you know, this is a painstaking search, the reason being is the weather and

also the search area. I mean you talk about those strong currents moving bodies, this is a reality; so is the fact that there is so much mud on the

bottom of the ocean floor, which is really causing problems for divers.

I mean, they went down yesterday. There was zero visibility. 57 divers went in today when there was a small window where they could get in

the water. Once again they experienced the same sort of problems. It's because of the swells, the waves, you're talking about one to three meter

waves. And then of course the rain, the storms that come through.

We are in the middle of the monsoon season. So this is the pattern that we are going to see here in Indonesia over the coming days and coming

weeks. So it just hampers the search and recovery effort and makes it that much more difficult to locate the plane.

But as we know, they have identified four objects through sonar. They are yet to make contact, if you like, with those particular objects. A

fifth objects, which was hoped to be the fuselage that was 18 meters in length, that today was ruled out as shipwrecked. So, that is not part of

the plane wreckage.

However, at the close of today when they decided to close -- to terminate the search for the day, they did announce that they had

identified another object in the Java Sea through sonar. They are yet to identify it as such, but certainly an encouraging sign that they are

finding more objects, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Anna, victims' families, we have to talk about them because nine days on still no answers for many of them. What is being done

to help ease their uncertainty as well as the feeling of loss?

COREN: Well, look, another three bodies were located today. They were retrieved, they were being brought in by coffins and flown here to

Surabaya to the hospital where they are being handed over to the disaster victim identification unit.

You know, authorities telling the families who they met in the building behind me in the crisis centers saying that every single body that

is found will be identified.

Now, because we are now at day 9 it is highly unlikely that they'll be able to use the skin on the finger, the fingertips, to make those IDs.

They're going to have to resort to teeth and bone moving forward. And the families have given DNA samples. That's a process that's been underway for

several days now. The majority have been received.

But certainly for the families, they've been offered a trip up to the search area, up to Pakalanbun (ph), which is where the headquarters for the

search and recovery operation is based. They will be flown up there in military aircraft and then taken out on boats to the search area, weather

permitting of course, where they can then hand flowers. They can say prayers. They can pay their respects to their loved ones. But certainly

it's not going to bring them back.

What these families desperately want, Kristie, is for the bodies to be returned to them so that they can then give them the proper burial and

bring some closure. I know it's a cliche, but it will end this particular period of suffering in their life.

LU STOUT: No, for sure. Indeed and these families, they are so desperate for answers, to find that sense of closure and to find and

identify their loved ones. Meanwhile, there are very difficult and challenging conditions at sea both above the water and below the water.

So, tell me about all the assets of being involved here in this very difficult search and recovery operation. How many ships, aircraft, have

been pledged are now involved in this operation?

COREN: Well, definitely is an international effort, there is no doubt about it. You know, the USS Fort Worth, an American ship, it is out there

as is the USS Sampson. We know that the Russians are involved, the Malaysians are involved, the Singaporeans are also involved. There were

Australian federal police that we saw a little bit earlier today, they are also part of this. They are helping with the forensics.

You know, Indonesia is no stranger to disasters. Take into consideration the Bali bombings back in 2002, the tsunami in 2004 in which

170,000 Indonesians were killed, well the same people that are identifying the remains of the bodies on board AirAsia flight 8501, they were the

people who were working with the tsunami and working with the Bali bombing victims.

These are very experienced people, but there are other assets being brought in to help with the identification process.

But we're talking about planes, helicopters, boats, divers, they're just waiting for the weather to ease up so that they can get in there and

hopefully, using this sonar equipment on board the USS Fort Worth that's been used over the last couple of days sort of mapping the ocean floor that

with that they will find the debris then hopefully the bulk of the passengers still believed to be within the wreckage. And then of course

those vital black box flight recorders, which people hope will have information as to why this plane crashed on the 28th of December.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and hopefully they'll find it soon. All the search teams are racing against the weather as well as time. Anna Coren reporting

live from Surabaya, Indonesia thank you.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come, a battle is raging in southern Australia against the worst bush fire in 30 years.

We'll tell you what firefighters say is threatening to fan the flames.

Plus, Britain's Prince Andrew faces an allegation he had sex with an under-aged girl. Now Buckingham Palace is ramping up its defense of the

royal.

And surviving a plane crash was only the first step in a 7-year-old's journey to safety. What she had to endure to find help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now a raging bush fire has driven thousands of people from their homes in south Australia. And firefighters are trying to contain the blazes.

But this is a battle against time. With high temperatures and strong winds are forecast to return on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Entire neighborhoods engulfed in flames. This is the worst Bush fire to hit southern Australia in 30 years. Dozens of homes now

destroyed. Residents devastated over what they have lost, but lucky to have made it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a lot of smoke. And as we got to the top of the hill we saw the flames as tall as the trees. And then we knew we

were in trouble.

LU STOUT: Thousands of people have had to flee their homes since the fire began on Friday afternoon. It quickly spread and in just over 24

hours had burned more than 12,500 hectares of land.

More than 700 firefighters, including those who have come from neighboring states, are battling the flames. Hot weather continues to

complicate efforts at fighting the flames. The county fire service has warned flare-ups could be a concern for the next two to three weeks.

Now police are investigating exactly what caused this blaze that's left serious damage in its wake. So far, though, perhaps luckily, it has

not taken anyone's life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now let's take a look at where this is happening. Now authorities warned that the fire is burning out of control around the area

of Sampson Flat. It is a suburb just east of the city of Adelaide.

Now, North Korea is lashing out at the U.S. over a new set of economic sanctions. Now Pyongyang says the sanctions are repugnant, hostile and,

quote, "groundlessly stirring up bad blood."

Now the sanctions come after the FBI blamed North Korea for last month's Sony computer hack.

Now Will Ripley joins us now live from Beijing with more on the story, and more on North Korea's angry response to these new sanctions.

Will, what is Pyongyang saying?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and Kristie we were expecting fiery rhetoric once the United States announced that they would be

launching this new round of sanctions targeting specifically North Korea's weapons export business, which is a big money maker for the DPRK. They've

publicly named for the first time individuals operating all over the world in places like Iran, Russia, Africa, Syria, these are North Korean

officials doing the bidding of Pyongyang, selling weapons, bringing in cash that helps the United States believe fund the cyber activities that they're

accusing the North Korean government of.

And so whether these sanctions will have a significant impact, that has yet to be seen. But certainly it'll make it more difficult for them to

bring in U.S. currency, which is of great value to them. And this also shows that the U.S. government is moving forward. They strongly believe

that North Korea was behind this hack.

One thing interesting, Kristie, in their statement that the state media put out quoting the foreign ministry, they've been watching the

international news coverage. They know that there is some skepticism among cyber security experts who say that the Sony hack might have been inside

job and not connected to North Korea. Pyongyang certainly jumping on that saying that the U.S. is simply using these sanctions to try to validate a

shaky case against them.

LU STOUT: And I'm curious, how will these sanctions punish North Korea. North Korea was already feeling the pain under previous and

existing international sanctions. So in this new round of sanctions from the U.S. who will feel the most pain?

RIPLEY: That's a great point, Kristie, because North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world.

These sanctions, according to the United States, are designed to target the regime, the regime that relies on cash to maintain a luxurious

lifestyle for the very most elite in Pyongyang, also cash for cyber activities, for military development. North Korea's whole ideology is to

put the military above human rights.

And by targeting these specific individuals and these three government agencies that deal with cyber activity, defense and weapons exports, the

U.S. believes this will not hurt the North Korean people who the United Nations believe, at least many of them, are certainly malnourished and

already struggling as it is.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Will Ripley reporting for us. Thank you, Will.

Now you're watching News Stream. And coming up next, Britain's Prince Andrew accused of being part of an underage sex ring. What Buckingham

Palace has to say about this allegation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now in a rare move by Buckingham Palace, it is yet another denial over allegations that Britain's Prince Andrew took part in a sex ring involving

under-aged girls. Now Prince Andrew has not been charged with any crime. And this latest royal statement even names the accuser.

Now, it first surfaced in a civil suit filed against a U.S. billionaire. Let's get the very latest on this story from Max Foster. He

is tracking the story from Abu Dhabi. And he joins us now live.

And Max, how is the palace responding to all the accusations and managing this crisis?

LU STOUT: Well, they've responded a lot, which is very rare, because they don't normally comment on ongoing legal proceedings. But the issue

here is that there have been some severe allegations laid towards Prince Andrew in a court in Florida. And he isn't party to any of that. So he

doesn't have legal representation there. So severe allegations and the palace has felt the need to respond.

So initially there is a response about the general allegations that he was having sex relations with under-aged girls and then the specific

response to specific allegations from one woman who is about 30 years old and was 17 at the time of the alleged offenses.

The palace came up with this comment over the weekend, and it's very strongly worded for them. It's emphatically denied that his royal highness

the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts, the lady at the center of this. The allegations made are

false and without any foundation.

And when we talk about the allegations, they're all linked to Prince Andrew's former friend. He's a billionaire banker in the U.S., Jeffrey

Epstein, a convicted sex offender as well. And it's alleged that Roberts acted as a sex slave for him and his friends, one of them was Prince

Andrew.

So, she's saying that she was forced into sexual relations with Prince Andrew across three years from 1999 in London, in New York and at Epstein's

home on the U.S. Virgin Islands where in fact there was an orgy with other under-aged girls involving Prince Andrew. Severe allegations.

He wasn't party to the legal action, though, so that's why the palace is responding, Kristie.

LU STOUT: The palace has categorically denied these allegations. And amidst all this, where is Prince Andrew? Is he maintaining a low profile?

What does he plane to do next?

FOSTER: Well, he's trying to. He's on holiday, a skiing holiday with his daughters and his ex-wife Fergie as well. And he since came back. He

back last night. He's in London, presumably having meetings with his officials and with his lawyers. Some suggest that he's going to be meeting

the queen.

The queen was also dragged into this to a certain extent, which would have worried the palace in particular, a suggestion that she had met

Roberts. But they're saying there's no record of that at all.

That was the fourth statement, Kristie, in relation to this, extraordinary unprecedented communication from the palace on this one.

LU STOUT: Yeah, a very rare move from the palace indeed. Max Foster reporting live for us. Thank you, Max.

Now to new details about a 7-year-old who survived a plane crash in the U.S. State of Kentucky and then had to walk through a forest to find

help.

Now the crews hauled away the plane's wreckage on Sunday. And U.S. aviation officials will now investigate what went wrong.

Nick Valencia has more on the young survivor's story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 7-year-old Sailor Gutzler is the only survivor of a plane crash that killed her family. On

Sunday, Kentucky state police detailed her remarkable journey to get help.

LT. BRENT WHITE, KENTUCKY STATE POLICE: During the flight, something went wrong. And what she knew from that point was something to the effect

that the plane was upside down. Her family on board was unresponsive. She utilized her non-injured arm and hand to free herself from the aircraft.

VALENCIA: Sailor emerges from the plane to see a small fire at the crash. In the pitch black, she thought about lighting a stick on fire to

guide her way through the woods. But it didn't work out so she begins to walk in the dark.

WHITE: She didn't have very much clothing on at all. She began walking, and it's estimated that she walked for probably around 15 to 20

minutes, maybe more, in the wooded area before she was able to see a light at the residence of Mr. Wilkins.

VALENCIA: At home in rural Kentucky, Larry Wilkins had just finished watching the local evening news when his dog started barking, and he heard

a knock at the door.

LARRY WILKINS, FOUND 7-YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR: I went to the door and there was a little girl about 7 years old, crying. Not bad, lip was quivering

pretty good and she was bloody, had a bloody nose. And her arms and legs were scratched up real bad. And she told me her mom and dad was dead.

VALENCIA: Wilkins later learned Sailor tracked through grizzly terrain, navigating ditches, briar patches, and at one point even a 12 foot

creek bed.

WHITE: At the scene, we were talking about that being some divine intervention there because she absolutely went to probably the nearest

house that she could have.

VALENCIA: The NTSB and the FAA are investigating the exact cause of the crash. As for 7-year-old Sailor, she was treated for minor injuries

and released from the hospital.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Wow, an incredible story of survival. And again that little girl only 7 years old.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still ahead on the program, it's time to look at what's on offer and on show at this year's CES, the

Consumer Electronics Show. Some trends are taking off, although the concepts never quite make it off the convention floor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. You're watching News Stream. And these are your world headlines.

Now new pictures show some of the debris from AirAsia flight 8501. The aerial search for more victims and wreckage has been called off for the

day as teams again encounter harsh conditions in the search area. 37 bodies have been recovered, and just 13 have been identified.

Now firefighters in south Australia are racing to contain a bush fire. At least 29 people have been injured, dozens of homes destroyed east of the

city of Adelaide. Now stronger winds and higher temperatures are in the forecast.

Officials have suspended the search for eight crew members whose cargo ship capsized off the coast of Scotland. An extensive air and sea search

on Sunday failed to locate any of them.

Now meanwhile, 25 crew members were rescued from a ship that ran aground off the coast of southern England.

Now the trial for Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is beginning with jury selection. Now the 21-year-old is faced with 30 counts

for the 2013 attack along with his late brother. Now three people were killed and 264 were wounded in the bombing. The Justice Department has

resisted removing the death penalty as a possibility.

Now we take you to Las Vegas where the tech world is engaging in a different kind of gamble.

Now the consumer electronics show, or CES, is one of the world's biggest consumer technology trade shows. And every year, exhibitors show

off their latest gadgets, hoping they'll take off with consumers.

Now for more what to expect this year, Samuel Burke joins me now live from Vegas. Samuel, good to see you, good to see you there in Vegas. Cars

seem to be taking center stage early on right thre at CES. What have you seen there?

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there's a lot about drones, Krisite, here. There's a lot about cyber security. But the cars have come

right out of the gate. And once again there's a focus on driverless cars, which makes me a little afraid because of what happened to me last year in

the driverless car. But Chevy Volt, instead of doing their big thing at the Detroit Auto Show, they're getting a sneak peak in here just for a few

seconds they showed off the Volt.

Now the Volt was debuted here in 2008 with a lot of criticism, because it needed premium fuel, it really couldn't go that far on its electric

charge, but now they're saying it's not going to need premium petrol, that it's going to be going a lot farther. But in true CES fashion with the

cars, they kind of just gave us a peak and didn't show us much more than that.

LU STOUT: And Samuel, I remember what happened to you last year with the driverless car. Don't be afraid, Samuel Burke, don't be afraid, the

technology will only get better.

And while we're on the topic of technology, let's talk about television. And the hype behind 3D TV at past CES expos, there was so much

hype and it turned out to be only that, just hype. What is going to be the next big innovation in TV tech in terms of television. What do you expect

to see there at CES?

BURKE: You hit the nail on the head, Kristie, it was all hype. And we were all a bit dubious last year. It seemed fun and exciting, but it

was hard to see how people were going to adopt those big glasses and put them on in their living room. And indeed people didn't do that. And in

fact I haven't seen one 3D television in this whole fair yet. So I hope nobody invested in those.

We did see a lot of what's called SUHD, so first you had HD, then you had Ultra HD/4K, and now Super Ultra HD televisions. So that seems to be

the big theme this year. And a lot of what's called quantum color.

Now you hear all these definition and alphabet soup and number soup and it sounds kind of ridiculous at times. But I have to say I saw these

quantum color televisions last night starting with Samsung, and I could notice the difference right away. And I think in the future, we're all

going to be adopting these really high color televisions.

And I really felt like I saw colors in the television sets last night that I had never seen before in real life or on a television set.

But 3D is definitely gone. And get ready to hear about SUHD. It'll probably be in your living room and hopefully we will have even more make-

up because god knows what we'll look like in that type of definition, Kristie.

LU STOUT: That's right.

SUHD and also quantum TV, too. Oh, my goodness, we just have to see it to believe it.

And finally, Samuel, I know you're across everything from drones to wearables to internet of things, but what are you personally looking

forward to from CES?

BURKE: The thing I'm most excited about is cyber security, because people are sick and tired of their passwords. None of us can remember

them. And what I'm seeing here, a lot of people looking for different ways to get rid of the password.

I think security was going to be a big theme here anyway, Kristie, but after the Sony hack everybody is talking about cyber security here.

One of the apps that has me really excited is an app called 1U. And I've been testing it out along with the founder of the company who is here

with us. And this app actually replaces your password with a selfie. It connects to your social media accounts, your email accounts, your back and

credit card accounts. And instead of typing in your password, you just take a selfie and this free app for Android and iPhone detects to see if

you're alive. So, Kristie, you can't just steal my selfie and get into my accounts. You hold it up and it's detecting your face, looking at your

pupils to figure out if you're really who you are and that you are alive.

And that type of technology really has me excited. I don't want to become the victim of a hack the way that Sony was. So, a lot of talk about

apps like 1U and other cyber security methods and ways to keep yourself safe here at CES. If we're going to have the internet of things, we're

going to have to have the internet of protecting things as well.

LU STOUT: Yeah, nobody wants to get hacked. And also we desperately need a more elegant password solution, that could be one of many out there.

We'll see. Samuel Burke reporting live from Las Vegas, giving us the highlights of what to expect from CES. Thank you. And enjoy the show.

Now, CES has been the launching point for many famous products. The show has seen the unveiling from everything from the XBox to the VCR. But

it's worth noting that its importance has diminished over the years.

Now Microsoft used to be one of the show's biggest names, its CEO used to kick off the show with a big keynote speech every year. But Microsoft

stopped doing the keynote in 2012.

Now that decision follows a recent trend by major electronics makers. If they have something important to show, they will unveil it at their own

event. It's how Sony introduced the Playstation 4, it's how Samsung showed off the latest Galaxy Note, it's how Apple operates.

Now Apple has not attended CES for decades. And they actually unveiled the iPhone in 2007 in San Francisco and while CES was taking place

at the exact same time in Las Vegas.

You're watching News Stream. And after the break, imagine this 28 hours stuck on a plane, that's what these unlucky air travelers had to

endure after fog caused delays at the airport in Abu Dhabi. You've got the details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now thousands of police officers and citizens lined the streets of New York as funeral services were held for officer Wenjian Liu. Well, hailing

from the Chinese immigrant family, Liu was remembered as a good man who fulfilled the American dream.

As Andy Rose reports, despite the somber occasion, some officers against showed their disapproval of the city's mayor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEI XIA CHEN, WENJIAN LIU'S WIFE: Even so he left us early, but I (inaudible) he is still with us.

ANDY ROSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of mourners crowded a Brooklyn funeral home Sunday. They were gathered to say a final goodbye to

New York police officer Wenjian Liu.

Liu and his partner, officer Rafael Ramos, were gunned down as they sat in their patrol car in December.

A cop for seven years, Liu was also a husband, married for only two months. His widow remembered his kindness.

CHEN: The caring son, a loving husband, and a loyal friend.

ROSE: New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said that Liu believed in trying to make the world safer.

WILLIAM BRATTON, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: It's why we do what we do. It's why we run towards danger when others run away.

ROSE: Mayor Bill de Blasio told mourners, Liu and Ramos embodied everything New Yorkers aspire to be.

BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: He walked a path of courage, a path of sacrifice, a path of kindness.

ROSE: De Blasio's presence was not without controversy. In recent weeks, he has faced criticism for supporting peaceful protests against

police. Outside, as they did at Ramos's funeral, some police officers turned their backs as the mayor began to speak. Earlier police commissioner

William Bratton had issued a memo asking officers not to repeat that gesture. Inside the somber service carried on.

CHEN: Wenjian is my hero.

ROSE: As the ceremony ended one final, tearful goodbye.

I'm Andy Rose reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now passengers on a flight from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco, they were fuming after being stuck on the plane for nearly 28 hours.

Now dense fog in Abu Dhabi made things slow and passengers say that Etihad Airlines, it was grounded on the tarmac for some 12 hours, that's

before they had to make that lengthy journey on to San Francisco. Passengers said that there was little communication about what was really

happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIIFED MALE: They kept telling us that we were going to leave, you know, 15 minutes from now, 20 minutes from now, 30 minutes from now for

12 hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flight attendants were fighting with us and we were fighting with the flight attendants.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Etihad has a website, but there was no updated information on the website.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Etihad Airlines has apologized for the delay.

Now that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, because World Sport with Amanda Davies is up next.

END