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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

More Bodies Recovered from AirAsia Crash; Boston Bombing Trail Begins; Congress Back in Session; Prince Andrew Sex Claim Again Denied; Controversial Call Helps Cowboys Beat Lions

Aired January 05, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: divers in the water searching for victims and searching for wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501. Investigators focused on finding the black boxes to figure out what went so horribly wrong. This morning, a big setback to tell you about in the search. We are live with the latest ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening today: jury selection begins in the Boston marathon terror trial. What victims of the attack are saying about the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

ROMANS: Bracing for battles. The new GOP-led Congress back in session today. Will we see compromise or gridlock? Or something else?

BERMAN: C, singing. Musical theater and tap.

ROMANS: That would be entertaining.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It's Monday, January 5th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And this morning, a setback to report in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501. At least one of the large objects discovered by the search teams, it has turned out to be part of a ship, not the aircraft. Officials have been scouring the Java Sea, hoping to find more wreckage, also bodies. At least three bodies have been found so far today.

The crucial piece of evidence will be the black boxes, but still, no progress to report their this morning, no pings. Over the last few days, searchers have found several objects that they believed could be connected to the fuselage, but the discovery of one of them, I think the biggest, just shows how arduous this process is.

Let's turn to CNN's Anna Coren live for us in Surabaya in Indonesia.

Anna, what's the latest?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, as you say, another three bodies located late this afternoon and that takes the number that have been retrieved to 37. A total of 13 have been identified. But we are talking about 162 passengers who were -- and crew, I should say -- who were onboard AirAsia flight 8501 that left here Surabaya on the 28th of December, early morning. Lost contact with the control tower 42 minutes later. It's believed that it hit bad weather and then crashed into the java sea.

Now, we don't know the cause of the crash, obviously, we are waiting to find those black boxes that have the vital information. But as you say, there have been in pings, no signals, whatsoever, detected from those flight recorders. So, the search continues.

In the meantime, the families, they are desperately waiting for news. Obviously, those three other bodies found this afternoon, two males and one female. They are taken to the recovery center. They have been flown here to Surabaya where they are then identified. And that's the difficult task, speaking to the officials running that. They say they are racing against the clock because the bodies are decomposing in these warm tropical waters of the Java Sea. And the longer they are there, the more they will deteriorate.

So, there won't be any fingerprints to locate. They will have to go to teeth and bone to make those IDs, which is a much longer process.

Officials here have offered to take the families to the search site. Something they can then give flowers and say their prayers and perhaps ease their suffering and their pain. But, you know, this, as you say, John, will be such a long and arduous process ahead. You know, they have only found four items of the wreckage at the bottom of the Java Sea.

Weather is extremely difficult. Storms are constant. Divers have a window of opportunity to get down there today, but visibility is poor because of all the mud at the bottom of the ocean sea floor. So, this is a process that could take, you know, weeks, if not months, to trace the wreckage of the plane, to find the bodies and then also track the black boxes, John.

BERMAN: Anna Coren for us in Surabaya -- thanks so much, Anna.

ROMANS: A leading Senate Democrat says President Obama needs to hit back harder against North Korea. Outgoing Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez says the president was too tame when he described North Korea's alleged hacking of Sony Pictures as cyber vandalism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: The one thing I disagree with the president on is when he characterized the action here against Sony by North Korea as an act of vandalism. You know, vandalism is when you break a window. Terrorism is when you destroy a building.

And what happened here is that North Korea landed a virtual bomb on Sony's parking lot and ultimately had real consequences to it as a company and to many who work there. So, I think there has to be a real consequence to this, otherwise you will see it happen again and again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: On CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION", Menendez called for stronger measures like putting North Korea on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Meantime, Pyongyang is lashing back at new sanctions saying they will only strengthen its commitment to military first policy.

Correspondent Will Ripley standing by live in Beijing with the latest.

Good morning, Will.

And, you know, Menendez there criticizing the president and his response to North Korea. But the President Obama on vacation in Hawaii did add to the sanctions against the North Korea government.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Christine, North Korea a heavily sanctioned economy. These sanctions will make it more difficult for North Korea to do one of its big money making business, which is exporting weapons, because they're publicly naming officials who are operating in places like Iran, Russia, Africa and Syria. These people have never been named before. Now, it will be more difficult for them to conduct transactions, certainly difficult for them to conduct transactions in U.S. dollars, which North Korean needs desperately because they're a cash-strapped economy.

But the true effect of the sanctions has yet to be seen. The North Korean economy is pretty isolated. Their strategy, it appears now, is to attack the United States and the perceived lack of evidence that North Korea is actually behind this hack. CNN and others have reported that there are some private cyber security experts who believe it was an inside job, that North Korea didn't orchestrate the cyber terrorism against Sony. U.S. government, by launching these sanctions, of course, is showing that they strongly believe that they have credible evidence that North Korea was behind this.

But for Pyongyang to say, look, you know, a growing number of people, internationally, don't believe the United States and the U.S. is essentially sanctioning us to validate its shaky case, that is the strategy that Pyongyang appears to be using, trying to paint the U.S. as a bully -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Will Ripley for us thank you so much for that this morning, in Beijing, Will.

BERMAN: Six minutes after the hour.

The terrorism murder trial of accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev begins this morning with jury selection. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Tsarnaev. He is charged with plotting the 2013 marathon bombings. Along with his late brother, Tamerlan, that killed three people and injured more than 260 others.

Bombing victim Heather Abbott lost her foot in the attack. She says she will be in the courtroom during the trial. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER ABBOTT, BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING VICTIM: Several people that I am now close with will be testifying. So, I want to be there to support them. I think, you know, this is my only chance to kind of experience what this might bring for me if there's any sort of closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: We spoke with other survivors. They say they will be in the courtroom as well. For so many of them, it is important to be there. Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him.

ROMANS: Washington bracing this morning for the return of members of Congress who reconvene tomorrow. Republicans will formally take control of both chambers for the first time in nearly a decade. But gridlock may rule. GOP leaders seem intent on gutting Obamacare, at least nullifying parts of it and undoing the executive actions of President Obama. The president says he will work with Congress, but his veto pen will be at the ready.

BERMAN: House Speaker John Boehner will face a challenge for his job -- not serious, more symbolic. Texas Congressman Louis Gohmert announced Sunday that he is offering his name as a candidate for speaker. Gohmert says that Boehner's tenure, quote, "After years of broken promises, it is time for change."

ROMANS: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has taken another step toward a possible run for president in 2016. Huckabee announced this weekend that he is ending his FOX News show, calling it a necessary move as he explores a second presidential bid. Huckabee says that no final decisions will be made until the spring.

BERMAN: President Obama is making South Asia a foreign policy priority to start the New Year. The president and Secretary of State John Kerry plan to visit India later this month. And then, the secretary will likely head to Afghanistan and Pakistan probably before the president host Afghanistan's new leaders at the White House in February.

ROMANS: Time for an early start on your money.

Asian and Europeans stocks are mostly down this morning. The euro is at a nine-year low against the dollar. Investors expecting the central bank will start bond-buying stimulus measures at some point here.

U.S. stock futures also lower before the second day of trading of the year. Not much movement of stocks so far. Here's the experts analysis for the year, though. Experts polled by CNN Money, they expect solid, but smaller gains this year, 6 or 8 percent. It has been three fantastic years for stock investors.

Oil prices still having trouble finding a floor, frankly. Crude oil hit a new five-low this morning, sitting about $52 a barrel. That price has been cut -- that chart right there is just simply unbelievable. Gas prices sliding and with it the average price of a gallon of regular, $2.20. That's the lowest since 2009.

And one of the reasons you are seeing the European currency fall so much against the U.S. currency. They are worried about negative inflation in Europe. They're worried about with all these plunging oil prices going to mean destabilizing to the European economy. The whole bit is just really interesting here to start the year.

All right. Nine minutes past the hour. Happening now: an investigation into what caused the deadly plane crash that killed everyone onboard except for one brave 7-year-old girl. You will never believe how she made it to safety. We've got that ahead.

BERMAN: Plus, a tribute to for a murdered New York City officer, but it's how police treated New York's mayor that is making headlines, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Federal investigators are hoping to speak to the 7-year-old Illinois girl who miraculously survived a plane crash in Kentucky that killed her parents, sister and her young cousin. Sailor Gutzler walked a mile in near freezing temperatures to find help for her family after the small plane went down in the woods Friday night. NTSB officials say Sailor's account of the crash could help them determine what cause it.

Listen to Kentucky police who are simply blown away by the little girl's courage and her remarkable resilience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. BRENT WHITE, KENTUCKY STATE POLICE: I was literally just 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. After trying to raise her family and get them to communicate with her, and I think even touching some of them, she indicated to us that she believed her family was deceased, but that she hoped that they were just sleeping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: NTSB officials removed the wreckage of the family on Sunday. Funeral arrangements for Sailor's family are still pending. But she marched through those woods trying to find help, found a house about three quarters of a mile away, unbelievable.

BERMAN: Remarkable story.

Some New York City police officers again turned their backs again on embattled mayor, Bill de Blasio. This happened on Sunday during the mayor's eulogy for murdered New York Police Officer Wenjian Liu. Hundreds of officers turned away from a video feed of de Blasio after the police commissioner, Bill Bratton, asked them to keep politics out of the funeral. But some bridges seem to be burned. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY RICHTER, PRESIDENT, NYPD CAPTAINS ENDOWMENT ASSOCIATION: I think there is a anti-police environment in the entire nation right now, and that our two assassinated brothers are -- it's a clear example of that anti-police environment. And -- you know, many of our officers feel betrayed by the elected leaders that we have and the public that we serve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: There are reports of some minor confrontations between officers during the funeral. Many members of the force agreed to the commissioner that the funeral is not the place for political statements.

ROMANS: Jury selection begins this morning in the murder trial of Pedro Hernandez, the 53-year-old New Jersey man who confessed to the 1979 murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz. In 2012, Hernandez told investors he lured Etan into the basement into a bodega in lower Manhattan, strangled him and left him in a box on the street. He has since recanted.

Hernandez has an IQ of 70, a history of mental problems. Prosecutors will have to make their case with no body and no crime scene evidence.

BERMAN: About 100 U.S. soldiers starting the new year in quarantine at a military base in Washington state. They just returned from West Africa where they helped to build treatment centers for Ebola victims. They will be monitored for 21 days as a precaution. They will not be allowed to have physical contact with family members. About 50 more U.S. troops stayed behind to continue that mission.

ROMANS: A U.S. health care worker is being monitored closely at a hospital in Nebraska this morning. Officials say the patient experienced a, quote, "high risk of exposure" to Ebola while working in Sierra Leone. The worker is not showing symptoms of infection. The worker is not considered infectious at this point. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has now claimed nearly 8,000 lives.

BERMAN: New Yorkers and the nation preparing to say a final good-bye to former Governor Mario Cuomo. A wake will be held today with Vice President Biden and his wife Jill scheduled to attend a viewing this afternoon. The funeral is tomorrow morning at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan. The former governor died of heart failure with his family by his side on New Year's Day. He was 82.

ROMANS: The tributes are pouring in for former ESPN sports anchor Stuart Scott who died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 49 years old. Scott is being remembered for his special talents and personality which included some of the most memorable catch phrases in sports. In a statement, President Obama said, "Over the years, Stuart Scott entertained us and in the end, he inspired us with his courageous fight against cancer."

BERMAN: As cool as the other side of the pillow. He was. Millions of people across the nation are bracing for a major winter

storm today. It has already prompted watches and warnings and advisories in some parts of 14 states, from Washington, all the way to Ohio.

This was Spokane International Airport. Somewhere behind the snow and fog, there are crews on the tarmac. There were delays. Some areas of Washington saw up to 11 inches of snow.

ROMANS: Folks in Illinois using snow blower, shovels, anything to clear the snow falling there. The love this guy in shorts. But just so tough, plows all throughout in full force to keep the road safe. The frigid temperatures making things very icy. One man said he had a huge scare on the road.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At first, it was a little bit tough conditions. I actually had an incident when I almost swerved off the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: He almost swerved off the road. Well, luckily for him. He survived.

ROMANS: That guy almost swerved.

BERMAN: Icy conditions prompting a number of accidents in Missouri. Look at the damage to the SUV. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

ROMANS: That same storm system spawning a line of severe tornadoes in the South. At least nine confirmed tornadoes touched down in Mississippi and Alabama. That wicked weather damaging homes and injuring an infant. One woman was in her house when she suddenly heard that telltale sign of trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just like -- you hear them say a train is coming. That's the way it was. It was just like a train coming and it was hitting the house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, stormy weather and frigid temperatures set to continue into the week.

I want to go to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at the weather.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good Monday morning to you.

Let's talk about what's happening nationwide right now. Pretty massive area of high pressure in place across portions of the Southeast and Central Plains. And as high pressure in place and you have generally clear skies and very cold temperatures across the northern tier of the country, Minneapolis taking a significant drop in the temperatures over the past couple of days, up to the 30s, down to the 11 degree temperature range. Chicago, uniform trend right now, but things are about to get much colder over the next two to three days.

Look at the high temperatures in Minneapolis, best they can do, 9 degrees today. Wind chills, 45, 50 below portions of Minnesota. Similar story out of Chicago. A lot of that cold air eventually will make it to the Southeast and the Northeast as well.

Introduce a few snow showers for you across the Northeast. Look at how expansive this cold air is here, as it settles, as the coldest air gets to the southern states by Wednesday morning. We are talking about getting down to 13 or 15 degrees in the overnight hours, even as far south as Atlanta.

High temperature trend, Chicago, goose egg on Wednesday, the best they can do for a high temperature. While around New York and Boston, the temperatures drop in the upper 20s on Tuesday and Wednesday. The best bet for snow in both Boston and New York looks to be on Tuesday, about one to two inches in the forecast.

Let's send it back to you.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you for that, Pedram.

Nineteen minutes past the hour.

Buckingham palace ramping up defense of Prince Andrew, emphatically denying now for the fourth time that the royal had sex an underage girl. The allegation against the prince comes in a lawsuit filed in Florida. It claims billionaire Jeffrey Epstein sexually exploited at least four other women when they were minors and allegedly forced them to have sex with powerful people, including Prince Andrew.

CNN's Max Foster is following the story for us.

Max, we understand that just in the last couple of hours, Buckingham Palace has confirmed the name of the accuser.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Virginia Roberts who for sometime had been living in Australia gave an interview to a couple of publications. And the palace had since responded, including her name as well.

They initially gave a response generally denying the general allegations against Prince Andrew and this was specific allegations from Virginia Roberts, emphatically denied that His Royal Highness, the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Virginia Roberts. The allegations are false and without any foundation.

They point out he is not party to the legal case in Florida and the papers that were filed there. So, he hasn't had any recourse legally. So, they are being forced to respond here. The allegations, Christine, are severe. He is accused by Virginia of

forcing her into sexual relations over three years, 1999 to 2002 in three different cities, London and in New York and in the British -- sorry, U.S. Virgin Islands where Epstein had an home. That was actually where there was an orgy. That's an accusation. She was told she had to report back to Epstein any sexual relation she did have with Prince Andrew.

So, it's pretty gruesome, but the palace is saying none of this is true. Prince Andrew has flown back to the U.K. He'd been on holiday. So, no doubt, he is having conversations with his lawyers and officials today about it.

ROMANS: All right. Max Foster, thank you for that, Max. Certainly, an uncomfortable -- an uncomfortable situation for the --

BERMAN: The British monarchy.

ROMANS: The public relations people at Buckingham Palace this morning.

BERMAN: All right. Twenty-one minutes after the hour.

Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys and the referees moving in the playoffs, after a come from behind win against the Detroit Lions. Lions fans understandably, justifiably crying foul over a controversial call from the referees.

Laura Rutledge has the details in the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Good weekend of NFL playoffs unless you are a Lions fan. In which case, you may be fuming over a controversial call in last night's game against the Cowboys.

ROMANS: My kids are calling big d and little d.

Laura Rutledge has more with this morning's "Bleacher Report".

LAURA RUTLEDGE, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey, you, guys.

And the Lions were pretty much in control for the first three and a half quarters against the Cowboys. But then came an odd sequence where a penalty was called on Dallas and then taken away, killing the Lions momentum in the process. It happened with about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Lions up three. Matt Stafford throws downfield, Cowboys' Anthony Hitchens was called for interference. Pretty straightforward call, but out of nowhere, the refs pick up the flag and reverse the call. That's not something you see very often, in fact, if ever.

That resulted in a Lions punt. And the Cowboys responded, Tony Romo finds Terrance Williams for the go ahead touchdown pass. Check out Jerry Jones celebrating with New Jersey governor and Cowboys fans Chris Christie. Cowboys win, 24-20. Heartbreaking loss for the Lions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NDAMUKONG SUH, LEAVES PODIUM IN TEARS: I did not expect this. That's what it comes down to.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)

SUH: Sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RUTLEDGE: So, over to the Colts/Bengals, where Colts running back Dan Herron sparked the Indy offense early with that touchdown, their first opening drive score of the season. Since Pacman Jones wasn't a fan of giving up that early TD and he got into it with a teammate. Things did not get prettier for the Bengals as Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was a cool customer under pressure there, doing his best impression of escape artist with the 36-yard pass to Donte Moncrief.

And speaking of impressions, here is Colts safety Sergio Brown doing his best Ric Flair following the win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGIO BROWN, COLTS: Rolex wearing, diamond ring wearing, kiss stealing, wheeling dealing, limousine riding, jet flying, son of a gun. I'm having a hard time holding these alligators down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RUTLEDGE: So, obviously he is pretty good at that.

Colts excited moving on to the next round, no doubt. They'll head to Denver to play former teammate Peyton Manning and the Broncos on Sunday. Saturday, the Patriots host the Ravens.

And unto the NFC side of things, the Panthers travel to Seattle to play the Seahawks on Saturday, and what should be a great matchup. The Cowboys go into Lambeau Field to take on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Sunday.

And, hey, John, the Patriots have been off for a week. I bet you are itching to see them back out there.

BERMAN: I am. And the Ravens looked disturbingly good to me on Saturday night as well. Very nervous about next week.

RUTLEDGE: True.

BERMAN: Laura Rutledge, thank you so much. Great to see you this morning.

ROMANS: Quite a weekend next week.

BERMAN: Yes, I have no other plans other than football. Happening now --

ROMANS: Clear the deck.

BERMAN: -- divers back in the water searching for victims and wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501. Possible new leads and new setback this morning. We are live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)